Trust in Me

Trust is one of the hardest things for a person to do to another person.  It takes on so many facets of life.  Trust in a parent to take care of a child, a trusting friend who a girl to tell secrets to and that friend will never tell a living soul or even a patient on the verge of dying trusting that their doctor and their family will make the right decisions on their behalf. 

Yes, trust is that word which says, “I put my life in your hands, and you are not going to let nothing happen to me no matter what.”

 So, what happens to that trust?  That is what I am going to talk about today.  So, “trust in me” as we talk about trust.

What is a trust?

Trust. created by P.Lynne Designs
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Under social context, according to Wikipedia, is “Trust has several connotations”.  The one I will be concentrating on is the one that says, “a situation characterized by the following aspects: One party is willing to rely on the actions of another party; the situation is directed to the future.”  Do you see why I used the previous examples in this piece?

The reason for this post

Lately, I have been disenchanted by the way things have been in this country, specifically the last couple of weeks.  No, this is not a political post, which would have included a campaign for you to vote for this candidate or hate another.  We all have our reasons for voting and supporting the person who we think is better to run the country.  No one is perfect.  It all goes back to trust, and trust does not need a campaign slogan to be heard.  Later, I will tackle “the art of advertising and influencers”, part 2 and conclusion of a miniseries.

Disenchantment be damned

Like many Americans, three weeks ago, on a Sunday, in the middle of the summer season, I was sitting down with my mom at my parent’s home.  My family and I usually take Sunday as a day of rest, to worship God by going to church, coming back to my parent’s home, eat and rest.  We talk about things that went on during service.  We are United Methodists, part of the Protestant Christian faith.  We believe in the Holy Trinity (God, Son, Holy Spirit), with the Son being the savior by dying on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins.  We are to do God’s will, which is to love all mankind, no matter what their life is like, everyone can be saved.

I say that to say this:  whoever pulled the trigger on the people at that Garlic Festival was not acting in God’s will.  I am not saying that the person was Christian, but the actions of this person too were not the way that Jesus would act.  I am going to leave it at that comment for now.  Same with the incident in El Paso, TX, and Dayton, Ohio. 

The Dayton, Ohio incident was about an hour and a half from me, plus my brother lives there, so I feel more apart of that incident than the El Paso, TX one because of my brother, who, thank God was at my parent’s house in Columbus when the shooting happened, and I thank God that my Sis-In-Law, who was at home, was nowhere near the Oregon District.

So what does that have to do with trust?

As Christians, we trust that God will take care of us, no matter what.  We also trust that the people who did not make it in these incidents over the past few weeks and beyond had a purpose to teach so that others will learn of our mistakes. 

This next thing that I have to say may turn some people off, and that’s okay.  Maybe this country and this world need to learn a lesson or two.  No, do not misquote me.  I grieve for every single person, including the people who pulled the trigger.  We have been too loose with the second amendment, “the right to bear arms”. This to me is the NRA’s Motto, but there needs to be an amendment to the amendment.  You do have the right to have guns for sport and protection, BUT if you want to do harm to anyone (including self) because of hatred or mental illness, you do not have that right, period. The second amendment does not apply to you.  Before you can purchase a gun AND own a gun license you must go through a deep background check and take a class on gun safety.  This is how you can build trust.  I think that is what those who have died in the name of gun reform have taught us.  Yes, it is gruesome, but someone became a martyr because of gun control.

On top of that, Japan, and other countries are now telling their citizens to stay away from us, and do not visit the United States at all.  Now that is deep.

Conclusion

This is a short post (less than 1000 words) because there is nothing more to say on this kind of trust except to:

• Be aware of your surroundings
• Use the buddy system whenever you can
• If you carry a concealed weapon with you, make sure that the safety is on, have your license on you, and that you are of sound mind IF you have to use it.
• Never carry it in a building that does not allow on in it.
• Never escalate an argument with anyone.  Or finish one for that matter.  Get the proper authorities if someone is bothering you.
• Report anything suspicious.
• Finally, be at peace with yourself, God, and try to love everyone.

I pray that everything goes well with you. God bless you.

Orlando

(c) 2016 P. Lynne Designs

I have no words about this week, just like I had no words when 9 people were killed last year, during a bible study.  I am sad.  I am sad for this country and this world.  The killings were no different, then when school children were gunned down while in school in Sandy Brook or Columbine, or Virginia Tech and the school in Oregon.  They were no different when a gunman went to a military base in Texas and killed people.  I can even say that these killings are no different than 9/11, or when Michael Brown, Travon Martin, or Sandra Bland were killed. 

