Finally….. We are on the other side of what has personally been an amazing 8 weeks journey.
In those 8 weeks, I posted about the now thought provoking concepts… “The Mis-es”
Each of the “Mis-es is listed below in the order in which they were unveiled.
MIS-INTERPRETATION
MISCREANT
MISCONCEPTION
MISQUOTATION
MISREPRESENTATION
MISAPPLICATION
MISUNDERSTANDING
If you missed any of the posts… you can always go back and learn about the things that can ultimately bring a halt to the progress of your families.
To draw the curtain on this series: “FAMILY MELTDOWN - THE MIS-ES ”, I’ll like to share a poem with you. The poem talks about the persistence of our differences…. yet elaborates on the insistence of our dependencies……
Family
Far and wide we’re scattered abroad
Playing our life games on different boards
Still we live in the same world
Crossing each other’s path like a cross-word
“We grew up together”------ probably not!!!
“We have the same father” ----- probably not!!!
“We’re from the same mother” ------ probably not!!!
“We look like each other” ------ probably not!!!
So you ask:
“What have we got in common”,
Seeing we’re very random?
And I say:
It’s a life full of passion,
Love, commitment, help and fusion.
It’s the world’s latest fashion,
And it’s time you join in the action
‘Cos we’re a family
Your Family
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
MISUNDERSTANDING
Misunderstanding is defined as “failure to understand correctly” – dictionary.com
This is the most referred to of all the Mis-es.
Why this is so might not be very obvious, but what I can tell you is … all the Mis-es head in one direction…..the direction of confusion.
It doesn’t matter whether you misinterpret, misrepresent, misquote, misunderstand or misapply things….. After all is said and done, communication breakdown is the overall effect that the Mis-es want to achieve in our families.
FACTS ABOUT UNDERSTANDING
The pinnacle of human intelligence is “understanding”.
When you understand something, what you are saying is, I know the intricacies of this thing and I can reproduce it whenever I am required to.
Back in the days in high school, my teachers explain to me that…. The easiest way to be a genius is not just to learn or read whatever I’m being taught but to UNDERSTAND them.
When you understand things, they become engraved into your system… when you understand, you care less about unimportant things.
When you understand life… you know the things that make life tick…. When you understand your career… you become a force to reckon with… When you understand your family… everyday becomes a journey towards “betterment” and not “what ifs.”
I can go on and on about the usefulness of reaching that state of understanding because:
“Understanding is the state where the word “ease” finds fulfillment and becomes a lifestyle”
Proverbs 4 vs. 7
Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.
A few days ago, I was on the phone to a very good friend and after a while, the conversation turned bittersweet. With every passing second, it seems the only thing I was doing was causing her pain. For the first time in a while, I was disappointed at the way the conversations had turned out and I only have myself to blame.
With no clue on how to make things better, I decided going off the phone was my best option so as not to cause any more pain. After a few minutes of getting my senses together, my good friend text me saying:
“You make it sound like I don’t understand what you meant to say. I know you didn’t mean no harm……..I personally believe you wouldn’t……hurt me”.
In other words, my friend is saying the understanding she has of me is potent enough to wipe out my mistakes…
THE STRENGTH OF UNDERSTANDING
How strong can “understanding” be?
What potential is resident in us understanding each other?
A journey into time will I believe reveal the possible possibilities.
Genesis 11 vs. 1 – 9 (The Message)
"God Turned Their Language into 'Babble'"
At one time, the whole Earth spoke the same language. It so happened that as they moved out of the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled down.
They said to one another, "Come, let's make bricks and fire them well." They used brick for stone and tar for mortar.
Then they said, "Come, let's build ourselves a city and a tower that reaches Heaven. Let's make ourselves famous so we won't be scattered here and there across the Earth."
God came down to look over the city and the tower those people had built.
God took one look and said, "One people, one language; why, this is only a first step. No telling what they'll come up with next—they'll stop at nothing! Come, we'll go down and garble their speech so they won't understand each other." Then God scattered them from there all over the world. And they had to quit building the city. That's how it came to be called Babel, because there God turned their language into "babble." From there God scattered them all over the world.
Understanding was so powerful that at that time even God was disturbed.
CALAMITIES OF MISUNDERSTANDING
For clarification purposes, I’ll like to point out that the opposite of understanding IS NOT misunderstanding.
As from the definition, Misunderstanding is simply “wrong understanding”.
The subtleness of Misunderstanding makes it one of the most dangerous of the Mis-es.
“You know that you know what you know…. What you don’t know is that what you know is not the right thing to know.”
Why did the builders stop building?....... It wouldn’t have been just because one was speaking English and the other Spanish….rather....
All of a sudden, the gesture that should generally mean “thumbs up” now turns out to be a “swear word” to another.
