The
Informational Stash
11/20/13
The
information age is here and most of us have adapted to this way of
living. There is nothing wrong with having an abundance of
information but as we all can imagine this wealth can be used for or against
us. At some point in our history humans deemed it necessary to make
sure that future generations could have a means to look back and to understand
what life was like many centuries ago. God also constructed this
type of bulletin so that we could define our past and make sure that we had the
opportunity not to repeat the same mistakes again.
When
I was growing up most of you know that I was raised in church. It
was a common sight that each week when we all entered into the building we were
immediately greeted by one or more individuals that would offer any type of
assistance that was needed. These people would also hand out a small
piece of folded paper that would contain a pretty picture on the outside cover
and general information about the services on the bottom portion of the front
cover. When you opened up the bulletin it was filled with the major
events and news of the coming week that the church was either offering or
announcing other pertinent information that the pastor and staff wanted the
congregation to know.
Even
though the church information and news was contained in the bulletin many of
the announcements would still be repeated from the pulpit just to make sure
that everyone in the building had the opportunity to know what was
happening. This was the way and still is in many churches how church
information gets passed along to the congregation or to anyone who is
interested in attending any church function. This type of
communication is also a good way to keep past information about the church and
can serve as a great reference when any historical item needs to be brought
back up for any particular reason. I know that my parents still have
a good amount of the bulletins that were handed out from many of their
churches, just as a reminder and keep-sake from that time frame.
When
I was in high school I have to honestly say that studying was not my
forte. I was a smart young kid but to get me to study was, as one of
my friends likes to say, like herding cats. It was an almost
impossible task and according to my logic I really did not need to study much
because I was making good enough grades to keep me out of a grounding
status. I had no idea of why I needed to study in the first place
and at that point in time I considered books and the information that they
contained to be a waste of my time. So, when I was required to study
for things I would open that book and stare at its contents for a while, turn
the page and repeat that process until the assigned pages were completed.
This
really proved to my parents and to my teachers that I had no clue of how to
study for assignments and it proved to myself that I had the potential but had
no intentions of completing this task; and don’t even ask me to read an entire
book from cover to cover either. I considered my time to be more
valuable and useful by doing other things and deemed those other things being
far greater a life experience than sting behind a desk or table with my nose in
a book. Boy was I wrong, especially since I had no idea that if I
combined both of these situations at that time I would have gained so much more
knowledge about life than I could have ever imagined. I look back
now and really kick myself for not understanding what my parents were trying to
show me by having me read and study. I know that if I had listened
to them and had ignored my stupid ideas back then I would understand much more
of what the world is experiencing today.
As
my high school years and college years progressed I was introduced to another
type of information tool called the bulletin board. When I was attending
Lamar University I lived in one of the academic dorms, don’t fool yourself even
though it was an academic dorm that does not mean that everyone in that dorm
considered themselves to be academic. Anyway, the first day of
classes the dorm mother had a meeting that was required that all students were
present and it was at this time that the staff was introduced and general
information was handed out to all residents. The meeting lasted
about an hour and covered all of the safety issues of the day along with the
general security details about the building. Many other topics were
covered and as normal when the hour long meeting had concluded the majority of
the people inside the dayroom were not paying attention.
Our
dorm mother, Mrs. A, also made a couple of points clear and even re-iterated a
couple of issues to everyone so that no one would have any excuses of not
knowing what was being said. One of these issues was the dorm
bulletin board and everything about its whereabouts and contents. She
made it very clear that all dorm information was going to be posted at this
location as it became available. She also stressed that it was our
responsibility to go to that bulletin board every day and to read its contents
because things would probably appear on a daily basis. She repeated
this statement more than once during the meeting and at the end of the meeting
asked us where all of the dorm information was going to be located.
Placing
information on bulletin boards was a popular thing to do, I realized this when
I got to my first job opportunity. The hospital followed the same
kind of format with general and departmental information that needed to be read
by all staff members. This trend followed all the way up to my
current position some 25 years down the road and even today some of the general
policies that have been created or changed in some way are still placed on a bulletin
board for everyone to read, even if they do not have access to our email
system.
The
internet is a great source of information but as any other type of
communication line, it can provide a wealth of garbage as well. The
concept of email is a great way to communicate with anyone around the world but
falling into the wrong hands can bring about a total destruction of a person,
company or nation. The invention of the internet has revolutionized
the means and ways that humans communicate with one another. It does
not matter if you are next door to a person or clear across the world for the
lines of communication are now interconnected with each other. This
type of informational pathway proves important because the ones who want people
to have certain information can provide this information and then have a record
of its sending and receiving within a matter of seconds.
The
human aspects of this type of communication are still in play but it is easier
for those receiving the information to ask questions and get answers to those
questions quicker than ever before. I took an online history class a
few years back and found that even though my professor was in Laramie, Wyoming
and I was in Delta, Colorado I could send him information and he would receive
it instantaneously. All of the communication and interaction during that
course was conducted in this manner, it was marvelous and a great way to obtain
answers, find information about the class and even receive grades.
