Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Tilded
Halo.
This is a new podcast and it'sfor anybody who's a woman in
ministry.
You might be a pastor likemyself, a bishop, a priest, a
rabbi, music minister, elderchildren's minister whatever
your title is, you're absolutelyin the right place, especially
if you're someone who loves yourministry and you're doing it
(00:24):
well and you're feeling pressureto sometimes be perfect and
deep down inside you know you'renot.
And how in the world to dealwith that?
And men, you're absolutelywelcome here too, because this
is about ministry and the samething can happen to you.
So you're all in the rightplace.
Let's get started with the show.
(00:45):
What do you see?
Or maybe I should ask thequestion what do you choose to
see?
I think about that because itwas many years ago it was back
in 1992 to be precise.
(01:05):
I read a book called Happinessis a Choice by Barry Neil
Kaufman, and in the verybeginning of the book, on page
five to be precise, he has alittle part that's in italics
(01:26):
and a separate little box on thepage and he says the way we
choose to see the world createsthe world we see.
And when I first read that backin 1992, I thought really you
got to be kidding me, because Imean, I was thinking you know,
(01:49):
there are facts out there.
There are things that actuallyhappen, there are things that
happen to us and that's exactlyhow they are right, are they?
Is that really true?
And as I've thought about that,even that year further, I began
to understand more of what hewas saying, and it really
(02:13):
applies to all parts of ourlives, to every part of our
lives.
I listen to, at times, peoplewho watch the news or read the
newspaper.
They say things like well,everything that's out there,
it's all bad news.
(02:33):
Why should I even look at it?
And sometimes they choose notto.
Then you know, and they talkabout there are bad things out
there.
There's no question about that.
I'm not denying that in thevery least.
But they also don't notice someof the other things that are
(02:56):
said during the program or thatare in other parts of the paper.
Maybe it's a small article onthe same page, but it's there
about somebody helping somebodyelse, about something good that
happened A neighbor who helpedto rescue somebody from a
(03:19):
burning building.
You know, somebody who did akind deed and started a fund to
help somebody else.
There are all kinds of goodthings out there.
There are all kinds of verygood people out there too, and,
(03:40):
yes, the ones that make the newsprimarily, and the situations
that make the news primarily,are the difficult things, the
hard things and what we wouldoften call the bad things that
happen.
And then when that's what wefill our news with, that's when
(04:04):
that's what we fill our day with, that's what we end up feeling
like, that's what life is allabout, not just that day's
newspaper or the news channelthat we're watching, but that
that applies to everyone andeverything.
And that that is the wholestory about life about people,
(04:28):
about a certain group of people.
But because there's one personor two people in a group who
behave a certain way or dosomething that's not right and
that's not legal in that sense,then we begin to think that all
the people in that group, or allthe people who are like that,
(04:49):
are also not right and thatthey're going to do things that
are not legal.
And we see that as people talkabout those who are coming to
this country across the southernborder and they're not just
from one country, they're from awhole variety of places and the
(05:11):
way some people say that theyshould be treated just because
there are some who do thingslike smuggle drugs in, then the
idea is that everybody who comesacross the border is smuggling
drugs no, they're not.
(05:31):
Or that everybody with abackpack?
No, that's not true.
And so we have to stop and thinkare we seeing the bad things
and the things that arejustifying our responses and
(05:56):
then globalizing them to justifyan even harsher response on a
broader group of people?
Or that everybody who does onething with the abortion issue
got people who are saying thatthose who are pro-choice want
(06:19):
abortion all the way up to thetime of delivery?
That's never been promoted byanybody on the pro-choice issue,
and yet there are those who areusing that kind of statement
and so they see the world andanybody who's pro-choice as
(06:41):
really doing things like that.
Or those who are pro-choiceseeing that those who are
anti-abortion as having thatkind of radical thinking about
what's going on.
And so it works on both sidesof the issue as to how we can
(07:06):
take one thing that eitherresonates with what we're afraid
of or what we're concernedabout, or a belief system that
we have, and how somebody elsemay disagree with that, and then
globalize our response toeverybody who disagrees with us,
(07:29):
everybody within a group andthen we choose to see people,
situations, the environment,activities, all these things as
not necessarily good.
Now it could work the oppositeway.
(07:51):
We could choose to see the goodin everyone.
Sometimes we have to look alittle harder, yes, I agree with
that, but we could choose tosee the good in each person.
We could choose to see at leastthe potential for good in each
person.
We could choose to see Godworking even in the midst of
(08:19):
situations that are painful orunfortunate.
We could choose to see thosethings too.
So, as much as we could chooseto see negative things, we could
also choose to see some verypositive things, and whichever
(08:39):
one we choose is really going tohave a profound effect on the
way we understand other peopleand understand ourselves and
understand the world.
