* DISCLAIMER: After taking a look around the site, I hope by now my approach to understanding these stories is clear. These articles are not sermons passing along God’s instructions for us. Rather, my intent is to illuminate the problems man has been facing time immemorial due to the inherent flaws in our nature, and provide the lessons we can take away from the failures and successes of those that have come before us. A secular sermon if you will. My deductions are by no means “the way” or the only interpretation of meaning. I simply hope through my sharing of them you are able to see patterns between them and the lessons you have learned in your own life.

Side note: I’d like to add that you may have noticed the use of business or military terms heavily referenced throughout when I attempt to engage the reader. I’m using a voice as if I were talking with a group of CEOs or Generals because whether or not you actually do lead others at work, we all are the CEOs of our minds and the Commanders of our actions. So I hope you don’t find the language distracting or irrelevant, but rather empowering.

The Story of Abraham: As the world began to become corrupt again, God set out to identify a true believer and follower of His will in order to bless him and multiply the number of God fearing people. God identified Abraham (then called “Abram”) who he then put through a series of trials in order to test his devotion. Below are the stories that detail the trials and life of Abraham.

Abram and Sarai in Egypt (Genesis 12:10-20): First he is told to leave his family’s land and set down roots in a new land. (Though the reason is not stated we can imagine it is to be the example to others as to how to live a good God fearing life.) While on this journey Abram and his wife seek refuge from famine in Egypt, but Abram is worried because his wife Sarai is a very attractive woman. Abram is concerned that he will be killed by any man that desires his wife, so Abram and Sarai agree they will declare they are brother and sister. There would be no need to kill Abram to get to Sarai if he was merely her brother. Rather, men would likely treat him well in order to win Sarai’s favor. And strangely enough, Sarai and Abram did share the same father so it wasn’t completely a lie. Unfortunately for the Pharaoh of Egypt, there is no plea of ignorance in God’s court, and a plague is set upon Egypt after the Pharaoh takes Sarai into his harem (a place where the women of a house stay). The Pharaoh, coming to understand what has happened, is disgusted at the deception that has led him to this sin and has Abram and Sarai escorted out of Egypt.

Understand: The moral of the story here is a theme we see constantly throughout Genesis, that unwarranted deception is one of the most wicked things you can do to a man. When we lie we create an expanding web of false realities with unforeseen harms/implications. When we know the truth we can at the least attempt to act in accordance with it, by showing the proper courtesies to whom they are do, or by not pressing advances onto another’s spouse. Another thread presenting itself here can be seen through the Pharaoh’s appalled response to the transgression he was tricked into committing: when you lie you deny the other person the opportunity to surprise you with their tolerance of the truth.

What: Verse/quotation	So What: Moral of the story	Now What: Application/technique
12:18 “‘What is this you have done to me?’ he demanded. ‘Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why were you willing to let me marry her, saying she was your sister? Here is your wife! Take her and be gone!'”	You can hear the anger and almost sadness in the Pharaoh’s voice. The confusion is evident in his questioning but it’s the Pharaoh’s genuine heartbreak for not having been trusted to be a good man that we can feel. The Pharaoh didn’t know he was acting against God by taking another man’s wife when he took Sarai into his harem. Abram, out of fear that evil men would kill him to have his wife, never gave the Pharaoh the privilege of making that decision. Abram denied the Pharaoh the opportunity to show him and Sarai hospitality as husband and wife, and instead led him to unwittingly sin.	There’s no special technique for telling the truth. There are certainly more gentle ways of packaging the truth when it may be hurtful to someone, but the painful truth upfront is much softer than a shattering of the reality you have constructed from a lie later. Lets take a closer look at the art of disclosure through the lens of a relationship. First, start by defining the relationship: is it purely sexual, professional, hobby-oriented, a deep friendship, or a family member? Once you have defined the principle characteristic of the relationship, identify your intention for the relationship as well as any personal or external constraints that will be applied to it. These two things will undoubtedly shape the way you treat the other person, and if it is not an intentionally deceitful relationship, they have the right to know. If you have self-imposed limitations on what you will do in the bedroom or maybe legally imposed limitations on what you can say about work outside of the boardroom, then its best if you make those known early on.

Remember: Disclosing the truth requires strength. Lies are created out of weakness and reality avoidance. Speaking the truth will not only keep your conscience clear, but also has a way of coaxing out truth disclosure in others. You may be surprised to find deeper connections forming with others.

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Abram and Lot Separate (Genesis 13:1-18): Now Abram, Sarai, and Lot, Abram’s nephew, travel north across the Arabian peninsula and set up shop in Bethel. By this time, given God’s blessings, Abram and Lot had amounted massive flocks each in their own right. The land they were living on could no longer sustain both men’s camps (family, herds, and shepherds).  Abram decides it is time for each man to seek their own pasture, and being the elder decides to let his young nephew take the first choice. Lot identifies the most fertile land and selfishly claims it for himself. The only catch is that his new camp will be located on the outskirts of Sodom, the ancient equivalent to Las Vegas.

