Back to my Writing Prompts...

1. Using the Penn State "scandal" and how it will effect the victims involved as an example, illustrate the theme of how we all have a tragedy in life, as Christ Himself was given, and we all must find a way to overcome that which weighs upon us.

2. Seeing the Good that comes from past Sins.

 (1) I hate this topic now. Penn State has been overly discussed at this point. I actually saw clips from the interview on the news with Sandusky asking him very strait forward questions. It's so creepy that stuff like that can happen now. Like if a serial killer is convicted of murdering people, he can go Charlie Sheen on the media and give full testimony denying his crimes in detail.

Interviewer: "When you were spotted raping a ten year old in the showers, how would you describe what was occurring?"

Sandusky: "Well I would say it was more like horseplay and whipping each other with towels and playing tag in the showers than anything".

That disturbing issue aside, you are then reminded of the ten year old victim. How is he going to make it through this?

How can and do people -especially the young- overcome these sorts of issues when, God knows at this point, young people have taken their own lives over less. Especially teens.

Well, I'd say kids have a better shot -especially through therapy right off the bat. Most ten year olds wouldn't think of committing suicide -at least not as much as older teens would. Because kids are resilient, but teens are not.

Teens have multiple issues on top of whatever abuse or trama could be added. They have stress, depression via hormones, rebellion mixed with the suffocation of being "trapped" at home, fears and doubts mixed with a lack of self-confidence, homework... it's not looking good for teens. At least adults don't have all the given stresses added onto their lives because at that point they've made it over the hump of being a teen.

But what makes someone more able to overcome things than others? I'm giving a glance over at the Zodiacs at this point, because let's be honest -Inner Strength has to do with Inner Personality and Beliefs. Zodiac signs give a good indication of human nature and where people's vices and virtues are.

Knowing people, I know this: There are two kinds with a few reaching into the golden middle third kind.

Group 1: Those who act out of Duty. These are individuals who will act based on standards, concreted references such as books and personal experiences, ideals, and fastened beliefs. The more Adhered an individual from Group 1 is to their sense of Moral Duty, the more capable they will be of handling life and its struggles.

Group 2: Those who act out of Compassion and Intuition. These are the people who hate rules and regulations, and go just with their gut. They don't need to be told what's right to know for themselves what is right. However, there don't have a direct source o strength and guidance to draw from and can therefore lose themselves and become disheartened more easily when they don't have as great a founding in their beliefs and sense of self or purpose. The people from Group 2 who Adhere themselves to their Sense of Moral Compassion and Intuition will have a greater ability to handle life and its struggles.

Group 3: Those who master the art of balancing Compassionate Intuition and Duty. They will struggle the least in life because should one line of strength fail (Duty or Intuition), the other can be drawn from to carry that person through. Christ was the ultimate master of this group and spent his days trying to teach others who were stuck in Group 1 to gain more strength by joining Group 2. He championed Compassion to the lives of those who were blinded by a misguided sense of Duty that left no room for it. And He also reminded those who feared acting out of Duty, to remember the Moral Lessons they were taught and to Adhere themselves to the Bible.

Ultimately, if people are going to overcome anything in life they must be Uplifted in some ways to rise above their struggles. In Buddhism you can refer to this as the Lotus rising pure and white from the muck and murky waters beneath it. Either way, the Divine is the most Pure, Uplifting, Strong, and Radiant sense of Grace man can come close to. But to to that, man has to be willing to sacrifice his own Ego to get Close and Become a part of it.

(2) Seeing the Good that comes from past Sins.

My views of Sins is more aligned with Karma than anything. People act like sins, flaws, or past mistakes are something that defines them. When in reality, it's something people learn and grow from. Or at least they can if they're open to it.

I'm a Pisces. Our motto for viewing the Past/Present/and Future is: Looking Back Toward the Future.

We look back at our past to see what we can learn to help guide us in the present to achieve the best future outcome. I'm honestly surprised more people don't do this. This is just the natural way I've progressed in my life. I wasn't told to do this, I just do it out of habit and common behavior. It's ingrained in me. Call it a Reflective Instinct or an Instinct to Reflect. I replay the past and potential futures in my mind to make the best decisions in the present.

What are my past Sins? Hmmmm... I didn't have much of a life before, which consequently means I didn't have that many past sins. You have to Live in order to make the mistake of Sinning. I was a "good girl" who was afraid of the consequences of misbehaving. So I didn't.

I'd say Sloth may have been Sin, and is still an occassional one. The greater "sins" that will get you and ruin you and your existence have to do with hurting people -but I never hurt others. I will say I did hurt myself though. Usually with self-doubt more than anything. I don't know if Doubting yourself is a sin, but I know lack of Faith is. Most people just apply it to Faith in God or the Universe. Those forces I alsways believed in, but I didn't feel I was worthy of them. I lacked Faith in myself. And in some ways I guess lack of Faith in yourself is a lack of Faith in God.

God put you on this earth for a reason. And that reason was Not to question your existence and wonder why you in all your insignificance could possibly have been chosen. You were not meant to question this gift, but to share it with others. Calling it something unworthy of being shared is selfish and an insult to your Creator. You are from God. You should never doubt Him. Doubting yourself is a form of doubt in God and a lack of Faith. This is a Sin.

With normal sins, not the Great sins that will send you packing your bags to Hell the instant you do them like Murder and Adultery, you mostly have to worry about the level of consistency and frequency with which you sin. This is how the 7 sins and other daily sins will get you.

For the major ones, the lesson is usually instant as is the regret and the baggage you now have to carry around with you because you not only ruined your life, but more than likely someone else's as well. For these types of sins, Time and Constant Relfection are needed to learn fromand overcome these past mistakes. A person will need to constantly try to redeem themselves, which will be hard but ultimately worth it. Don't do the crime if you don't have the Time. Action will matter geratly as well. Acts to humble and uplift will be imperative.

For the minor, normal, ordinary sins people give into -the lesson is a little different. It's never as obvious as it is with greater mistakes and people really need to reflect more and acknowledge how these sins have negatively impacted their life overall from the time they were first acted upon to see their Full impact.

People become their "normal" sins. They do not define themselves by them as they would a past mistake. You can say, "I use to be a drug dealer" -because that one sin defined your entire past life up to this point. But most people don;t say, "I use to be lazy". They usually still are. I use to be "greedy". I use to be "a glutten". It's easy to put these "vices" aside and only focus on major mistaken action.

For someone to overcome and learn from these sorts of past sins, they are required to first Overcome them. You can't say "I use to be" if you "still are". The only way to gain some Good from these sorts of past sins and learn from them is to Stop doing them. The results will pay off on their own and be reflecte more and more as time goes on until one day that person Fully understands why it was a "sin" that needed to be let go of.

"I use to fear speaking to people. Now I don;t have a problem with it." It took time. It sure as hell wasn't easy. But I overcame this set back and now I no longer fear talking to new people. In fact I look forward to it. I have grown from this. Sins must be grown up from in the same way in order for them to become Good past mistakes.