IT'S TIME TO TAKE ONE FOR THE TEAM: TELL THE TRUTH

TEXT IN GREEN ARE LINKS - CLICK ON THEM - TRUTH OR DARE

There comes a time in life where we must do what's in the best interest of others as opposed to ourselves. The term "taking one for the team" epitomizes that sentiment. This meme seems to have originated with baseball and implies allowing oneself to get struck by a pitch rather then ducking out of the way. This is a personal sacrifice a player can make at the risk of injury in order to advance a runner on base. The truth is that we have arrived a time in history that calls for that same kind of selfless actions by our leaders. By leaders, we refer to anyone and everyone charged with the responsibility for the welfare of others. This list begins with parents, teachers, clergy, law makers, law enforcers and ALL leaders who exercise authority over other people or events. The truth does not operate through convenience. As a matter of fact the truth has a way of being inconvenient. Unfortunately the truth needs a vessel to express itself through. The truth speaks to us through our experiences but it has no voice of its own. If we fail to hear truth's call or heed truth's warnings it is generally because we ignored it. The truth "cries" through the voice of wisdom, pleading with us to turn from foolishness to the "spirit of understanding." Leaders as "feeders" are responsible for delivering the truth, along with the spiritual nourishment needed to grow and prosper. Truth provides us with a motive for change and is at the height of its power and expression when the right thing to do is difficult or unpopular. Often truth needs a champion because many times we just don't want to see it for what it is. The truth is generally pretty obvious but sometimes requires someone to sacrifice themselves for it. Truth never hesitates to take one for the team. Whatever truth needs to do to advance, it is always willing to do. When truth advances the team advances and when the truth is not advanced, no one advances on the bases, and the batter is likely to strike out. Without understanding and embracing a team concept of truth it is difficult to apply it in terms of we rather then me.

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GREAT LEADERS DON'T TELL US WHAT TO DO......THEY SHOW US HOW ITS DONE!

Leadership is a vital Leaders lead by example and must model how individual efforts impact collective thought and behavior. Individuality is at the lowest and most rudimentary level of spirituality. As we mature it is normal to grow from dependent to independent. However, the truth of the matter is that nothing great has ever been accomplished without "i-n-t-e-r-d-e-p-e-n-d-e-n-t cooperative interaction." That's just another way of describing being a part of a team. It is not uncommon to witness the sacrifice of a leader individually having a dramatic effect upon a collective group; that's what leaders do. Consider the great martyrs of history. The truth of the matter is that the road of progress is often paved with the blood of human sacrifice. Among those who took one for the team are Joan of Arch, John the Baptist, Jesus the Christ, Gandhi the pacifist and Martin Luther King Jr. the non-violent. We can still see the affects of their effect. The easiest way to take one for the team is to tell the truth. A truly called, ordained or predestined leader generally feels compelled to proclaim the truth. A leader can be established through legal authority or by moral authority. Appointed and elected leaders govern or rule through the legitimacy of their designated position of power legally. The authority bestowed upon or granted to leaders by this method may not have to be earned. Leadership positions can be bought or bargained for in exchange for favor or power. On the other hand, moral authority is usually foisted upon leaders who answer only to truth. Moral authority has no prerequisites, just a genuine standard of truth or a willingness to stand up for what's right. Moral authorities like Moses, Jesus, Gandhi, King and others were not elected they were "called."