Understand: As elders in our families often occupy a position of archetypal power, it was up to Abram to handle the awkward situation between him and Lot. Their herds, shepherds, and families were metaphorically bumping into each other in the cramped camp and it was getting tense. In this story, Abram demonstrates how to be “the bigger man“. “The bigger man” is the person involved in a dispute who ceases hostilities first, and is usually coming from a position of advantage. whether this advantage be one of physical force/power “leave this land or God will curse you”, or grounded in civilized logic or legitimate authority “I have the deed to this land”. This action is often attributed to moral superiority. Abram clearly relinquished his right as the elder to take the first choice and select the prime real estate. Through this act we learn that a peaceful family is more important than easier or more abundant profits. *The “bigger man” example is also reminiscent is Robert E. Lee’s “Definition of a Gentlemen”. More on this in “Abraham Swears to a Peace Treaty with the King” below.

Remember: Be “the bigger man”, take “the high road” when acting from positions of abundance or authority.

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Abram Rescues Lot (Genesis 14:1-24): Shortly after Lot’s camp gets established, a war breaks out as cities in the region rebel against their King, King Kedorloamer. Unfortunately for Lot, Sodom is sacked during the war by the King’s army and he is taken prisoner. As soon as Abram gained word of this he assembled an army of all of the men in his family, pursued the King’s army, split his forces and attacked from all different directions. Confused, King Kedorloamer’s army fleas leaving behind all of the looted goods and prisoners. For his valiant rescue effort, the King of Sodom blesses Abram and offers him all the goods he had recovered. In order to remain free from any implication of future obligation, Abram denies the generous offer.

Understand: Abram takes immediate action to rescue his nephew from an experienced force of superior size and power, but with the synchronization of timing and intelligent tactics is able to triumph over them. What we learn from this is often all we need is a quick tactical pause to clearly define the problem and identify the resources at our disposal.

“The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” – Robert Burns

     A tactical pause is a moment of thought that is taken on the playing field. Abram didn’t have days to dream up the plan of all plans, and often the most sensitive dilemmas we will face will require a timely solution. In times of excitement avoid the “knee jerk reaction” and take that tactical pause to generate your potential solutions.

“A good plan violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan executed next week.” George S. Patton

What: Verse/quotation	So What: Moral of the story	Now What: Application/technique
14:14 “When Abram learned that Lot had been captured, he called together the men born into his household, 318 of them in all. He chased after Kedorloamer’s army until he caught up with them in Dan. There he divided his men and attacked during the night from several directions. Kedorloamer’s army fled, but Abram chased them…”	Ok, I must come clean, I don’t have a good reason for including the whole chasing part of that verse. Just thought it was badass. Anywho, the moral of the story is: we can overcome tremendous odds when we first conquer the feeling of overwhelm and return to a workable state of mental clarity. The Bible uses three sentences to take us from Abram first hearing word of Lots capture, to the successful rescue. Abram so much as flinched at his new task. But how can those of us lacking world renowned favor with God attain the mental calm necessary to tackle a herculean task successfully? With a tactical pause.	Much like the microscopic disconnect that exists between your senses and your emotions the Stoics introduced to us, there exists a space between your emotions and actions that we must master. This is where that moral agency resides that we spoke about in the Story of Cain and Abel. Except instead of highlighting how moral agency makes us liable for our actions, this time I want to re-frame it’s implication and show how this very same coin that holds us responsible on one side allows us to control our actions on the other. I’ll start by saying I don’t know many successful practitioners of Stoicism, though I do know many fans, so don’t be alarmed or feel broken if you’re unable to control your thoughts and emotions as well as Marcus Aurelius or Seneca tell us we should. Luckily for us, the concept of controlling our words and deeds is a bit less foreign. I remember learning that lesson early on. My father would always remind me to “think before you speak.” But how do we take that principal of analyzing whether our words and deeds are appropriate or not, and condense it down for use in a time constrained scenario. A tactical pause is what military leaders revert to during moments of high intensity and high uncertainty. It begins with a momentary respite. Whether it be seeking cover from bullets, leaving the boardroom, or simply taking a few slow deep breaths in your office chair. You need that moment to deal with the overwhelm. Next you need to properly and completely define your problem. Both of these aspects of your understanding are vital. If you misidentify the source of the problem you may only be treating the symptoms, and if you fail to capture the depth of the source, it may come back from the periphery (like failing to cut out all of a cancer or enemy continuing to shoot from a previously unidentified position). Once you have fleshed out the problem, you can begin to organize and align your resources against it and craft a scheme of maneuver.

