Sacred Cows

... I who am meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent!

--Paul
2 Cor 10:1

I must admit, there's a lot about Paul that makes him a very different creature than myself. Some time ago however, when I read this one verse, I thought, Paul was just like me.

I'm much more forthright in my writing than I ever am in person. My fingers can talk much more freely than my mouth can, and somehow a written medium bypasses certain things I cannot bypass any other way. Or ... at least things that I haven't learned how to moderate yet. Consequently, if I get a little 'in your face' in my writing, or perhaps a bit too blunt in my delivery, it's not because I intend to injure you, but rather ... writing gives me a sort-of platform to express the things I feel very passionately about. So through my writing, you all get to see a bit more of the 'passionate' Annie than someone would who only knows me in person.

That being said, I'll just be honest: I have no reverence for sacred cows. "Let sleeping dogs lie" is generally not a maxim I adhere to, and certainly not one I have ever liked. I heard a saying once that said, "The Irish like to rock the boat." Perhaps it's a bit of that, too. At any rate, I see myself as an intellectual explorer. I love breaking through the bonds of 'normal' and discovering what lies in the unknown. The intellectual unknown doesn't scare me at all. In fact, I enjoy it. Questions that seem to make some people very nervous, I pursue with relish.

Someone asked me once if I had ever had a time when I seriously questioned my faith. My response was to say that I question it all the time, and because of that I've never had a 'moment' when I doubted it all. My life is a constant question, ponder, and answer session in my own head. I continuously tackle and re-tackle questions that range from extremely mundane to extremely preponderant virtually all the time. Unless I'm thoroughly convinced of something, you can bet I'm probably analyzing it from all sides. Even if I am thoroughly convinced, I'm probably still analyzing it from all sides.

Sacred cows are thoughts that we accept as truth which in fact have no substance of truth to them at all. They are empty images of things that give us reassurance that we're on a rock--never mind if we really are or not. Golden though they may be, their exalted appearance can offer us nothing. They are an object of our own making--a thought from the grave that we dress up and say lives.

Are all sacred cows worth of toppling? Well, to me yes. :) I have a relish for hurling them to the ground. That being said, however, I know there is a method and a timing to everything, and I will strive to do my best to topple them as tenderly and tactfully as I can, as the Hold Spirit leads. I give you fair warning, however--I'm a warrior at heart, not a diplomat. The fire can rise up in my bones fairly easily.

So ... this may be a season of some passionate toppling of sacred cows. I can't say for sure yet, as I take each day at a time. And I only know what's in my heart, not the Lord's. But just so you know ...

... you've been fairly warned. :)