Bloom Where You Are Planted; A Treatise On The Hemispheres of Intellect and Soul

I must confess that I have not been watching or reading much of the news lately. I have said time and again, that I have to take sabbaticals from such, so that I don't become too jaded, cynical, or lose focus on some of the things that should be more important to me. It's often a matter of tending to the issues that are in my lap, so to speak; issues that I can do something about now and today, I suppose would be another way to put it. I feel that I can do things about politics, civil issues, and social ideologies, but not as directly as I can affect issues and needs of those in my more immediate proximity. Like a friend at work used to say, "Ronnie, you have to bloom where you are planted." And too many politics and the like cause me to wilt all too often.

And that is difficult for me to admit. I hate that I have such a glaring weakness and that my temperament gets the better of me in some instances. It is hard to confess that I am not always mature enough to process the news and remain in a state of mental condition as to where I can still function properly. I don't like admitting that I don't always balance political, civil, and social issues with the ministries that God has lead me in. I want to be above all of the flotsam and jetsam in my morality, for lack of a better word, but prefer to be knee-deep in issues that affect my humanity. I strive for a balance so that I can be effective in the two hemispheres of my being and in the different circle is which my life sometimes leads. But too often I fall short of one or the other.

And that got me to thinkin'...and to the realization that it is not the balance of issues that I need work on. It is the balance of what is important to me, as a person. And then my thinking reminded me of a study we are doing and how it says that how we manage our time and how we spend most of our time reflects upon what our priorities are. I understand that to basically say, where and how we spend our time shows the condition of our heart.

But it's not that simple. Oh, how I wish things were that cut and dry. For a person who struggles with gray areas and detests milquetoast, real life can cause a dilemma at times. For a person who uses emotions and thoughts to process information, real life sometimes causes a person to be at odds with themselves and their heart. The time management thing is only a slight indicator of a paradigm shift or one point on the individuals algorithm; it's not the entire make-up of an individuals being, much less an individual's soul. Cut and dry would surely simplify things; and streamlined efficiency is something many look for, whether it is in business, government, automobiles, or personal intellect.

But that streamlined efficiency comes at a cost of heart and soul when the bottom line is results. This can be looked at as indicative as to...

Wait! There I go with another fine example of Samantha's word, bombast. In trying to find solace in presenting myself to be lucid while remaining something closer to opaque, I find myself in a jumbled mess trying to explain and to function.

How often do you do the same thing? Maybe not with time management, politics, social issues, and the like but how often do we find our "insides" jumbled and misaligned? How often do we find ourselves trying to find a balance of many things and various issues?

And how do you react when you get to this point in your being? Do you neglect the spiritual for the material, or give more attention to the ministerial rather than pragmatic? Where do we compromise and how do we juggle the merely cognitive with the spiritual?

For one, I step away from the maelstrom and take a minute to pray. Then I find that there is no balance to be found, that there is no middle ground. But instead of it upsetting the cogs in my machinery, it seems to lubricate the wheels of clearer thinking. I find that there is no balance, because serving God and being obedient cannot be compromised. You either are or you aren't. You either do or you don't. There is no spiritual fence to straddle; you are in the barnyard or out in the field, no more no less.

But in that simplicity of thinking, I find it easier to delve into many more areas and feel that I am much more effective at dealing with ALL of the issues at hand, instead of trying to juggle which ones I blog about, read about, or apply to my life and the lives of my family and friends. I find that instead of doing what Ronnie wants, or thinks is best, is more difficult and less effective than following God's will; and I accomplish more in many more areas when I listen to God. The political, civil, social, and spiritual all begin to fit together and work for a purpose much larger than that of which I could write about on this page; and I find balance by trying not to balance things with my heart and my intellect. But my heart and my intellect are so fine tuned that they play a crucial role in my decision making and in my ministries...

And this would be a good place to begin wrapping this blog up, before it makes another loop and becomes redundant. Brevity is the soul of wit, and if you cant hit water in 10 minutes, then it's time to find a new well. Two lessons that I am trying to learn.

I do hope this is helpful and clear. I hope that you can catch some little something that will help you make the world of those around you to be a better place. I hope this helps someone to find peace and direction, and clarity of mind. This is not the blog I intended to write today, but I felt like it is the blog that I was very much supposed to write. Why I was supposed to write this, I am not certain. But someone out there knows and understands the reason.

So bloom where you are planted. Let God's word be the soil in which you grow and His spirit the water which quenches your thirst; then you will be able to grow without all of the manure we sometimes use as fertilizer, in our lives.