The Petulant Petrel
Isn't this exactly what we do when we're feeling attacked? In our defensive response we go all “petrel” on our attacker, verbally vomiting our wrath right into their face. And if we're forceful enough perhaps, like the Petrel, we'll knock them down.
This is certainly crude, but is it the most effective way of dealing with human conflict?
“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Proverbs 15:1). … ”A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel” (Proverbs 15:18).
Sorry I'm Late
An alcoholic friend of famed author and speaker Philip Yancey was once purported to have said:
When I'm late to church, people turn around and stare at me with frowns of disapproval. I get the clear message that I m not as responsible as they are.
But when I'm late to AA, the meeting comes to a halt and everyone jumps up to hug and welcome me. They realize that my lateness may be a sign that I almost didn t make it. When I show up, it proves that my desperate need for them won out over my desperate need for alcohol.
If AA can get this right, shouldn't we, as the Church, all the more get it right?
Let's focus on each other's victories, rather than shaming and guilting each other for our failures (whether real or presumed).
"Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works" and faithfulness, and perseverance, and obedience, and ... (Hebrews 10:24, NLT).
"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear" (Ephesians 4:29, ESV).
Bringing Down the Mighty Sequoia
If there was ever a David and Goliath battle, this is it. A pinhead-sized beetle, no more than a couple of millimetres long, versus a giant sequoia tree, taller than a football field and older than the Bible. And the tiny beetle, well, swarming armies of beetles, are winning. — Mark Saunokonoko, Senior Journalist, reporting for 9News.
And now, on the Western slopes of the Rocky Mountains, a giant Sequoia — one of many — lies rotting.
It was a growing sapling when Christ walked the shores of Galilee. When Columbus discovered America, it was reaching maturity, and it looked down from lofty heights during the American Civil War. It seemed destined to live many centuries more.
Then, a few years ago, a tiny beetle started to burrow into its bark and lay eggs that would produce other beetles. It seemed like an unequal battle at first, but the few beetles multiplied into hundreds, then into thousands, and finally into millions. First they attacked the bark, then they worked deeper into the trunk, and finally, they were eating the very heart and strength of that magnificent forest giant.
Then one day, after withstanding the elements for centuries, the rain came, the winds blew, the lightning flashed, and the giant tree fell. Not because of the elements, but because of the weakening effects of those tiny beetles. — Author Unknown
"The beetles," Saunokonoko continues, "Phloeosinus punctatus, bury inside the bark of the sequoias, eating the giants from the inside out, until they topple over and fall to the forest floor."
Click into the article here to watch a video about the plight of the mighty Sequoias.
Bad habits do the same thing to people. They slowly take a toll, eating away at our hearts, our souls, our integrity, from the inside out, until the day comes when a person's life comes crashing down, just like those majestic Sequoia trees.
"But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death" (James 1:14-15, ESV).
"You say, 'I am allowed to do anything'—but not everything is good for you. You say, 'I am allowed to do anything'—but not everything is beneficial" (1 Corinthians 10:23, NLT).