Quickly, we cannot overlook the last point Abram exemplified by denying the gifts: avoid becoming indebted to someone. While certainly more often than not, those offering you gifts and favors will be your close friends and family who want nothing more for you than success and are sincerely attempting to brighten your day or ease your trials, but beware of unexpected gifts from new acquaintances, or notorious individuals, its best to avoid being added to their ledger. Manipulative individuals can use the unspoken obligation of reciprocity to leverage you for their benefit. 

Remember: Violence of action cannot overcome everything. The purpose of a tactical pause is to allow you to get your whits about you and craft an acceptable plan before charging back off into the fray. Don’t rush to failure.

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God Promises a Son to Abram (Genesis 15:1 – 16:16): After gaining substantial fame as God’s greatest follower, and a fruitful life of abundance as a shepherd, Abram asks God what is the purpose of all this success if he doesn’t even have an heir to his estate (read: a son). Abram’s complaint to God was that he didn’t have a son of his own, and that his riches and blessings would have to be passed on to one of his male servants. God assures him he will have a son of his own and that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars. He also promises Abram his descendants will have the land from Egypt to the Euphrates river. But Sarai couldn’t give birth so she offers Abram her servant Hagar as a surrogate. Hagar begins to think her carrying of Abram’s child gives her power so she begins to treat Sarai with contempt. Sarai becomes annoyed with Hagar’s attitude, so with Abram’s approval she beats her. Hagar runs away and is visited by an Angel who commands her to return home, tolerate Sarai’s maltreatment, and submit to her. The Angel does sweeten up the deal by promising Hagar “more descendants than you can count.” (16:10) The Angel also informs Hagar that the son she is about to give birth to will be “a wild one – free and untamed as a wild donkey!” (16:12) Hagar gives birth (about 9 months later) to Abram’s first son Ishmael who will be a natural rebel and live a life fighting his brothers.

Understand: There are two things we can pull from this story. First, the natural desire to pass on one’s genetic material is a strong one continuously justified by the Bible. Second, when we act maliciously towards or mistreat others we are breeding that kind of energy into the universe and giving it a home to stay in in our lives (quite literally in this story). Karma, it’s not a bitch, it’s a son named Ishmael.

Before we start, I think it’s safe to say the the Book of Genesis was not prepared or does not appropriately address the state of gender identities and sexual preferences we currently find ourselves in. So I will limit myself to heterosexual reproduction for the purpose of simplicity in this discussion.

1.) To the materialist, hormones secreted by sexual organs create a desire to mate universally throughout the animal kingdom. The Bible acknowledges the strength of this internal motivator, and claims it as part of God’s will for us. Just like God made trees that could fruit, and animals that could reproduce, man was made with not only the ability to do the same but with the divine order to “multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.” (1:28). For the sake of emphasizing God’s order (to obey your natural desires and bear your own children) we see the consistent theme in the Bible that direct descendants inherit the blessings you have earned from God. A large part of what I have omitted from my postings are the mass of family trees the Book of Genesis shares. The message is clear: “God saw Adam and Eve have sex, and He saw that it was ‘good’, so He blessed it.” (Fake Bible quote. SKEPTIC-ish 6:9)

Next lets take a look at what happens when Hagar gets too big for her britches, and Sarai beats the woman carrying her child!

2.) It’s important to first empathize with Sarai before we can fully understand the meaning behind both her and Hagar’s actions. As a very popular woman, it was embarrassing to not be able to bear her husband a child. In order to fulfill God’s promise to Abram, she put her shame aside and offered Abram her servant Hagar. Unfortunately Hagar capitalized on Sarai’s position of reliance and began to take advantage of her newfound importance as the surrogate mother. Hagar failed to remember that “servant” was her primary role so Abram tells an upset Sarai “since she is your servant, you may deal with her how you see fit.” (16:6) Hagar’s abuse of perceived power, led to Sarai’s literal abuse of Hagar from a position of legal power.

What happens next was explained earlier: Hagar runs away, an Angel visits her and tells her to go home and that she will give birth to a wild child. “You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard about your misery.” (16:11) Ishmael is Hebrew for “God hears”. How clear of a message is that. God heard of the way Sarai was treating Hagar so He named the child that was causing the quarrels “God hears” and gave him the temperament of a wild animal. “He will be against everyone and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live at odds with the rest of his brothers.” (16:12) Hagar’s initial attitude, led to Sarai’s abuse, which led to the birth of a menace. Thoughts and emotions bring about actions which have reactions and counter actions. To really tie a bow on this karmic cycle of anger and violence lets turn it over to Martin Luther King Jr.

“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Remember: Descendants inherit the earth you leave behind. Don’t abandon your responsibility to your children. Teach them to be good people, in the best definition you can create for your family, and live that example well.

