“The Heart” and “The Mind of God” concepts applied to specific circumstances…

As I had promised in my last posting I translated from English to Spanish the general comments and reflections that on these two concepts I had written back in March 2007 to be included in the armsoflove.org web page under the captions “The heart and the mind”, “Amidst the needs - there is hope”, Above all else: Love”, “A message to the future” and “The Time is Now”.

At that time I affirmed the general sense of the comments because at that precise moment in time I related both concepts to the ministry parameters due to its particular vision about how and up to what point we were supposed to deal with the issues of Christian homes care and protection.

I will not transcribe, again, the corresponding paragraphs that were already included in those commentaries adding only the present complementing thoughts that apply to a wider and greater scenario as I pretend this time to address the whole spectrum of worldly and spiritual causes and effects that affect the whole nation and in a similar fashion all nations as well.

The specific purpose is to analyze the potential ways and approaches that will enable us to visualize general as well as specific long, medium and short term approaches, methods and actions that will consider both extremes of the equation, the abused and the abusers, the ones who failed in protecting their children as well as the children themselves.

Only then and in a concerted and collective approach and unselfishly cooperating with each other actions we will find the way to shorten the generational gap that many times leads us to plan and act for the future (which I impatiently many times in the past stated as a necessary and unavoidable circumstance) forgetting or putting aside the present and the past that created such a present and harmful environment.

As many of you have probably and easily guessed, besides my explicit referencing I have done from time to time, I come from a middle class, Catholic education, military and political background, turn into a reborn Christian, missionary dedication to YWAM and other evangelical ministries especially in the areas of planning, financing, mentoring and organizing for more than 20 years, because of my early adulthood specialized training in the best U.S. Army Graduate Schools, in Hospital Administration, Logistics, Project Management, International Relations, ending with the jewel of the crown: Financial Management training for non U.S. specialists, back in 1969 and 1970 in Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis.

All this enabled me to visualize not just what it fell into our hands but the wider scenarios and horizons, in all levels of life and society. Many times in the past I have had to analyze and forecast long term logical events derived from present circumstances. The analytical factors were always “Timing”, “Finances” and “Resources”, specially the “on hand”, the “potential”, the ”limited”, the “scarce”, the “unbending”, the “non flexible”, the “prone to limited points of views” human resources.

We were taught and trained on how to visualize and use all these factors in order to line them all up in a transcending, far ranged and long termed effort. Naturally all this led you to live in a secluded spot where you had the responsibility to analyze, present, lead at times, but always looking for the leaders at all levels who could and would be responsible for acting and transforming dreams into realities. The Habakkuk prophet role that I had already mentioned from time to time!

I do not want to repeat everything I wrote in our Emilio & Gladys Padilla Spanish blog version on August 15th. 2008. You can click on the translating offer in the google caption where the blog appears, if you want to get a first even if not completely proficient translation of my comments.

I titled the commentaries as “Protection versus Abuse – A Dilemma for Christians” or the “need to understand… what I am here describing as the essence of the material and spiritual social problems we are tackling with, so…. we can factually do what we should really be doing, not only individually or as an specific group, but in a validly, positive, complementing and concerted effort with the whole body of social institutions alongside with the body of Christ (churches, ministries, individuals directly or indirectly involved through acting or donating)

Probably as in there I said I have been subliminally analyzing the whole social spectrum of my nation, already going beyond the natural parameters of the ministry I was involved with. Unredeemed and unrepentant dreamer, as my wife would say. Dreaming with my spirit, my mind and my emotions, flying higher up in the skies of the awareness and realizations, well beyond the still unclimbed mountain tops that lie ahead in our future, farther away than the remote shores on still non navigated seas of upheavals and misunderstanding. But always with the feet firmly planted on the fertile soil of whole realities and not just limited perceptions, longings, preferences or expectations!

Many times in my past, both in the worldly realm as well as in the missionary one, I have had to not only analyze, organize, exhaustively plan and teach, sometimes by action and example, other times by mentoring and guidance. Many times I found energetic, independent minded, resolute, impatient, limitedly comprehending of the wider horizons twists” people, prone to be practical without fully understanding that all plans and individual or group human efforts in the end have to be submitted to the Lord´s planning and timing as the only way to receive His abundant blessings and provisions.

The individual tendency for self fulfillment and control, as well as for human recognition and submission to our real or potential leadership many times precludes and prevents the expanding success of our actions. For paying excessive attention to the signs and consequences, and the hasty seeking of immediate success we can end up missing the wonders of God´s plans for all of our lives, ours and of those on whom we focus our efforts.

Because God is a wonderful, generous and faithful God, but it is also a jealous one when we do not have Him but us, seated in the throne in the center of our heart and spirit. He can allow us temporal or human success, but this success will never be the same as the one obtained working together, in a real team spirit, recognizing what we can humanly do as part of a whole body, and not as the body itself naturally and humanly centered in our own human being as the logical leader.

With all this in mind I will continue referring to my understanding of how complex the social challenge really is, dissecting and analyzing its intricate structure and inner relationships between all types of causes and its corresponding effects, in such a way that it could be easier to spot the area where we can all, without exception, rejection, discrimination, isolation, be better instrumentals for God´s handiwork for the better being of our children and societies.

I believe that I have already laid down the basis and foundation for my thoughts and comments. What is next is to tackle and expound the specific and practical ways to translate thought into specific actions. In doing so let´s pray and expect that we will be able to lead other children on their steps into their future