Tag Archives: punishments

Befall

Befall: (v) something bad to happen to someone.Dictionary B

The secret to life is not in obtaining wealth or feigning contentment.

It is also not merely achieved by professing faith in God.

And certainly never conjured by denying His existence.

It is understanding that God is a process, not a reaction.

Since He is a Creator, He had a plan. Having a plan, in order to maintain the integrity of that original blueprint, there has to be a Natural Order.

So it is in studying science and Nature’s laws that we gain the greatest insight into the mind of the Creator. Otherwise, we manufacture a mythical Giant in the Universe who runs His kingdom by emotion, levies punishments against those who are found in disfavor and bestows blessings on the subservient.

I became a much happier man when I realized that there is actually very little in life that befalls me.

Almost everything that comes my way was invited by me, ushered in by me, welcomed by me, accidentally acquired by me, or was the fruit of me. I tapped a process and the process responded.

  • Sometimes, it is a gusher of blessing.
  • Other times, I hit dry wells or poison streams.

But it is not because the God of creation is reactionary and temperamental.

What befalls me is the end result of the sowing I have achieved coming to fruition … as my reaping.

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Thank you for enjoying Words from Dic(tionary) —  J.R. Practix

 

 

 

Abrogate

by J. R. Practix

dictionary with letter A

Abrogate: (v.) to do away with or repeal a law, right or formal agreement

He came into my room.

“He” was my fourteen-year-old son, who had just been confronted by me for breaking one of the family rules. This was not unusual. Being a teenager, he was more than willing to fulfill his quorum of weekly indiscretions, to face the equivalent provided punishments.

Yet this time was different.

Instead of coming into my room in tears or firing fiery darts of anger from his eyes, he had selected a profile of reasonableness. He gave me the respect I deserved as his father, but at the same time, came prepared with a case to make on his behalf–how the rule he had just broken lacked clarity and necessity.

He was calm. He was asking me in an uncharacteristically gentle way, to abrogate my decision by offering me pointed examples of why this particular precept held dear in the family was not necessarily applicable anymore.

For a fourteen-year-old, he was quite eloquent.

It made me realize that we live in a world where lots of folks think that the power of their principles are best expressed by screaming at the top of their lungs. They contend that their displeasure over some particular practice or law should be enough to change the situation on the spot. They take no consideration for the common good. They are not concerned with equity, and justice takes a back burner to convenience.

But here I was–listening to my fourteen-year-old son expound with both fervency and practicality, a case concerning his innocence–if this qualification for purity were lifted and abandoned.

He was asking me to trust him. He was asking me to believe in him. He was asking me to reconsider my position without trying to make me feel as if I were a dictator, a socialist and a murderer of all teenage rights.

At the end of his discourse, I asked him a couple of questions, and although his responses were not as astute as his original presentation, I still believed he had taken the time to consider his position instead of merely building up a head of steam.

I was impressed. I was so taken by his metamorphosis that I changed the rule. I abrogated it.

There are many things that may need to be abrogated in our society today–arbitrary findings and guidelines that require another “look-see.” But nothing will happen until people of common sense calm their attitudes and present a logical case instead of constantly hammering away with stubbornness and self-righteousness.

It can be done. Outdated concepts can be abrogated in favor of more mature and realistic options.  But yelling and cursing only create a soil for growing the weeds of stupidity.

We need intelligence. It’s the only way to abrogate ignorance.