Truth has a cousin called facts. Facts are generally true but they must be regarded as the structures which gives form to truth. The fact is, that facts can be used to twist truth. Although we know that most facts are predominately true they can be framed to present a narrative that obscures the truth. News and politics specialize in obscuring truth through a terminology we call spin. "Spin" is the process of presenting evidence in such a way that the elephant in the room remains unnoticed. It works because the main issue is obfuscated by the spin. Besides our politicians and commentators everyone of us has a biased personal spin. This comes from our lack of understanding the rudimentary operations of spirit and not being able to see past secondary causes. By majoring in the minors we often misconstrue, misdiagnose or just miss the mark. These mistakes are magnified even more when we fail to acknowledge our mistakes or stubbornly believe that we are correct despite evidence to the contrary. In psychology this is called "confirmation bias."The lens we look through determines how we see things. Spin is like the maze of mirrors in an amusement park. Spin teaches us how to frame an apology, as Congressman Ted Yoho did, without ever actually apologizing. Is it any wonder that our country has descended into shameful and petty name calling along with bullying like so many of us experienced in grade school. This behavior started from the top and trickled down. When the leader who holds our highest office practices verbal abuse towards people, even women, what keeps the rest of his team from following that lead in the "spirit of unity." Demeaning words are meant to have the same effect whether the phase includes "bitches or niggers." This "anti-christian spirit" works directly against the "spirit of love" and trashes every commandment in the bible regarding how we should behave towards and treat one another. Yet our fundamental Christian Church leaders have NOT spoken out against such behavior and instead seemingly has joined that team. I thought the church's job was to define, exhibit and hold us all to Christ like standards without partiality. Doesn't the christian church have to answer to a higher power? isn't the job of the preacher to cry out against evil practices without fear or favor even if it's within their own ranks? Even Jesus rebuked Peter when he got out of line. We are not expecting the clergy to condemn our government, only our government's bad behavior. We do not condemn our children when they misbehave we chastise their behavior and continue to love them. Although the militant church may have failed to answer to their higher calling it does not excuse us from speaking out at and standing up against the "spirits of division and hate." If the leadership in our churches neglect their duty we must still obey the word of God. We are commanded to speak not evil of one another. The bible declares that when we speak evil of one another and judge one another, we speak evil of the law and judge the law. When facts and truth team up with honesty, service and sacrifice the elephant in the room becomes apparent and re-framing the narrative becomes very difficult to do. We all should know by now that it is virtually impossible to put a spin on a pandemic. This virus has intelligence and a mission to fulfill. We can successfully combat this virus only if we come together and work as a team. When a team is on one accord working towards a mutual goal they often have a formula for success. Such information becomes a critical shared team strategy.  

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Our team approach to truth functions through standing against all individual "acts of lying." Remember a unified team operates collectively and uniformly through a conglomerate of unique and separate forms called players. When each individual form conforms to the uniform goal of the whole, the team is capable of performing as one newly formed unit. This is what transformation is all about. Whenever individual forms of any kind are assimilated into one form or combine as one form, they create a chain as strong as its weakest link. As long as each individual link stays connected with the ones next to it, a newly created single unbroken chain is formed. Any break, breech or separation by any one link compromises the entire chain. Any weight or stress on any link is distributed and shared among all links of the connected chain. This is the chain's formula for strength that is found in this formidable and powerful formation. The shared capacity of all links work hand in hand with the uniformity of their cause. By combining the power of individual purposes focused on one goal both natural and spiritual forces of energy are mutually engaged. Team unity is a function of spirit. The composition and structure of a team can vary from unit to unit but it generally carries a shared pool of beliefs, morals, qualities and values. As birds of a feather do flock together so does the "spirit of action" and intent of a unified team. Never forget that the spirit or mentality of any close knit formed group has a culture of shared rationale and thinking that develops psychically. This is also known as team spirit. This, "all for one and one for all" spirit is a great communal force that unifies an entire group or organization. When the character of an organization is reflected in every aspect of its functional being the name of the organization becomes its character. We see this with the Free Masons, Shriner's, Google and even The Marines. "No man left behind," is more then a mantra for the Army Rangers it is a group or team way of life. This mysterious unifying phenomena occurs at the physical, psychological and spiritual levels of interaction so that "birds of a feather" can both act and feel as one. The harmonious merger of attitudes and beliefs also conforms individual thought actions into a shared way of thinking and processing information. Any individual error reflects upon the entire team. This is why we hold all groups, organizations or teams to a higher standard of appearance and behavior. This is why the uniforms they proudly wear represent their affiliation with the ideals of that institution. When we form these organizations, we bestow upon them a power that can be used or abused. It is therefore important that these teams answer to their spiritual mission and the constituency it serves. This allows external supervision in such a way that a team is always accountable to it's written mandate and subject to its body of oversight. A team answers to two factors: its mission and its leader, in that order. The leader is never above the mission.