They are all the same to me, and the all too familiar scenario goes a little like this:  Someone got hurt.  Maybe it was an injustice, a law change, or a simple color of someone’s skin or lifestyle that trigger that hurt.  It could have been a mental illness (I hear voices that told me that it is right to do it). It followed hatred.  Hatred towards that group of people.  Next, comes the preplanning. “Where can I do it, and who can I do it to that hurt the least amount of people?” Preplanning also involves making the purchase of guns, ammo, training.  After all of that, and finding a target, then the act will commence.  An ordinary workday, a night out on the town, or a school day. 

People are getting ready to go about their day.  Children getting ready for school (Sandy Brook and Columbine), People getting ready for a day of work (9/11), students getting ready for classes (Virginia Tech), and people getting ready for a night out (Pulse Nightclub and Paris, France).  They kiss their loved ones, and off they go.  People are learning, working, or having fun.  All of a sudden, everything changes for the worst possible moment.  A shooting, a routine traffic stop gone bad (Sandra Bland), a walk home gone bad (Travon Martin), bombs going off (9/11, Paris France, and Boston Marathon).  Utter chaos erupts. People are hurt, forever disfigured, or killed.    In the next few days, weeks, and months followed, lives are changed, funerals, memorials, and plans for better security are made. 

Here is my question for all who read this:  Where are those plans now?  It is the job of the administrators and leaders of this country and the world to come up with a viable solution that not only deter these people from doing harm to the general public but, make a peaceful coexistence for all.  It does not matter what race you are, gender, creed, belief, sexual orientation, or race, one of our jobs as humans is to try to peacefully coexist with our environment and with each other.

The president came up with a plan that bans the use of automatic weapons.  He did not say that you cannot own a gun, such as a rifle (manual-think westerns) or handguns (I can think of a Saturday Night Special).  Automatic guns are the kind where you put your finger on the trigger and you only have to pump one time, and multiple bullets come out.  A semi-automatic is slightly different.  That is all I know about guns. The NRA (the National Rifle Association), is a good old boy’s organization, which thinks that the president is going after their 2^nd amendment rights to bear arms.  You will still have the right to bear arms, and to protect yourselves, and to hunt for sport (although I do not see why for sport when you got to eat), to me, you do not have the right to own an automatic weapon.  Why would you have one in the first place, when it is made for combat and military use ONLY, O-N-L-Y.   

I have written a comment (a letter) to the wife of the minister in Sacramento, CA, who said in his sermon, that “Orlando is now safer since 50 Pedophiles were killed in a nightclub.”  This letter is what sparked this post in the first place, because, I had said all I had to say on Facebook, Twitter, and in person.  I had to write it on their family blog page because their church did not have a comments section on their blog.  Don’t worry, I did not blast him out.  I simply reminded her to remind him of the compassion that Jesus Christ showed all people, and to not hate the person, but the act. I have made a copy of comment, and is listed below:

“Mrs.  Jimenez, I come to you with deep concern for your husband as he leads your congregation towards showing Christ's love towards others.  Christ teaches us as Christians to love one another.  You do not have to love the sin that a person does, BUT love the person anyway.  We all need a reminder of that.
When I heard on the news of the things that your husband said about Orlando, Florida in his sermon, I was very dishearten.  I thought to myself "please tell me he did not say what I thought he said."  How could he say that Orlando is a little safer because 50 Pedophiles were killed in a nightclub?  These are not the words of Christ, because, Christ teaches us to love the person despite the sin. He taught us to love people, so to say that Orlando is a lot safer does not show love nor compassion.  It shows hatred towards the person who has committed the sin.
Mrs. Jimenez, I do not know your husband and his heart, only God does, and I am not here to show that hatred towards him.  I have nothing but prayers for him, for you, and for your family and your congregation.  I am not part of that community, I am straight, African American female who is a United Methodist in Columbus, Ohio (although it does not matter what denomination I am).  My minister, on his last day at my church, as he and his family are moving to a new appointment, Sunday, encouraged us all to have compassion and prayers for not only the City of Orlando, but for the victims, friends and families of all who were killed, that they may be comforted.  My minister, as well as I, do not believe that any of them are pedophiles, but people who are trying to have a good time that night.  No one knows these people's hearts but God.  They may have confessed their sins as they took their last breaths.  You may never know.
May God bless you and your family for now and forever.  I wish you well, and I will be praying for you and your city and congregation as well.”

I hope this was a misunderstanding, as the news media has a tendency to take things out of context, and sensationalize it.  I like to believe that Pastor Jimenez has the love of Christ in his heart, and again that this was all a misunderstanding.  We, as Christians have to really watch what we say to others, me included.

#prayersforOrlando