The
reason that dorm mothers, parents, professors, bosses send out information is
to make sure that everyone within that organization or living facility
understands what is transpiring during that current period of time. It
would be a total disaster and legal nightmare if these types of informational
packets were not made available to those that may be affected by certain
events. Employers and family leaders find it a must to communicate
with the necessary people in order to keep the normal flow moving. If
any person in a position of leadership failed to make this type of information
unavailable or deliberately withheld important information from the people
under their care, then that person should be held liable for any and all
damages accrued when the time came and people found out things the hard way.
The
legal issues are what drive the points home to everyone that is involved in the
communication lineage. Every aspect of life is dictated by rules and
regulations. It does not matter if one agrees with these rules or
not they are there and have been put into place in order for everyone to
understand and to grasp the concept of protection and the importance of
avoiding problems in the future. God even follows a legal path to everyday
life as well and I am not talking about the legalistic ways that man has put
into place within the Church, I am talking about the legal aspects of our lives
and the access that our enemy has to our inner core.
There
are certain paths that we take in life and there are certain paths that our
enemy must follow and when we open up a path then we must understand that he
will be right there waiting to follow that path. Ever stop and look
back at your family’s past or history and wonder what traits you or your
children might have? I recommend that each of us do this step and
find out what they can expect and it will give you a great opportunity to do
some major healing before major problems arise. If we humans choose
to ignore any physical policy that has been put into place then why would it be
any different for our spiritual side of life?
God
has provided an excellent bulletin board that is full of information on how we
can avoid major catastrophes within our lives. The forces of nature
we cannot control but the actions and purposes of humanity we alone can control
and solve if we just understand how to do this process effectively. The
answers are located within the Bible and that is God’s informational stash that
He has provided us with so that we can avoid many troublesome times. The
Bible is a legal document about how humans have lived and the ways that they
have chosen to follow. It is also serves as a legal representation
of what God and our enemy can operate in and how both sides of the issues can
affect our lives.
Our
lives are the central feature of the content of the Bible. The words
in the Bible and the stories within the Bible give us a directional and legal
concept of what will occur in our lives. Many denominations have
used this legal stance against the people of the world and have forced them to
comply with their legalistic methods in order to subdue the individuality of
the human heart. God posted these stories within the Bible in order
to provide us with a roadmap of what not to do and what to do with our lives
and this informational stash of knowledge is not meant as a control measure but
as a obligation from our Creator to give us a means of escape.
This
is another example of why the Bible is of great importance and relevance to our
lives today. Just as our parents sought to give us guidelines to
teach us things when we were young and as our bosses set and comply with
guidelines from above, God wants us to have an abundant life and also for us to
understand that it is necessary that we read and study these guidelines in
order to accurately obtain the freedoms we so desperately desire. We
cannot take the teenage mentality about studying and believe that we know
everything that God is trying to show us. It is impossible for us to
figure out everything by this approach. We must truly study this
guidebook and understand every meaning that it has to offer within the confines
of our entire life. Being human means mistakes are going to be made,
God understands this and that is a great reason why He has provided us with a
book to help us limit our problems. If we come to His Word and do
our best to understand its contents God shall open our hearts wide enough to
figure things out and to know exactly what it means for us today. God
is a contemporary God, in the ancient times, in the medieval times and even
today.
As I
have tried to communicate with the above paragraphs, man has developed various
ways throughout history in order to communicate their ideas, plans, and wishes
to others that might have interest in what is occurring around them. Even
though people may have no connection to these communities they still have a way
to access this information if they choose. The people that are
directly included in these communities can choose to read or ignore the
contents of these means of communication. There are also those who
will read these statements and misinterpret them or not fully understand the
meaning or importance of what is being said. All possible motives,
angles and future excuses can be used if necessary to defend one’s personal
recognition of the posted content; this is a great tool that humans use on a
constant basis.
I
suggest that we as a nation once again address the issue that we have a major
problem that all of us are facing and that we turn back to the Bible for the
answers to these issues that we so desperately need. If we choose
not to look into God’s direction we shall surely watch our nation and the
western beliefs that all of us in the world desire go up in flames. But
if we turn our hearts back to the eternal provider and open His guidebook and
apply its meanings to our lives, we will find comfort and rest from the inside
out. God loves each and every one of us and He created His words of
wisdom for our guidance and not for our punishment. He uses human
history in order to provide a measuring stone for our current situations. God
is the only answer for you and every other inhabitant in the world. Return
to Him and He will faithfully restore everything that we have lost. Reread
all of the scripture verses in the old printed bulletins from church, or look
at the verses of the Bible that are on the internet. Which ever way
you wish to choose, just open the Bible again and begin to find the answers to
our troubled lives.
DLB
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