Introducing... God.

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." -Ben Franklin

"Love is the answer, at least for most of the questions in my heart, like why are we here or where do we go or how come its so hard?" -Jack Johnson

Glass: Half full or half empty?

Perhaps we have grown tired of the metaphor. Even if the glass is half FULL, it is still only HALF full. Who wants a half full glass?  Not me. Fill that puppy up to the tippy top, and then we’ll talk.

I don’t think anyone really thinks in terms of a glass being half full or half empty. We are all less focused on the glass, then we are about the pitcher that is refilling it. You see, the more beverage that enters YOUR glass from that pitcher, the less gets poured into MINE. There is only so much beverage in the pitcher to around. Consequently, I must try to get a greater portion than you get.

Let me suggest a new way of thinking. A keg is filling your glass. It is filling everyone else’s too. Don’t forget!  When that keg is empty, there are hundreds MORE in the back, and MORE on the way from the beer factory!! There is much MORE to drink than you could possibly get to in one day, month, year, or lifetime!!! Are we in Dublin?

All of your coworkers, family members, and friends could not drink enough to end this vast supply. What does that do to your sense of urgency? It slows down. How about your feelings toward others? They grow fonder. You are no longer threatened. How does that change how you feel about the half full glass? It is still just HALF full, but it can be topped off at any moment. Now you have the freedom to just enjoy the rest of the beverage.

Strength of GIF is about sourcing your energies from God. We really haven’t talked about that up until now, but we need to talk about it. If you have yet to believe in God, you are in luck. I am a man who believes in God, but would never ask anyone to subscribe to something that drains and wastes energy.

The model of God that many have put forward is that of a man who lives up in the sky. He basically tells us when we are wrong. “Sin” constitutes separation from God, so we must do our best to define sin and point out when people cross the line. This is the model of God that we have devised to arise the competition of godliness. Without comparing sins, we cannot tell who is better and closer to God.

There is a new model for God, a more accurate one.

God is a source of love, life, and energy that is everlasting and abundant. Our efforts now, must be focused on defining God. Defining God is difficult if not impossible. It often leads us to a state of preponderance and wonder, also known as, worship.  However, in continually affirming the depth and breath of this God, we grow more aware of a presence that is in each of us. “God with us”. This contradicts nicely with the old model of “God removed from us”.

I won’t ask a person to believe in God, at least not a portrait of a man who lives in the sky. I will ask you to try this: believe in a source of love, life, and energy that is everlasting and abundant. You can call it God if you want to, but you can call it many other things too. The belief alone is enough to change EVERYTHING.

What does this belief do for you?

1. No more competitions. That means no more losing. I refuse to lose, but I also refuse to let you lose. We all can do well, simultaneously. 

2. No more inadequacy. That means no more shame. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with me. I make mistakes, but I am fundamentally okay. I am good. If I am good, then you are good too. You are fundamentally good. No matter what becomes of your actions, you are good. We will always return to this theme.

So let me close with three questions: Whose glass is fuller at work? Whose glass is fuller at home? Who cares? Congratulate them and enjoy yours. 

-Strength of GIF