Misunderstanding brought confusion and in no time progress came to a halt.
The Mis-es are so powerful that God employed the services to destroy a family….. A national family.
The enemy will also not decline to use these things to destroy our God given families.
We will be an ignorant bunch of believers and individuals to think that these concepts are nothing but English terms.
Luke 11 vs. 17
Jesus said:
“Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.”
A WAY OUT
As found in former posts and running through the veins of this series, the following are the core lessons to be learnt and implemented in our daily existence.
v Awareness: Be aware that the Mis-es exist and are potent enough to destroy
v Be Open: Clarify your thoughts and actions to family members. Let people know who you are
v Harmony: Be an ambassador of harmony. Seek peace with all men.
v Tolerance: Give family members the benefit of doubt and learn to tolerate others
NEXT WEEK!!! - FINAL WORDS
This is the most referred to of all the Mis-es.
Why this is so might not be very obvious, but what I can tell you is … all the Mis-es head in one direction…..the direction of confusion.
It doesn’t matter whether you misinterpret, misrepresent, misquote, misunderstand or misapply things….. After all is said and done, communication breakdown is the overall effect that the Mis-es want to achieve in our families.
FACTS ABOUT UNDERSTANDING
The pinnacle of human intelligence is “understanding”.
When you understand something, what you are saying is, I know the intricacies of this thing and I can reproduce it whenever I am required to.
Back in the days in high school, my teachers explain to me that…. The easiest way to be a genius is not just to learn or read whatever I’m being taught but to UNDERSTAND them.
When you understand things, they become engraved into your system… when you understand, you care less about unimportant things.
When you understand life… you know the things that make life tick…. When you understand your career… you become a force to reckon with… When you understand your family… everyday becomes a journey towards “betterment” and not “what ifs.”
I can go on and on about the usefulness of reaching that state of understanding because:
“Understanding is the state where the word “ease” finds fulfillment and becomes a lifestyle”
Proverbs 4 vs. 7
Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.
A few days ago, I was on the phone to a very good friend and after a while, the conversation turned bittersweet. With every passing second, it seems the only thing I was doing was causing her pain. For the first time in a while, I was disappointed at the way the conversations had turned out and I only have myself to blame.
With no clue on how to make things better, I decided going off the phone was my best option so as not to cause any more pain. After a few minutes of getting my senses together, my good friend text me saying:
“You make it sound like I don’t understand what you meant to say. I know you didn’t mean no harm……..I personally believe you wouldn’t……hurt me”.
In other words, my friend is saying the understanding she has of me is potent enough to wipe out my mistakes…
THE STRENGTH OF UNDERSTANDING
How strong can “understanding” be?
What potential is resident in us understanding each other?
A journey into time will I believe reveal the possible possibilities.
Genesis 11 vs. 1 – 9 (The Message)
"God Turned Their Language into 'Babble'"
At one time, the whole Earth spoke the same language. It so happened that as they moved out of the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled down.
They said to one another, "Come, let's make bricks and fire them well." They used brick for stone and tar for mortar.
Then they said, "Come, let's build ourselves a city and a tower that reaches Heaven. Let's make ourselves famous so we won't be scattered here and there across the Earth."
God came down to look over the city and the tower those people had built.
God took one look and said, "One people, one language; why, this is only a first step. No telling what they'll come up with next—they'll stop at nothing! Come, we'll go down and garble their speech so they won't understand each other." Then God scattered them from there all over the world. And they had to quit building the city. That's how it came to be called Babel, because there God turned their language into "babble." From there God scattered them all over the world.
Understanding was so powerful that at that time even God was disturbed.
CALAMITIES OF MISUNDERSTANDING
For clarification purposes, I’ll like to point out that the opposite of understanding IS NOT misunderstanding.
As from the definition, Misunderstanding is simply “wrong understanding”.
The subtleness of Misunderstanding makes it one of the most dangerous of the Mis-es.
“You know that you know what you know…. What you don’t know is that what you know is not the right thing to know.”
Why did the builders stop building?....... It wouldn’t have been just because one was speaking English and the other Spanish….rather....
All of a sudden, the gesture that should generally mean “thumbs up” now turns out to be a “swear word” to another.
Misunderstanding brought confusion and in no time progress came to a halt.
The Mis-es are so powerful that God employed the services to destroy a family….. A national family.
The enemy will also not decline to use these things to destroy our God given families.
We will be an ignorant bunch of believers and individuals to think that these concepts are nothing but English terms.
Luke 11 vs. 17
Jesus said:
“Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.”
