“Raw raw sis boom ba!
I belong! I belong!”

The proper exaltation for one who formerly was cast out.  It is not proper that this one should hate the inclusion.  But does that joy last?

The beaming smile of a young man as he gets his first car.  “I’m free!  I can go where I please!  Finally, I am a man!”  Not really, but don’t tell him yet.

Which is stronger, inclusion or the responsibilities that will surely come?

The joy of a child is dear, and held in high esteem by all who are mature.  If this is not so, then someone needs to explain to me why grandmas talk about babies incessantly.

The beaming smile of a middle aged woman; her face constantly glowing.  Though trials, terrors and difficulties have strewn across her path, she endures with excellent consistency. 

Such things are even marketable among men.  “There’s a lot of money in that there attitude.”   (properly voiced with cigar in mouth and scowl on face)

But wrongful pride in a young girl, who has been granted inclusion, is ugly.  And the rebellion of a young man stacks up in the courts of the land.  Our joy in them is dashed. 

And the beaming face of a middle aged woman, which is only apparent by means of cosmetic surgery, is no beauty at all; the cheap imitation of truth.  Kinda like some knock off version of Kool Aid; sour to the taste and despised by all.  “Back to the real stuff we go!”

If Christian joy is not sincere, it cannot be joy at all.  that special kind of hypocrisy that non-believers post prominently in neon signs.

We read the accounts of those who sang with boldness at the prospect torture and death.  No fictitious apparel can produce that kind of joy.  No provisional joy will endure in those circumstances.  “Ya either got it or you don’t.”

How do the exceptional remain exceptional?  How is it that they have kept their joy pure; unadulterated by pride and difficulty?

We find the answer in their perception.  The answer lay squarely in their expectations.  Those who endure to the end do not consider themselves as belonging because of any special trait they own.  They keep first in mind that they are included in something vastly larger and more desirable than themselves.

The young girl becomes the appealing woman mentioned above.  And the young man contributes greatly to the society that granted him his beloved freedom.  And the division between beauty and ridiculously ugly glares brilliantly.

With this answer something astounding appears.  Correction in our attitude is simply a matter of changing perspective.  “Becoming” is only a matter of being willing to understand the value of our place.  And never to allow that understanding to dissipate, or to become poluted with pride.

The engine of truth is relentless.  It drives through humanity without respect to the desires of any.  A man will either jump on board or get squished.

But if we embrace truth we retain the things that are beautiful.  We “become”.  We desire.  We learn to “do” with excellent consistency.

___________

Please don’t allow stupidity to interpret this message.  This is not a “how to” message.  It is not the preface to an impossibly thick manual on “becoming”.  It is more like a directional sign.  “Caution detour ahead”.

The true answer for any man is within him.  It is God Himself who directs.  If we don’t point to him, then we join with liars. 

“If the Lord does not build the house the builder builds in vain.”  If you want to be excellent, you have to go get it from him.  Therefore this message is far more a description than a “How to”.

If that disappoints you, then you’re the very reason I wrote this.