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God Makes a Covenant with Abram (Genesis 17:1-27): The next conversation between God and Abram is about forging a covenant. God promises to make Abram the father of many nations, and changes his name to Abraham (Hebrew for “the father of many”) in order to emphasize his seriousness. For Abraham, his responsibility in this covenant was to permanently mark his body and the bodies of every man not only born of him but also the servants of his household, as a follower of God. This marking of course is: Circumcision. Finally, God declares that he will bless Sarai with the ability to have children. Once more, he changes her name to Sarah (Hebrew for “princess”) to signify this new phase of their bond with God.

Understanding: A covenant in the Biblical sense means a mutually beneficial partnership between God and his followers. If you spread the word of God, God will give you many children (among other blessings of abundance) who you must then also train to spread the word of God. Much like the karmic cycle we witnessed in the story of Hagar’s pregnant pride, this business model is one that continues to feed itself. As the employer, by providing a comfortable and fruitful life for his employee, God was fostering the spirit of loyalty in Abram. After developing a sturdy foundation of buy-in to the company, God promotes Abram and gives him the new title of Abraham, which is Hebrew for “father of many nations”. Knowing what we do now, having many heirs is quite literally existential ecstasy for people in the Old Testament. With his new position, title, and benefits Abraham’s faith and loyalty deepens and makes him an even better employee. By being a more effective executor of his employer’s will, he produces increased returns for God, which in turn allows God to provide more benefits for Abraham. By working hard for each other they are in turn working to the benefit of themselves.

Another theme that we will continue to see throughout the Book of Genesis, is the idea of complete commitment, full submission, or “going all in”. In particular to these stories, it is a full submission to the will of God, or having “faith” that His will is righteous. That’s precisely what circumcision symbolizes. The full submission of Abraham and his descendants to God’s will. But we can find the use of body modification throughout many cultures to identify the status or achievements of its citizens. The significance of body modification, is that it is an identifiable, irrevocable mark, usually accompanied by a good deal of pain. The pain signifies the intensity with which one holds the belief they’re proclaiming with their mark, or speaks to the intensity of the trials one had to endure to achieve a particular status. The permanence of the mark speaks to the depth of faith, the full submission to your God, or “extreme ownership” of your responsibilities to your tribe. The visibility of the mark, the fact that it is on the skin, whether on genitalia that is typically covered or not, is so that you will always act in accordance with your responsibility or faith, and be treated in accordance with your status.

Remember: Much like the karma reference in the abuse of Hagar story that preceded this one, this story of the covenant between God and Abraham shows us you get out what you put in to relationships.

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God Promises Another Son to Abraham (Genesis 18:1-30): One day Abraham sees three strangers wandering by his camp. Abraham excitedly welcomes them to rest in his home under the care of his servants. The strangers happen to be God and two of His angels! God tells Abraham his wife Sarah will soon give birth to a son of her own, much to their disbelief. Upon finishing their meals, the three men get up to continue on their journey. Before leaving, God decides Abraham is worthy of hearing his latest plan, to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham is so confused, surely all the inhabitants of those cities don’t warrant destruction? God informs him that his angels report that “the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are extremely evil, and that everything they do is wicked.” (18:20) If he can confirm these reports then the cities will be destroyed, but if there are even 10 souls that are not wicked, the cities and their inhabitants will be spared.

Understand: This is actually quite a lovely story. It speaks to the magic that can happen when we set kindness as our default mode, and have the courage to indiscriminately treat others with compassion. The “authors” (used to simplify the unknown collection of contributors to these stories) are encouraging us here to give in to that sense of belonging, and human connection we all long for by pleasantly surprising Abraham with the divine origin of the wanderers. You never know who you’ll meet when you extend your hand and a smile first.

Through the discourse on the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham reminds us to look for the redeeming qualities, the usefulness and humanity in everyone. “Then, for the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”(18:32) As leaders charged with providing vision and guidance for our subordinates, as well as evaluating/firing/promoting them, its easy to develop an internal monologue rife with our critiques/opinions/judgments of others. Regardless of the environment, when we feel responsible for mission success or protecting the bottom line it can be easy to overlook positive progress, and instead focus on the friction points. After all, something that is going well doesn’t need increased attention, its our job to mitigate risk and minimize obstacles. This same mindset can make us most vulnerable to the negativity bias. Negativity bias is the phenomenon that negative news will generate more of an emotional response than positive news of the same intensity. What this means is, when we recall our opinion of someone, we may be more likely to recall where they fell short of our expectations rather than when they exceeded them. Understanding this concept should give you cause for pause next time you’re required to evaluate someone at work or make a serious “personnel decision” in your own life. Don’t forget to develop the complete picture, because now you know that the memories that drive your judgmental reflections are inaccurately overwhelmingly negative. *Spoiler alert* Even God went down to see for Himself before incinerating a city full of sinners, but that story is yet to come… sorry.

