Anchored

Imagine you are sailing on a boat out to sea. You are wondering about the sea trying to find a place you can dock your boat. A place that accepts you, and you belong. Once you find where you belong and finally pull your boat up to the dock. You have two options for anchors. The first anchor is really rusty and not as heavy as the other. The rope attached is fraying and the knots are not done properly. The other anchor is located underneath your boat. It is heavier and held on by steal wire instead of rope. The only problem is it is really hard to operate the reel so you can lower the anchor and pull it back up. The first one all you have to do is throw it in the water and pull the rope back up. So because it is so hard to operate the anchor reel for the stronger heavier anchor, you use the first anchor which was lighter and had a lot of flaws. As you are docked you notice you are now floating back out to sea. You look over and the knot was loose and the rope had snapped. Now you are drifting in the middle of the sea and it has started to storm. You are really shaken up by everything that has happened and now believe it to be a sign that you really didn’t belong at that port and decide to find somewhere else to dock your boat.

The boat actually symbolizes you. The dock symbolizes your faith. The first anchor symbolizes fear and the second anchor symbolizes Jesus. When you are trying to dock yourself firmly in your faith all to often we don’t want to do the work that it takes to plant the strong heavy anchor of Jesus instead we go for what’s right there on the surface. We do what is convenient and dock ourselves with our fear. We think our fears will protect us and keep us safely in our comfort zone. When the storm comes, your fears are not strong enough to keep you grounded and now you start floating away and get drawn further and deeper into the storm. In that storm anxiety and depression start to hit. You start to feal unwanted and like you don’t belong so you go searching for acceptance in other things like alcohol, drugs, sex or toxic relationships. Meanwhile that very strong and heavy Anchor is still under your boat ready to be used. When you finally feel like you have nothing left to lose you start to reel the anchor down. It’s hard at first and at times you want to give up and find another smaller lighter anchor that isn’t so hard to operate but as you keep reeling and it gets easier every stroke. Once you finally have anchored your boat with the strong heavy anchor an even worse storm comes and tries to pull you out to sea again. Only this time your boat shakes and creeks but does not move. Once that storm passes you finally understand that you did belong at that dock you just used the wrong anchor.

We have to remember that Jesus calls us outside of our comfort zone. Out of the safety of our own fears and to fearlessly trust in him. Our fears are not strong enough to withstand the storm but Jesus is. It’s not easy and just because you have Jesus doesn’t mean the storm will never come but you will be strong enough to withstand the storm and come out even stronger. It takes work and is in no way convenient. All to often we choose to anchor ourselves with fear because it is convenient and we can see it on the surface. It’s so hard to trust in something we can’t see. What if that strong heavy anchor isn’t underneath the boat? So because you have some doubts you don’t even try, until you have nothing else to lose and then realize you should have been using that anchor all along. Trust in him. I am an imperfect human with countless flaws but with Jesus I am anchored in his overflowing grace, unexplainable peace and never ending Agape Love!

The Frowning Fathers

“We The People!”

Just three words but so important. If you didn’t know , those three words formed the beginning of the Constitution of these great United States of America. The reason I say those three words are so important is because it established who was writing the constitution and who it was for. It doesn’t say Me, King George or Me President Washington. It says We The People. This country was run by a horrible tyrant thousands of miles away but the men and women of this country sacrificed everything to overcome and defeat tyranny. What they created after the war was won is truly remarkable! They created a country founded on freedom and liberty and Justice. They created a Country by the PEOPLE and for the PEOPLE.

What happened?

Well, money talks. The amazing free market capitalism the Founding Fathers created not only bread wealth and freedom but also bread greed. The country split into two opposite parties and the driving force of the government was no longer “We The People” but now corporate millionaires, Hollywood and the media. It has only gotten worse. The interests of the People have become irrelevant and the interests of the lobbyists millionaires with very large pockets have become number one with the government we are supposed to trust to have our best interests at the fore front. Well they don’t. They don’t care about you and your family until election time. The political parties choose your candidates for you and the 2 party system makes it nearly impossible for a free thinking independent to actually have a chance to win an election. Gerrymandering has made it harder for your voice to be heard and your interests to be priority because if you don’t vote the way they want they can redistrict to manipulate who votes where to swing the vote in their favor. The problem with that is, you vote the way you do because of the area you live. If you live in a rural area you vote for issues that effect you. That goes for the suburbs and urban areas as well. If your district voted democrat it was for a reason. If your district voted republican it was for a reason. How long are we going to allow our voices to be manipulated and ignored? How long are we going to allow politicians who have set salaries to continue to rake in millions of dollars meanwhile completely ignoring you and the issues that actually affect you. We need set in stone unchangable districts. What the people in that district says goes. Make the polititions understand they should be lobbying for OUR vote, we shouldn’t be lobbying for theirs. “We the People” need to be represented again. Like our Founding Fathers intended.

Why are our lawmakers able to retire from congress?

Our Lawmakers in the senate and House of Representatives have been taking advantage of this country for far too long. Not only has our two party system made it almost impossible to actually get anything done. Our legislative branch has become stale. Representatives and Senators in office over 30 years and accomplishing absolutely nothing. The legaslative branch needs to have term limits. Fresh and new ideas need to be voted in, on a regular basis. It will create more accountability for Congress and they will be more inclined to make the voters interests more important than the millionaires in Corporate America, Hollywood and the media. That goes for the Supreme Court as well. Why do the people of this country have zero say in federal judges? No. We should be the ones voting judges in and they should have limits as well. Our checks and balances are all screwed up. The roles of the three branches of government is as follows: the Legislative branch makes the laws, the Judicial branch interprets the laws and the Executive branch enforces the laws. Well our “wonderful” two party system has it where the executive branch is making the laws via executive order and the legislative branch is interpreting the laws and the Judicial branch is enforcing the laws. This is absolutely not what the Founding Fathers intended. Our government needs to be completely revamped. We need to start over with a blank slate and bring power back to “We The People”.

Thank you!