strive for balance

"strive for balance" was a phrase we heard a lot growing up in my household. i suppose you could say we're a bit on the extremist side of things, and very passionate about being right or wrong. i suppose lots of people are. i never gave much thought about balance until recently.

i have always struggled with the idea of pre-destination and free will. i know what i believe, but the other side still shouted at me as scripture after scripture supports each argument. there is much i could say on the topic, but i have recently come to the conclusion that striving for balance has a lot more to do with spirituality than i ever thought.

balance in:

free will vs. predestination

a Sovereign God vs. man's choices

childlike faith vs. acting childlike

financial resposibility vs. responsibly trusting God financially

Gods wrath vs. Gods love

the list could go on, and were I in a more frame of mind to keep writing, i would elaborate. I have theories about many of these things, and they are indeed keeping my brain busy these days.

other things occupying brain space?

well, i began to type and deleted. thats for another day.. .im tired. ill expand another day... until then, i'll leave you with one more phrase from the Greco household:

"yes i have gum, no you cant have any".

i never applied that one very often.

bubble worlds

we all have bubbles.  they are personal bubbles that are unseen by the naked eye, but ever so present.  sometimes we speak of them, but rarely in seriousness.  Many of us are offended throughout life because these bubbles are invaded, and many of us offend because we are the ones invading. we are often unaware of these intrusions because the size of every persons bubble varies. but, whether we like it or not, the more people we encounter, the larger the bubbles become; the bubbles join, and sometimes become one.  

Think back to the last time you played with bubbles.  you blow a bubble, catch it on the wand, and sometimes proceed to blow another bubble...the bubbles either join and create a larger bubble, or they are "siamese bubbles".  Either way, they are connected.  and then, on occasion, the bubbles pop.... and that's when life gets tricky.  

many of us go through life disgruntled because of outward intrusions on our bubbles...things that 'invade" our bubble world.  people come into our life whom we wish weren't there or something as simple as someone standing too close to you in line.   the interesting thing though is that everyone has them, and its when youre aware of its existence in your life, you begin to feel annoyed when others dont respect it.  keep in mind that your bubble may very well be popping their world as well...

there really isn't much left of this thought process about bubbles other than this thought: what if we lived life trying to break out of our personal bubbles?  or, even letting other bubbles combine with ours to create something new? 

for some reason, this analogy with bubbles has helped me deal with people better, because we have no idea what's inside a person's bubble.  i hope it helps you too.