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There are team structures which protect teams from being infiltrated by evil influences. This is why we form and use team strategies. Even when a team's leader falls short the team's mission still carries on. The spirit of the team is in its dedication to its calling and duty. A breech in team integrity also indicates a lack of spiritual integrity and values. When we define things in spiritual terms the measure of severity is determined in terms of "sin" rather then "wrong." Sin​ has a deceptive and delusional way of appearing to be normal. Traditional thinking may not address the hidden, invisible and lingering inequities of sin we face today. Whenever something is habitually practiced it becomes blindly accepted. Whether a deed is considered right or wrong, good or evil anything done in perpetuity is generally con-ceded or allowed to continue. This is why hunger, poverty, apartheid, racism and a sex trade still exists. Our iniquities allow these sins to continue by deafening our ears and blinding our eyes to them. Without a quickened consciousness to these types of sins that we often overlook they will continue to defile both individuals and teams. There are those sins that works abominations and makes lies. The instinct to sin is embedded in our nature. The iniquity, of such sins, the moral distortion, (spin) that we use as conformation bias is what many people are unaware of. We have given "this"the title of "Sin Spin." This is a part of our intentional selfish inclination or motive to sin called iniquity. Iniquity is not only the action but also the character of that action. Being wrong is not a sin but all sin is wrong. There are many deceptive, hidden and perplexing ways sin manifests itself in our natural tangible world. Iniquity is the personality of that particular sin. It is the very energy, impetus and desire aroused as sin. "Sin Spin" is driven from the imagination, as is all of our creative energies, and as such the severity of the sin is determined by the psychic severity of the spin. One remarkable aspect or effect of the "mystery of iniquity" seems to be that so many people are being so easily deceived by seemingly simple psychological and psychic manipulation. Only through iniquity can the idea of "necessary evil" be conceptualized or embraced. This property of iniquity allows the perpetuation of "evil practices" in good conscious. Iniquity is the spiritual expression or attitude that gives form to the "feeling" of the sin within our thoughts and acts. Iniquity can be regarded as having a comorbidity with our body, soul and spirits relationship to sin. ​

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Here are some hard truths. Are we ready to sacrifice our opinions, feelings or beliefs in the light of these truths. Our government has succumbed to a "spirit of division." Being divided and not working as a team at this critical stage of the game is at the core of the problem. The proletariat (that's the voters) followed suit and have allowed and accepted this divisive "spirit of politics." Although there is "no such thing" as a neutral position in spiritual matters the voice of the Church seems to be very quiet about what's going on. This means that as a nation we have abdicated our moral authority. This nation has chosen to selectively Sin Spin its history in spite of the resurgence of its unresolved issues which recently resurfaced. We should accept and deal with our dark past but not celebrate its villainy. At this time we are not following Jesus, Allah, Jehovah, Gandhi, Mohammed, The Dalai Lama, The Pope or principles from any other of today's spiritual leaders. So what are we following? We now know that as Jesus said if we are not part of the solution we are now a part of the problem. Anyone can see that the moral backbone of America at best is weak. Regardless of the circumstances, issues, policies or politics; the richest nation on earth has failed to protect its own most vulnerable people. When a family, community, city, county, state, region or country fails to provide for the weakest portion of its population, we might as well start aborting or killing any handicapped child at birth and exterminating any of our senior citizens unable to meet certain mental and physical health standards. It's sad that it hasn't occurred to us that when our weather forecast include air quality reports, it indicates that we're actually polluting our own shared air. Greed has taken priority over need and we have embraced its blindness. We all have chosen at one time or another, whether consciously or unconsciously, to remain unseeing in situations where “we could know, and should know, but don’t know because it makes us feel better not to know.” No team can successfully function this way. Blindness can be a physical, mental or spiritual condition. Many times it's simply a matter of will.

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