Remember: Never let a stranger be in a room long before you have extended an introduction to them.

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God and the Angels Destroy Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:1-29): Later that afternoon as the angels moved on to Sodom, they encountered Lot just outside the entrance of the city. Lot invited them to rest at his camp much like Abraham had welcomed them earlier. While Lot was catering to the angels, the townspeople began to gather around his home. The townspeople demanded the angels come out so that they may have sex with them (I’m not kidding…) That was the final straw. The angels told Lot he had until sunrise to get his family out of the city before it would be destroyed. So Lot did the best that he could to convince his extended family of what was to come, though he was not well received. At sunrise, the angels grabbed Lot, his wife, and two daughters and led them outside of the city. Once they were clear, fire and burning sulfur rained down on the cities and utterly destroyed everything and everyone within their limits. The angels instructed Lot and his family to run as fast as they could to a small nearby town and never look back. Well, the angels didn’t mean that figuratively for Lot’s wife looked back at the city as it burned and immediately disintegrated into a pile of salt…

Understand: If we were to really dig deep and extrapolate some meaning from what very well could be equated to a small biblical action scene, its possible that the angels’ order to not look back is an insight into the usefulness of being able to “move on.” Whether it be dealing with grief over the loss of a loved one, or reminiscing over the glory days of our youth, mental fixations steal us away from the present. Now certainly you wouldn’t dare harass someone who was distracted at work because they were grieving the loss of a loved one, but we’d also have no problem slapping Mark on the back of the head if he was day dreaming about last weekend at work. The point is not to universally trivialize the past but rather highlight the gift of potential the present provides. However if you are unable to overcome the baggage or nostalgia associated with your past, the fruits of your future will spoil. To drive this point home, let’s turn to the Serenity prayer:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

–  Reinhold Niebuhr

If we attempt to place “the past” into one of the categories above, you may find that the entirety of human and individual history (read: your past) fits into the “things I cannot change” bin.

Remember: “Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do but doesn’t get you anywhere.” – Van Wilder

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Lot is Tricked into Sleeping With His Daughters (Genesis 19:30-38): After a few nights in the small town, Lot moves to a cave with his daughters because he didn’t like the townspeople. Well Lot was getting older, and his two daughters couldn’t find much dating/mating potential in their newfound home in the cave, so they draft up a plan to get their father drunk over two consecutive nights and sleep with him in order to preserve the family. The descendants of the sons born out of this incest would become two of Israel’s greatest enemies.

Understand: I’ll chalk this one up as a biology lesson… Incest is bad.

Remember: Incest bad

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Abraham Again Lies About Sarah (Genesis 20:1-17): Once again Abraham deceives the ruler of a kingdom by telling him that his wife Sarah is his sister. And once again that ruler tries to sleep with her… Fortunately this time, God visits this king in a dream and warns him of the sin he is about to commit. The king, much like the pharaoh, is disgusted, embarrassed, and confused but because God has warned him of Abraham’s favor with the LORD the king abstained from having his way with Sarah and instead gave Abraham a selection of livestock and servants and offered any plot within his kingdom to him to live on. For his kindness Abraham prays to God who subsequently lifts the infertility curse he placed on all of the women in the king’s court.

Understand:  There are two threads in this story I’d like to pull: 1.) fear and its effect on problem solving, and also 2.)the logic of lying. Lets start with lying first.

1.) Here again, Abraham tells a lie in order to avoid what he foresees as a fatal encounter with a man of higher status over his wife Sarah. The lie tricks the king into actions he may not have conducted had he known the truth, and because of this God casts a wrath upon his people as punishment… While the moral of the story for a God fearing person may be that God has your back, or that He is merciful because He eventually lifted the wrath, it’s not hard to notice the unnecessary suffering Abraham caused by lying. But why shouldn’t we lie to get what we want, or in this case even protect ourselves from a perceived threat? Many of us might be hard-pressed to find an answer for the latter question, so why not simplify it and ask “why shouldn’t we lie?“

A lie on the surface misleads the recipient of the message about the given topic of course, but the manipulation of that one data point can have a cascading effect subconsciously creating a network of false connections and implications in the mind of the recipient unforeseen by the liar. Abraham failed to account for the fact that his lie only supposedly prevented his death but opened up Sarah for the taking. When you fabricate a story you may not foresee all the vulnerabilities of your move or the traps you have just laid for yourself, because you’re not as intimately entwined with the lie as you are the truth, and therefore the lie has much less support from the periphery of your behavior (a married man acts much differently than a single man).

