Questions of Life, Success, and Gospels

 

“Success and failure, ultimately, have little to do with living the gospel. Jesus just stood with the outcasts until they were welcomed or until he was crucified — whichever came first.”

-- Gregory Boyle

What do you do when you think there are no more things to happen in your life?

Things happen. Change is the only true constant in the universe. If things aren’t happening, you’re not helping to make things happen. Go out and stir the pot. Make things happen.

Aside from determination, what are the other ingredients that lead to success?

Knowledge, hard work, and perseverance.

Should I really just keep my hopes low,  for less disappointment down the road?

Disappointment usually comes from failure. Failure is the best way to learn. If you don’t fail, you don’t learn. If you don't learn, how will you be prepared the next time failure presents itself? Keep your hopes high and keep reaching for the golden ring. Quitting gets you nowhere.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

-- H. Jackson Brown Jr.

What's the number of times it takes you to get good at something?

It depends on how difficult the “something” is to learn.

How true is it that a person's perception is the limit to the person’s success in life?

I’d say it’s very true. How you perceive tasks and yourself will have a great effect on what you are capable of. If you perceive a task as being beyond your capability, another perception, then you might not even try to do it. It is much better to try and push the limits of what you perceive. In failure, we have been presented an opportunity to learn, and this is never a bad thing.

How is education the key to success?

Knowledge about what you try will get you much farther than trying something without it. If you have set a goal, you should learn everything about how to attain it before you try.

“The single most important key to success is to be a good listener.”

-- Kelly Wearstler

Why is it that the good ones are not yet born?

I think someone is stating a line of crap. How can we possibly know?

Using just one word, what do you legitimately need in your life right now that will make a difference?

Sex.  But, one word doesn't really cover it.

Are we currently living in good or bad times? Will things improve in the future or get worse?

In the United States? Bad times. Things will improve next year, and improve vastly in a little more than three years if our country and Constitution still exist. Right now, we aren’t buying into “woke” as much as we’re waking up.

“You can't stop the future

You can't rewind the past

The only way to learn the secret

...is to press play.”

-- Jay Asher

Do you have any advice on how to live single?

Date, a lot. After my divorce I found myself sitting around the house. Dating got me out and around people again, and made me happier in the process.

Why does the Bible not contain all 12 disciples' gospels?

If we look at what we think we know… 

Why was two-thirds of the New Testament written by one man?

Were all the disciples followed, as they spread the word? Not everyone is destined for greatness, so perhaps they shied away from the limelight, weren’t prolific writers, or had no scribe following them.

Then, there is the fact that the “Holy Scriptures” we have now, were the “chosen” scriptures from the first seven ecumenical councils, starting in 325 AD with the First Council of Nicaea. Not even Mary’s gospel or Thomas’s survived the council meat cleavers. How many more were swept away off the cutting room floors?

The “Holy Scripture” is, unfortunately, an “edited” work of man, and what we know of man says they always have an agenda, so they probably cannot be trusted. God should be pissed at what has become of the WORD.  Just saying.

I expect my consequences for doing wrong. Do you?

Consequences are the price we pay, or earn, for making choices. Better to make good choices, than wrong ones.

“The thing about real life is, when you do something stupid, it normally costs you. In books the heroes can make as many mistakes as they like. It doesn't matter what they do, because everything works out in the end. They'll beat the bad guys and put things right and everything ends up cool.

In real life, vacuum cleaners kill spiders. If you cross a busy road without looking, you get whacked by a car. If you fall from a tree, you break some bones.

Real life's nasty. It's cruel. It doesn't care about heroes and happy endings and the way things should be. In real life, bad things happen. People die. Fights are lost. Evil often wins.”

-- Darren Shan

What will you do if you made the wrong decision?

I’d learn from the mistake. If it affected others, I’d try to make it right.

How does a person discover their hidden talents?

Try everything! Sooner or later even a blind squirrel finds a nut.

What do you do when you find yourself failing at the same advice you give others?

Rethink the advice, or look at their circumstances. Advice should be situational. Advice for one doesn’t necessarily translate into mitigating the issues of another.

“Never miss a good chance to shut up.”

-- Will Rogers

 

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with the United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with the premier, world-renowned, Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, and wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteered as a chaplain at the regional medical center.

Feel free to contact Pastor Tony:  tolerantpastor@gmail.com