http://www.melsquietthoughts.com/opinions/people-of-the-second-chance Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:06:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://www.melsquietthoughts.com/opinions/people-of-the-second-chance/comment-page-1#comment-402 Mel Fri, 30 Apr 2010 21:19:57 +0000 http://www.melsquietthoughts.com/?p=577#comment-402 Randall....I think you and I have more in common than we realize!! Thanks for the comment! Randall….I think you and I have more in common than we realize!! Thanks for the comment!

]]> http://www.melsquietthoughts.com/opinions/people-of-the-second-chance/comment-page-1#comment-347 Randall Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:10:58 +0000 http://www.melsquietthoughts.com/?p=577#comment-347 When people gather together in a church situation I think it easy to believe that they are in a select group. I belive it is a "We are superior" mentality. Don't take this as an insult at all. I don't mean it all that way. People find comfort in numbers and they are made to feel "special" because they belong to a certain congregation or denomination. This is encouraged by leaders unfortunatley. I was also in this group at one time and completely understand this mentality. I always thought that if people were close enough to God, or thier prayer life what was what it should be that all thier problems would somehow magically just melt away! Myself included. I always looked at divorced folks like well "if they were doing what they should have been doing" they would not be in the predicament they are in now. This sounds like a terrible admission. If most "church" people would be honest, they have the same mindset in their internal monologue runnning in their head. If you go through a divorce or some other tragedy in your life, it is not always your fault. The church preaches unconditional love but seldom practices it. You would only know this if you are from the other side of the fence. Yes, I had to learn the hard way. It may sound like I'm bitter (maybe a little) but I have grown to know that sometimes things just happen and there is nothing you can do about it. People absolutley do deserve a second, and a third chance. A self rightoues attitude did not serve the Pharisees and Sadducees very well now did it? If you hold the attitude that you (generally speaking) are better than anyone else, I just hope you don't end up on the other side of the "Churches" mercy like I have. It can be a cold place. Thanks for a very thought provoking post! Sorry for the rant! Keep up the good work! When people gather together in a church situation I think it easy to believe that they are in a select group. I belive it is a “We are superior” mentality. Don’t take this as an insult at all. I don’t mean it all that way. People find comfort in numbers and they are made to feel “special” because they belong to a certain congregation or denomination. This is encouraged by leaders unfortunatley. I was also in this group at one time and completely understand this mentality. I always thought that if people were close enough to God, or thier prayer life what was what it should be that all thier problems would somehow magically just melt away! Myself included. I always looked at divorced folks like well “if they were doing what they should have been doing” they would not be in the predicament they are in now. This sounds like a terrible admission. If most “church” people would be honest, they have the same mindset in their internal monologue runnning in their head.
If you go through a divorce or some other tragedy in your life, it is not always your fault. The church preaches unconditional love but seldom practices it. You would only know this if you are from the other side of the fence. Yes, I had to learn the hard way. It may sound like I’m bitter (maybe a little) but I have grown to know that sometimes things just happen and there is nothing you can do about it.
People absolutley do deserve a second, and a third chance. A self rightoues attitude did not serve the Pharisees and Sadducees very well now did it? If you hold the attitude that you (generally speaking) are better than anyone else, I just hope you don’t end up on the other side of the “Churches” mercy like I have. It can be a cold place.
Thanks for a very thought provoking post! Sorry for the rant! Keep up the good work!

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