*** BRACE FOR IMPACT***

The truth of who you are today is an emergent property of the complex system of the historical events that both impacted your life and were impacted by you. Given the non-linear nature of complex systems, when you create a false deviation from that story, you lose coherency very quickly, what is called in Chaos Theory the “butterfly effect”. Quite simply, the butterfly effect is the observation that small inputs can have exponentially larger consequences (consider the assassination of Archduke Franz-Ferdinand.)

(just click on the links, it will all make more sense… I hope)

The above argument is tailored to show the mind bending challenges associated with deep deception, but there exists a moral argument as well. Let’s close the textbooks for a word from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: “Do for others what you would like them to do for you.” (Matthew 7:12) If you wish to keep yourself free from the confusion of wading through lies, then you may be able to reason that you also have no inherent authority or right over others allowing you to be the only one who can justifiably impose lies upon them. It’s this social contract of maintaining logical coherency and a shared sense of reality that we have with our cohabitants on this planet that keep it from spinning into any more chaos than we’ve already become accustomed to. To summarize, lies are taxing and confusing, and often the energy spent crafting a robust one could’ve been spent on creating a better truth.

“If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything” – Mark Twain

2.) Fear can make us do extraordinary things: display cat like reflexes or never before seen feats of strength, but also supremely unhelpful things too. Fear makes it hard for us to open our minds aperture and problem solve with a more complete and realistic understanding of the situation. This narrow vision and fixation on the negative can lead to a type of future projecting rumination called “catastrophization“. This is nothing more than a modern name for what has been described as the snowballing or spiraling into oblivion cognitive distortion we all may be intimately familiar with. To avoid the over active mind’s tendency to catastrophize it is important we properly characterize our problem by changing our vocabulary from general to specific. You’ll find its easier to reach a more realistic conclusion when you limit the possible outcomes by providing greater specificity (context and characteristics) to the definition of your problem. Its a matter of statistical probability. The more specificity you add to your question, the less statistically likely it is for the collection of requirements to be fulfilled.

Remember: Pay attention to the vocabulary you use when stressing. If it’s massively grandiose, cut it out. As for lying, save yourself the energy.

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Abraham’s Heir is Born (Genesis 21:1-21): About a year after God promised Abraham and Sarah a son, their son Isaac is born. At some point in Isaac’s adolescence, Abraham and Sarah throw a party to celebrate their pure son. During the celebration, teenaged Ishmael (the other son) and his servant mother are caught making fun of Isaac by his mother Sarah. Sarah demands to Abraham that they be kicked out of the house, to which God agrees for it is Isaac that is his true descendant and who will be heir to his blessings. So Ishmael and his servant mother set off to wander through the wilderness to look for a new camp to call home. After running out of water and walking as far as their wills could take them, the mother sets Ishmael down in the shade of a bush then stumbles a hundred yards away so she doesn’t have to watch her son die. God hears her despair and tells her to stop crying. Her son will not die for he is to bear many children. When she opens her eyes she sees a well, and the pair is saved.

Understand: This is where the karmic cycle that began with the beating of Hagar picks up. Remember that God forecasts Hagar’s future child born out of pain and abuse to be a “a wild one – as free and untamed as a donkey. He will be against everyone and everyone will be against him. Yes he will live at odds with the rest of his brothers.” (Genesis 16:12). As if cosmic promise wasn’t enough, Ishmael now has his own bone to pick with Abraham and the family after he and his mother nearly die in the wilderness. God once more intervenes and promises great fortune to Ishmael, placing him on his very own throne hell bent for vengeance. But we shouldn’t be left thinking that only God’s intervention can change the direction of a life…

The strange interconnected web of human relationships we call life is rife with personal ups and downs, changing cultural tides, and rotating incumbent political parties. All of these interact to form the vicissitudes of life we all experience but are effected ever so personally by in different ways. Coincidences, a strange turn of events, a disaster that eventually begins to seem as if it happened for good reason. These are all novel phenomena we’re familiar with captured in pop culture in songs like “Sometimes You’re the Hammer, and Sometimes You’re the Nail” by A Day to Remember, “Every Dog Has His Day” by Toby Keith, and just in case you found those two songs repulsive “Rolling Stone” by Bob Dylan. 

“Change is the only constant in life” – Heraclitus

Its moments like these that remind us of the ungovernable aspects of nature, the resiliency of our human spirit, the impermanence of life, and the importance of supportive family and friends. Think of yourself as a small single bead on a long line of string. If the string was lifted into the air by both ends and wiggled, your position in space would be flying all about as the string easily moved through you and brought you along for the ride. 

Now imagine you are joined on that same uncertain and wobbly string of life by a handful more beads all stacked side by side next you. The support each bead provides the other by limiting the free movement of the string would drastically decrease the depths of the troughs and peaks of the crests, keeping you on a more stable and shallow track (I’m so sorry I couldn’t find a GIF to depict this.) We cannot control everything in life, and because all things come to an end (not just the good ones) it is beneficial to develop a support network of friends and family but also support them too. Like we learned in God Makes a Covenant with Abram (Genesis 17:1-27), when we support and champion others, we are inspiring them return the favor, what some may call building good karma.

