Thursday, October 29, 2009

Trust, Confidences, Betrayal

You've been betrayed..........ok......it hurts sure......you don't understand why it happened........you are blindsided and crushed.
Now you need to chose your next step wisely and carefully!
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(the excerpts below is taken from http://www.snzeport.com/dlarticles2/betrayal.htm)

Getting Over Betrayal
To be able to get over betrayal successfully, you first need to understand the mechanics of betrayal, very briefly...

Meaning of Betrayal - Betrayal of Trust
Betrayal is deception in action. It is the breaking of a trust or promise real or implied or a social contract between two parties. Though the word betrayal is more popularly used in the context of 'betraying one's country or government' ie. leaking important state secrets, documents or plans, or acting as a spy, or leaking any information that one has been entrusted to protect by his/her partners. In more intimate or personal relationship terms, betrayal can take several forms, for instance:

Betrayal between friends
Two very close friends share all kinds of secrets and intimate details, thinking their secrets will be safe with each other. Then one of them secretly unknown to his/her friend, starts 'spilling the beans' or revealing the secrets to the 'enemies' or people who were not supposed to learn of this information.


Effects of Betrayal
effects of betrayal can be many depending on the situation:

It could cause harm to the assets/ interests of the country or the institution betrayed.

It could be a breakdown of friend ship / development of enmity .

It could cause harm/ even danger to the person betrayed by putting sensitive information in the wrong hands.

It could result in a break up, even divorce of relationship or marriage.

Getting over Betrayal in Relationships:
Getting over betrayal and loss of trust in relationships can be hard, but is not impossible. Though it does require strong commitment / desire to get out of the trauma of betrayal and move on positively with your life.

the first questions you need to answer are:

Do You want to patch up the relationship?

Or do you want to exit the relationship and move on with your life?

Of course the decision you make depends on how much pain and trauma the betrayal has caused you. Is the relationship even worth repairing or not?

If you opt for repairing and rebuilding the relationship, how can you be sure that the betrayal will not be repeated or will not happen again -- This option requires a strong commitment from your partner as well -- mere promises may not work to deter a person who has betrayed you once. Then of course you will have to forgive your partner and rebuild trust in the relationship. Will you be able to do that?

While the decision to move on will entail the making of several positive changes in your life. At the least, it may involve the change in your own personal beliefs and attitudes. Or if it is more intense, it may even require making changes in your residence (say if you are moving out); it may involve change of jobs; change in financial situations and obligations and more.

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Betrayal is a terrible thing to have done to you...and even worse to do to someone else.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Halloween...fun or asking for trouble ?

I don't believe Christianity should be a religion of "can't" but there still has to be lines we Christians do not cross.......

http://www.history.com/content/halloween/real-story-of-halloween

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).

The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.

During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.

Video: The haunting History of All Hallow's Eve (Halloween).
Video: Timothy Dickinson tells the intriguing tale of why we celebrate Halloween, and it's evolution from Samhain, an ancient Celtic Harvest Festival.
The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.

By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Gossip

(Taken from
http://www.wolfeborobible.com/gossip.html)

The Christian who gossips doesn't really care about others, especially the ones they're gossiping about. They really care more about themselves. They just want to have juicy information to attract others to themselves. The apostle Paul said in Philippians 2:3, "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4, Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others."

Paul also said in Romans15:2, "Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification." Only words of edification, building up should come out of your mouth as Paul also teaches in Ephesians 4:29, " Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers."


Only Good words!

Only Encouraging words!

NO tearing down words!

If you're a gossiper, would you want other people gossiping about you? Do you want others telling things that are not true, or completely true? Do you want your sins publicized by others? I'm sure you're saying, NO! You see, none of us would want someone else to be gossiping about ourselves. Jesus teaches us in Matthew 22:39 "And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" Wow! That means if I don't want people gossiping about me, I shouldn't do it either!