Jonah’s Brother

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Earnest: Yo, Jonah!

Jonah: Yo, Earnest! What brings you all the way back here to Nineveh?

E. Well, it’s kind of embarrassing…

J. Please don’t tell me this is for another whale pun!

E. What? No, nothing like that.

J. Whew. That’s a relief. I can handle anything except another whale pun.

E. Oh, great! I actually wanted to talk to you about bitterness and judgmentalism.

J. …

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1/7 Limerick: Favor Bears

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The favor of God is a gift
Whose purpose we must learn to sift
Not freedom from pain
But fruit that we gain
Reveals how the Lord healed our rift

“A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.”

John‬ ‭16‬:‭21‬

10/6 Poem: Word Works

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The work of God’s Word
Is that He be heard
By which I mean
That we can be seen

The point of His letter
Is to love Him better
By helping me see
Just how He loves me

This sounds very nice
But hides a steep price
For what He wants most
Is I give up my ghost!

I cannot tell a lie:
God wants me to die
So I can be more
Like the One I adore

This is the truth
He’s shown us since Ruth:
My world must be torn
So that Christ can be born

The craziest part
Is that this is the start
Of how God heals my heart
With His Word torn apart

Limerick: Unclean Healing

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Everyone wants to be seen
Performing a healing that’s clean
Where it’s clear I am right
To all those in sight
And nobody knows where I’ve been

Much harder to go to a cross
And bear all the world’s shame and loss
But if we’re like Him
And want to kill sin
He’s gotta make gold from our dross

Breaking The Grievance Circuit

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SixSeconds EQ is named for the fact that the initial emotional response to an external trigger only lasts about six seconds.

I have noticed that certain triggers activate a self-perpetuating “grievance circuit” in my mind. This keeps a narrative justifying my resentment circulating in my mind; because I don’t know the appropriate action needed to resolve that trigger — and my psyche considers it too important to ignore!

This is vital information; but also a huge waste of resources. I must confess I don’t yet have a practice for reliably addressing this kind of problem, but here are some questions that might help:

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