Remember: We all have our ups and downs, you can prevent yourself from developing enemies and ensure a gentle fall when your time comes by supporting others in their time of need.

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A brief aside: On the topic of change, I felt it beneficial to pause and speak more outside of the confines of relativity to the Biblical story above. If we accept change, unpredictability, and ungovernability as a fundamental characteristics of nature, then it would behoove us to create sustainable coping mechanisms for enduring and overcoming what can often be tumultuous experiences. If you don’t already have a meditation practice, a physical training release, or another internally calming practice to turn to, perhaps a little mental shift in your openness to change can be brought about through philosophy. Here’s an old Chinese proverb I find quite inspiring.

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Abraham Swears to a Peace Treaty with the King (Genesis 21:22-34): At this time, Abraham had been living on that plot of land given to him by the king he had deceived. One day the king and his army commander pay Abraham a visit to seek his oath of loyalty, as it is clear to them God blesses all that Abraham does. Abraham obliges them freely and easily, however he complains to the king that his servants had violently taken over one of Abraham’s wells. In order to make it right and ensure peace in the future it is Abraham that offers the king livestock. Abraham also releases additional livestock to wander free as a symbol to the public that there was no hard feelings and further secure the public’s respect for Abraham and his personal property.

Understand: In modern American court we’re most familiar with the losing defendant typically paying damages to the plaintiff, but in this story we see Abraham bring a charge against the king’s servants, and then give them gifts to ensure it doesn’t happen again! This is the famously Christian attribute of grace taught by Jesus himself “but I say love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!” (Matthew 5:44) Grace can be described as expressing genuine good will towards others just for the sake of it. Now Christians primarily use the term to describe their spiritual possession of Jesus’ love for them, his grace, but it can also be shown from person to person. Acts like these catch people off guard and often strip them of the opportunity to feel embarrassed or from closing off to you. The key is to break their negative internal monologue, and create a new temporal landmark of a positive experience between you.

Its also not hard to see the practical application of adopting grace into your own tool box here. Giving gifts to the very people who present a potential nuisance to win favor and protect your possessions from damage or theft is a common practice in many poorer countries.

“The forebearing use of power does not only form a touchstone, but the manner in which an individual enjoys certain advantages over others is the test of a true Gentlemen.”  – Excerpt from Robert E. Lee’s “the Definition of a Gentlemen“

Remember: Even when conflict is resolved “amicably” between two people who know each other well, it can be uncomfortable as the two experience very different internal conversations post fight. Break the silence, pull everyone out of their heads by offering a sign of good faith. This can be something as simple as the first cheesy joke, or doing a chore for them or with them, or even reminiscing about the last great time you had together or the next one you will have.

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The Near Sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22:1-24): The final test of obedience God would have for Abraham would be to sacrifice his son Isaac. Without hesitation Abraham took Isaac on a three day journey to a mountain on which they were to make a sacrificial offering to God. Of course Isaac was ignorant of the fact that the plan was for him to be sacrificed. Once they arrived at the location God had identified for the offering, Abraham tied up Isaac and laid him on the altar. Before Abraham could kill Isaac, God intervened saying that his show of commitment to God’s will was the true offering and the boy would not need to be killed. Once more, God promises to reward Abraham with many descendants numbering more than the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. 

Understand:  We touched on the importance of commitment in God Makes a Covenant with Abram (Genesis 17:1-27), but the point drifted off into the symbolism of circumcision and body modification (undoubtedly a more pressing question in the minds of the men out there). I’m sure the authors of this story wanted to reiterate the utility of commitment in the pursuit of human flourishing because they just knew it would’ve been overlooked in the circumcision story. **Obligatory penis-centric run-on sentence complete**

In a way, commitment was also echoed in God and the Angels Destroy Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:1-29) when Lot’s wife failed to fully commit during their escape by looking back on her burning city. Its not hard to see why commitment would be a most important value for a religion to breed in its followers. Certainly many lifetime believers are confronted with feelings of doubt along their journey, but finding the words to describe it’s importance in the less morally absolute landscape can be challenging.

Commitment can be thought of as long-term promise, a declaration of assurance built on a foundation of complete trust in that promise. One can commit their time, focus, efforts, talents, or skills in the service of another, to a higher cause, or even to oneself, but the purpose of making a commitment is to relieve the mind of concern or doubt by turning an uncertainty into a guarantee/given. The mental freedom this provides can also be characterized as safety, allowing us to shift from our speculative problem solving mind into more recreational or artistic mental states. If you are in a committed relationship, you should not waste time catastrophizing over the thought of abandonment. If the restaurant is committed to food safety, I can give in fully to enjoying my meal and company without first having to conduct my own kitchen inspection.

