FIGHTIN' TEMPTATION

Just how hard is it in life to be honest? What is honesty, Really? We as humans are consistently bombarded with the concept of being honest.  The other day I was in this office building and when I sat on the sofa in the waiting room I saw an Iphone stuck between the armrest and the seat cushion. My mind said wow look what I found, while my hand automatically went up to get the attention of the two men in the room. the honest person in me immediately wanted to find the owner while this tiny greedy creature wished to keep it. Honestly quickly over ruled and later irritation set in when (after giving to receptionist) it turned out it wasn't theirs and belonged to no one in the building. Dang I kinda wished I could have kept it. At least to go through it and make sure it was returned to the rightful owner. I now wonder about the other people's honesty.

On this same day I had to go with my sister to handle a legal matter. The problem with this is that the wrong doing person sitting on the other side of the table was our brother. This brother has written off the family because of the many greedy things he has done in the family. He is a liar and a thief who will (and did) steal from his mother. To make a long story short he stole my youngest sister's car. She (beyond my advice not to) let him use one of her cars (Sidney) and he put a mechanics lien,changed title and stole the car. Before you ask, no he is not a mechanic, no he did not do the work he stated,sneaky, and just a guy who faked receipts and pulled forms from the internet. Conniver, but not as smart as the Lord has made me. I thank God for His gift of doing research that He has given me. Other than that, my sister more than likely would have lost her case.

All of our lives this particular brother has had an issue with being honest and working through temptation. He has a charismatic personality. You want to believe what he says because he just doesn't seem like a liar and a thief, but he is. He is supposed to be a pastor. If I didn't know the Lord, this man would turn me away from the belief of Christianity. In his mind he is never wrong. He has this propensity to 'get' things in such a way that it is just about legal, but you have to be a step before him or you will lose your prized possessions. I strive to stay far ahead of him and to keep my other siblings and children in front of him, also.  In honest fact, he frightens me a little because he is so good at lying that I often wonder if he is psychopathic. When our sister went to get her car from the designated place (his lawyer's office) she found it scratched, bumper hanging, something disgusting and foul poured in trunk and backseat, along with other damage.  This person even had the treachery to put some kind of fluid in a small jar and matches in the glove compartment, I hope the induction of fear and nothing else was his motive.

  My brother is also a writer. Though he believes he is a good story teller, he makes me ashamed at how he just takes a real event and turns it around. Not something we don't all do, but when you know it is 'real' and where it comes from and how he tries to push it off as his imagination just bugs me. He will swear up and down it was made up.  Ever seen the movie where an artist killed and covered models in cement in order to prove he was a great sculpture? It was probably written about my brother. I am praying for God to hand him buckets of blessings so he can be happy and grow up. Temptation to be more and to have more without working for it seems to be the enormous goal in his life. What a waste. Out of the seven children my mom has, this one has by passed the black sheep.


The Marshmellow Test