Gun Control

Oh, the comfort, the in expressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts, nor measure words, but pouring them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away. -Dinah Maria Mulock Craik I love this quote...I received it awhile back and when I read it the first time, I thought, wow, I wonder what that would feel like? BUT...I realized I have this in my life. I don't always realize it and I sure don't trust it at times but it doesn't change the fact that it is there. You see the lack of trust doesn't have anything to do with the One person that I tell my chaff and grain to...it has to do with me. Trust is so hard for me at times. I have had experiences where someone would say...you can trust me (of course with a smile and care in their eyes) and so I didn't weigh or measure my words. I spoke truth. Sometimes it was only my truth but it was meant to be taken and guarded. As with most relationships they faded and what was meant to be guarded was now used as a weapon against me. I don't want to sound jaded but isn't that what most people do...take in the ammunition and find a gun that it will fit and shot you with it. :-( I love to shoot guns...I love the feel of the gun, the feel of the power and the feel of the shoot. I don't always hit the bulls eye but I usually get really close. It makes me think of what we do with people. We get our ammunition (their secret hurts, wants, needs, desires), many times this ammunition lays in a drawer for a time until we REALLY need it...or at least that is what we tell ourselves. We buy the gun (the time invested in this person)...again we let this sit and hope no one remembers the ammunition is also in the drawer. Then we get offended and feel we need to protect ourselves. So we remember the ammunition...we load our gun and we shoot. The shot penetrates them, but that first shot doesn't leave permanent damage. Just a small scare we think. We put the ammunition back in the drawer for awhile and hope they learned their lesson. We realize that the person has a gun filled with ammunition and they are shooting also. We decide that we must survive and we aim for the heart. We take aim and SHOOT. Bulls eye...it was dead on and it was the kill shot. They are wounded and dying and we try to revive them but our shot killed them. They may not physically die...but their spirit dies. I am sooo glad God doesn't use His big guns against us, with ALL the ammunition we give Him. I can see it now...we give Him ammunition (gossip, shameful deeds, lies) and He dips it in His blood and throws the gun shell over His shoulder. We cringe as we remember all we have done and all that we have thought. We ask for forgiveness and wait till it comes back to bite us. I am sure He says (with shaking head), When will they ever learn that I am not out to harm them. He is the only person we can have full comfort in that what we say will not come back to haunt us. He takes the chaff and the grain, keeps what is good and blows the rest away with kindness and forgiveness. He doesn't take aim with the bullet of our past to kill us. I am going to ask you all to lay down your guns...and lets stop shooting each other. Instead of picking up our guns let's blow away the offense with kindness and forgiveness. I know this will not be easy all the time...but it is soooo worth it. Captured by Grace, -D