The way we choose to see theworld creates the world we see.
If we see the world as a scaryplace and people in it as scary
(09:00):
people, yeah, a world's going tobecome a scary place.
We're going to have to protectourselves and get all worked up
about the things that are andthe people that are not right
and doing things that are notright.
So the way we choose to see theworld.
(09:21):
If we choose to see the worldas a place where people can be
very good, a place where peoplecan grow and can do things and
learn things differently, youknow that's going to be a very
(09:44):
different kind of world that weget to live in.
What kind of world do you wantto live in?
One where you have to protectyourself from everybody and
everything because everybody'sout to get you?
Or where you know you're notgoing to get a fair shake no
(10:06):
matter what, or especially if acertain group of people get to
have a say in things, withoutthe kind of world you really
want to live in?
Or would you like to live in aworld where you know there are
good people everywhere?
(10:28):
There are good people in allparts of the country, in all
parts of the, on all parts ofthe political spectrum.
I have had the opportunity tolive in a number of different
parts of the country, of theUnited States, and there are
(10:50):
differences in how people indifferent areas in general.
This is not true of everybodyin any place, but how people in
certain parts of the country ingeneral see things, and some
places are more conservative intheir views and some are a bit
(11:12):
more liberal in their views andsome people see possibilities.
Other people see, you know,tend to be looking at more.
You know we've got to put upsome guardrails around some
things and it makes a bigdifference as to the feel of the
(11:36):
communities than when you gointo them.
But the other thing I'venoticed is that there's good
people everywhere.
There are good people on whoare liberals, there are good
people who are conservatives.
There are good people whobelieve things the way I do, and
(11:56):
there are some who believethings on many things the way I
do, but do some other thingsthat I really would rather they
not do, or some beliefs that Iwould rather.
I think maybe not the best forthem.
So it is where we put our focus.
(12:16):
You know every there's a camerahere that allows me to be seen
on YouTube.
So for those of you listeningon in a podcast and listening
only on audio, there is aYouTube version of this as well.
So there's a camera here andanytime you're on camera, you
(12:39):
know that the focus of thecamera is important.
If it's focused on somethingclose by, the things that are in
the background are not going tobe in focus, or if it's focused
on something in the background,what's close to you is not
going to be in focus.
Where do we put our focus?
(13:00):
With other people, you know?
Where is our lens focused inthis world?
Are we choosing to see the good?
Are we choosing to look forproblems?
Are we choosing to look and seethe things that frighten us and
scare us?
(13:20):
We need to know those thingsare there sometimes, yes, but is
that where we are going to putour focus and emphasis in this
world?
Yeah, it's a big question, andthere are times and situations
(13:40):
where life is really threatened,yes, where we need to focus on
survival and protecting.
That's true, and that's notexactly the situations I'm
talking about.
I'm thinking more of everydaylife, where our immediate
(14:04):
survival is not in threat.
But sometimes we've got to stopand question what we feel like
our survival is being threatened.
Is it really?
Is that really what's happening?
Or are we choosing to see aworld where that has happened,
where we are being threatenedwhen really we are not?
(14:27):
So what do you choose to see?
How do you choose to see theworld it is creating?
The world you see, is it a placewhere everybody who you
disagree with or disagrees withyou is a bad person, or are you
(14:48):
choosing to see something morein each person?
How do you want them to see youas their enemy, or seeing good
things in you?
It works that way too.
So remember the words the wayyou choose to see the world
(15:11):
creates the world you see.
And we do have a choice.
Always, we have a choice.
Even in the worst of situations, we still have a choice.
That is powerful to know, andit's even more powerful to act
(15:33):
on that choice.
The way you choose to see theworld, the way I choose to see
the world, creates the world wesee.
So I choose to see you aspeople who are open, who want to
learn, who are willing to learn, who are people who realize
(15:58):
your halo is a little bit tilted, just like mine is, and are
open to understanding others whohave a tilted halo too.
I thank you for being heretoday and choosing you and
(16:19):
choosing me too.
So until next time, god's peaceand God's blessings.
And I am the Tilted Halo.
I welcome you back for anotherepisode.
You have been listening toTilted Halo with me, kathleen
Panning.
What did you think about thisepisode?
I'd really like to hear fromyou.
Leave me some comments.
(16:40):
Be sure to like, subscribe andshare this episode and catch
another upcoming episode.
For more conversation onministry life, mindset and a
whole lot more, go towwwTiltedHaloHelpcom, where I've
got a resource guide and otherresources waiting for you, and
(17:00):
be sure to say hi to me,kathleen Panning, on LinkedIn.
See you on the next episode.