From Attitude Drift to Attitude Shift

Since I began posting my thoughts and feelings online over at History Is Elementary in January, 2006, and a year later here at this site, I don’t believe I’ve ever had a time where I have been more conflicted and more driven regarding a particular situation or topic than over the last several days. Perhaps it’s because I’ve had some time on my hands that has provided me the opportunity to be quiet and listen not only to those around me, but to the Holy Spirit as well.

Lately several things have occurred that validate something’s up. Trivial everyday things such as finding an old forgotten church bulletin in my mother’s things, picking up on veiled sidebar type comments made in passing by people at church, a title for a Bible study lesson that speaks volumes, an honest and open email conversation with a Christian couple, a pastor’s sermon that smacked me in the face, and a growing realization that a cure is needed, and it would seem the cure is change.

Due to these things converging all at once I even asked someone if I was merely being sensitive to the issue of change, or could it actually be the Holy Spirit speaking…er….yelling at me. I firmly believe coincidence is a method God uses to move His plan along, so it looks like I really have no other choice but to put all of this on digital paper…..perhaps I will be able to sleep, at least. :)

The following is a very short video that was shown in the worship service I attended this past Sunday morning. Please watch it and then read on….



See, I was right about the video. It was painless, and it was short, but it was also very effective in its message. While you might have gotten a different message from the video I saw a man who only saw the negative in people. True, it did seem others were taking advantage of him taking his parking place, breaking in line, and just generally getting in his way, but it’s all in how we look at things. Our character is shaped by our attitude. Changing our attitude helps us to change our perception of our world.

So, is the video telling us to go out and discover everyone’s special need and then meet it? No, I don’t think so. However, just knowing that everyone has needs helps us to look at people in a different way. Look back at the actions of the man after he received the glasses. He didn’t stop and help every person he came in contact with, but he did make an effort to help someone by attempting to meet their needs, and his overall attitude had gone from drift to shift just by knowing that everyone has specific needs.

As I began to try and put my ideas on paper I found that I was swirling off into all sorts of areas, and what I need to express would have to done in more than one post. So, while it is true I use this site to post about the history, geography, and the text of the Bible I’m going to spend this week concentrating more on current times and specifically on current trends in worship.

The focal points for my current thoughts and feelings has to do with change. To be more specific....How are we changing our attitudes and our efforts to meet the needs of others as they regularly attend church or walk in the door as a visitor?

I hope you stop back by as I continue with my thoughts regarding change. Comments are welcome and so are private emails if you feel the need. The email address is in the right sidebar.

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