Commitment to oneself or a personal cause requires the development of self-discipline which strengthens your ability to turn your will into a reality. Self-discipline is the commitment to carry out a responsibility in the face of lessening interest or increasing difficulty. As conscious beings, well equipped with the best excuse- making device located between our ears, self-discipline can be a powerful tool to develop in the battle to achieve your highest potential. The tool that will keep you moving forward when mediocrity and comfort are screaming at you to stop before you hurt yourself… but then your disciplined mind reminds you that you’re no doctor, so you push through past the void that most don’t dare get close to. And it’s on the other side of that abyss and in the absence of the undisciplined others that you discover yourself. To steal a concept popularized by Jocko Willink: discipline has set you free. And the reward for overcoming a brutal challenge, or enduring a grinding struggle is an empowering insight into your boundless potential. Harness this incremental empowerment you receive from following tasks of any size through to their end. Nourish your strength of will through daily practices of self-discipline.

Commitment and faith are the fabric on which the unspoken social contract of civilized society is written. They allow us to trust others, and hold us accountable to others. Discipline is the way in which we commit to ourselves, by vowing to overcome the distractions from what we define as important to us. It is in these ways that the value of “commitment” as echoed in the Bible multiple times thus far, bears relevance outside of the temple.

Remember: Commitment can be a powerful tool for creating a feeling of safety in a relationship. Faith is not just for the believers. When you believe in someone, and have the courage to accept their promise free of scrutiny, you have placed your faith in them. Self-discipline may be the single most important tool to help you become the person you want to be.

***I feel as if there is more to unpack here when it comes to the relationship between Trust, Commitment, and Faith. If you have any thoughts feel free to drop me a line at contribute.skeptic.ish@gmail.com

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Abraham Buries Sarah in a Foreign Land (Genesis 23:1-20): After a long life, Abraham’s wife dies at the age of 127. Even though they were not in their own homeland at the time, Abraham’s reputation as one in God’s favor, ensured that he had no trouble finding a welcoming undertaker. Abraham and the undertaker go through the custom of reverse bartering for the burial plot. Abraham begins by offering full price, to which the undertaker insists he must take it for free. Abraham insisted back that surely he should pay full price being a visitor and needing a piece of foreign land, to which the undertaker finally concedes the cost of the plot at market value. Abraham pays full price and is grateful for their hospitality.

Understand: Not much to waste time on here. Recall Robert E. Lee’s Definition of a Gentleman: “the manner in which an individual enjoys certain advantages over others is the test of a true Gentleman.” Don’t use positions of power, or fame, for your personal benefit. Unfortunately even though I’m being complicit here in treating this point like common sense, its clear with the “Me Too” movement of two years ago that it is not common sense.

Remember: just because an opportunity presents itself does not mean you have to strike. If you have the means to easily pay a man for his service, don’t turn to your silver tongue to chop the price down to as low as you can.

Isaac Gets a Wife (Genesis 24:1-67): Now in his own old age, Abraham puts his oldest most trustworthy servant to the task of finding his son Isaac a wife. The only stipulation is, he must find Isaac’s wife in Abraham’s homeland from his own relatives, and Isaac is not allowed to tag along on the journey because God had promised Abraham’s descendants the land they were currently on and Abraham didn’t want to disrespect God. So the servant arrives at a watering hole for camels on the outskirts of Abraham’s homeland and begins to pray to God for help on his task. The servant describes a strict test for how he will identify God’s choice for Isaac’s wife. As he is describing the test in his prayer, a women arrives at the watering hole and begins to fulfill the servant’s requirements! Not only does she go on to check every box on the list, shes also a relative of Abraham! The woman’s name is Rebekah and she welcomes the servant to lodge at her place for the night. With the family gathered around the dinner table, the servant is so overcome with excitement he must share his mission with the family before they begin to eat. He shared his story completely with ample detail and left no room for questions. Rebekah’s parents couldn’t say no to a man on a mission from God, so the next morning they left off back to Abraham and Isaac with all of Rebekah’s servants and belongings. 

Understand: The lesson from this story is that I shouldn’t have included it because there’s no lesson… At best, its a strange Disney story with some slight Kentucky backwoods feel to it.

Remember: I am an idiot.

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Abraham Dies (Genesis 25:1-18): Now that his son and principal heir Isaac had found a wife, Abraham could die a happy old man. And he did that, but before he died he would marry again and sire six new sons. Upon his death, Abraham was buried next to Sarah.

Understand: Much like the precedent story, I shouldn’t have included this one. The format for the remaining books of the Bible (read: all of them minus Genesis -_-) will be different.

Remember: New format to come in the next article. Stay tuned! We’re back baby!