Have you ever used a monosyllable grunt? You know, to agree, or disagree. Or a word to mean yes, or no. Even a nod of the head, up for yes and down for no. Auctioneers know the signals! With the use of the word, everyone expects something to happen. Consider what the interpretation of the grunt, word, or nod means. For the sake of my thought today, I simply call the response a “word”. There is power in that one word!
The “word” does not stand alone. It needs to know the actions that it is related to. Thusly, a laundry list of tasks gets clicked on in your brain, or subconscious. Actions happen in accordance to the grunt, word, or nod.
Words Are Powerful
I write and think a lot about words. They are “muy importante!” You cannot expect everyone to agree or disagree with you. Everyone has a right to their own thoughts, words, and actions. Do we expect everyone to be on the same page? Understand what lies behind the use of our words!
Tell someone to turn off the lights and they will have to look around for all the sources of lights. Look for the switch. Figure out if it goes up and down, or around. Perform some feat of mobility to get to the switch location. Complete the action to make the lights go off. Now What?
One phrase creates many steps,
just like a single grunt, word or nod.
Even a “look”, as in “Don’t give me that look!”
My Subconscious At Work
Now, I’m sure this is true for all of us. How does my subconscious work at night? I awoke to the concept of shutting down our electronic devices. Consider what happens when we hit the “Off” button? Behind the scenes a lot of actions are being taken. Apps must close. Data must be saved. Perhaps a processing point is saved. And a host of other tasks I’m not even thinking about.
Choosing to press the key for “off” or “on” (like yes or no) produces a litany of actions. Someone had to think of all the possibilities. Ensure that processes shut down or start up in an organized fashion.
I understand the difference between a “clean” shutdown, and a “dirty” or emergency shutdown. Computers can be so sensitive! Experience the power blink…whoops! Everything not on emergency power goes dark! Repair the problem and be prepared for the inevitable. It may not work right without repairs! It will take many steps of recovery to simply turn the electronic back “on”.
Back In The Day
Back in the day, our church in Humble, Tx, was enjoying the start of a Sunday evening service. Suddenly a storm blew through, lightning hit the building and our power panel was fried. The church went pitch dark. We did not have emergency lighting as building codes back then did not require them. We scrambled for candles and flashlights from all over the campus. Our guest speaker sat down at the non-electronic piano and proceeded to entertain the audience.
What did he play? I think it was the 14 ways you can play “3 Blind Mice“! From classical, to rock, on to country and every other way you can imagine! He kept it up for nearly 30 minutes! Slowly we found enough lights to help everyone leave the building safely.
Here’s My Thought Today
Consider what happens behind the scenes when we agree or make a request for something. Nodding in agreement or shaking our head in disagreement can open a can of worms. Especially if we have no clue what that nod or shake portends.
Paul’s requested something from his protege, Timothy. It’s his last known letter. Ever.
Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come—
and the books, especially the parchments.
(2 Timothy 4:13 NKJV)
In other words, “bring my stuff to me”, from Troas (near Ephesus) all the way to Rome. It was not an afterthought of bringing something left behind at the house. No. It was a major process to schedule for Paul’s stuff to reach him. Paul is requesting it in the form of a letter that will take a goodly while to reach Timothy! I wonder if he ever got his stuff?!!? If not, what did they do with it after he was gone?
Think This Through
It’s our wedding day. Standing before Rev A. E. Matney with a crowd of family and friends, my bride says, “I do”. Those same words come out of my mouth. No one told us the meaning behind the words. No one offered premarital counseling or a book on how to be married. It’s been a life-long learning process!
Signing on the dotted line for a huge mortgage, did we think it through? There is the assumption by the lender that we will agree to the terms of the loan. Namely, make our payments on time for the next 30 years!
Think about that which you so easily agreed or disagreed with. Consequences behind every word requires action! Processes get started, and an orderly approach to accomplishing the tasks! Goals need to be set! An objective needs to be identified!
“Watch your thoughts, they become words; watch your words, they become actions; watch your actions, they become habits; watch your habits, they become character; watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”
~Frank Outlaw, Late President of the Bi-Lo Stores
I’ve Heard This Before
Sort of sounds like some scriptural principles at work here! (As a man thinketh in his heart… Proverbs 23:7) You need to understand what must happen in the background for the affirmation of your response!
I’m not sure why this is churning inside my mind right now. Consider that it’s easy to say one thing, and mean another! My task list is full of agreements! Delegate! Relegate! There’s not enough time in my world to accomplish everything!
How about you? Have you simply agreed or disagreed with something without any thought about what must still happen to meet your wishes? Maybe if we would think this through a little deeper. What would that be like!??! Well, perhaps we would not find ourselves in over our heads and no way out!
Keep on thimking!