A WAY OUT
As found in former posts and running through the veins of this series, the following are the core lessons to be learnt and implemented in our daily existence.
v Awareness: Be aware that the Mis-es exist and are potent enough to destroy
v Be Open: Clarify your thoughts and actions to family members. Let people know who you are
v Harmony: Be an ambassador of harmony. Seek peace with all men.
v Tolerance: Give family members the benefit of doubt and learn to tolerate others
NEXT WEEK!!! - FINAL WORDS
Thursday, August 09, 2007
MISAPPLICATION
Misapplication is a “MIS” with a difference. It transcends the mental and conceptual presence of the other “Mis-es” discussed in this series. Misapplication is that thing that helps us understand that some of our family members are walking around with false knowledge.
IT is to use with the wrong purpose or in a wrong way.
Use and misuse are two ever present routes anytime an application is involved. So we realise that when we are equipped, the next major step is to know how to apply what we have been equipped with.
You’ve just been promoted at work, and now you think the time has come for your newly found authority to deliver to you everything you want…..good or bad.
That long awaited freedom is now yours ….you can do what you want, where you want, when you want and how you want…. Please don’t forget, freedom carries “FREE DOOM”
In our quest to have an afterlife, is blowing our selves up the way to go? (Terrorists claimed)
AND
“Cast your bread upon many waters”…folks…has little to do with feeding the fishes.
The life in this heart cry (“Family Meltdown…The Mis-es) is to create a new sense of familiarity within our families, the feeling of belonging, and mutual respect in achieving a corporate goal.
We all withdraw to places to get equipped….. school, religious centres, seminars, hobbies, etc… After a magnificent round of 64 on a golf course, the last thing we would expect for your driver is a human victim.
Do we seriously take the time out to ask
“Am I misapplying this thing that I’m equipped with?”…….
If we don’t, I think it’s high time we started doing the same. You might just be….
IT is to use with the wrong purpose or in a wrong way.
Use and misuse are two ever present routes anytime an application is involved. So we realise that when we are equipped, the next major step is to know how to apply what we have been equipped with.
You’ve just been promoted at work, and now you think the time has come for your newly found authority to deliver to you everything you want…..good or bad.
That long awaited freedom is now yours ….you can do what you want, where you want, when you want and how you want…. Please don’t forget, freedom carries “FREE DOOM”
In our quest to have an afterlife, is blowing our selves up the way to go? (Terrorists claimed)
AND
“Cast your bread upon many waters”…folks…has little to do with feeding the fishes.
The life in this heart cry (“Family Meltdown…The Mis-es) is to create a new sense of familiarity within our families, the feeling of belonging, and mutual respect in achieving a corporate goal.
We all withdraw to places to get equipped….. school, religious centres, seminars, hobbies, etc… After a magnificent round of 64 on a golf course, the last thing we would expect for your driver is a human victim.
Do we seriously take the time out to ask
“Am I misapplying this thing that I’m equipped with?”…….
If we don’t, I think it’s high time we started doing the same. You might just be….
Thursday, August 02, 2007
MISREPRESENTATION
Misrepresentation
From a lay man point of view, misrepresentation means to give a false or misleading account of something.
A quick look at the word as put forward by lexicographers gave synonyms like to “distort”, “falsify”, or “belie” i.e. share the sense of presenting information in a way that does not accord with the truth.
To misrepresent usually involves a deliberate intention to deceive either for profit or advantage
To distort implies a purposeful twisting or emphasizing of certain statements so as to produce an inaccurate or misleading impression.
However, my best definition of misrepresentation is a
“Willful perversion of facts” – wordNet.
I have in time past willfully distorted facts because I was trying to save myself from what I perceived will be a big smack from dad.
I have also in time past misrepresented situations so I could get what I want.
I know people who have done likewise to get other people into trouble.
My question to you is:
Have you ever been misrepresented?
Have you ever misrepresented someone else?
Have you ever perverted the cause of justice to save a family member?
Have you ever perverted the cause of justice to bring about the downfall of a family member? (Work colleague, friend, sibling etc.)
Whizzing through the pages of the bible, a story came to life that depicts misrepresentation in a hilarious way.
“There was a couple named Abraham and Sarah, and Sarah was a chick (I mean HOT)…as in pretty. Abraham knows this as well and on one of their travels to a different city, he did something rather deceptive.
He told the people of the city that Sarah was his sister because he feared that if they knew Sarah was his wife, they would kill him and take her.
FACT: Sarah was actually Abraham’s sister but it was a very distant connection…. So technically he was telling the truth.
More often that not, fear is a major ingredient in us misrepresenting someone or a situation. We get scared of the consequences of telling the truth and this brings me to a simpler definition of misrepresentation.
“Misrepresentation is simply telling a lie or making someone believe in a lie without you actually telling the lie”
Consider this event:
In my back pocket lies my wallet….a timberland one if you care to know. In my wallet lies a combination of things notably $20 and $50 notes (yeah I’m rich if you are wondering).
A friend came over and asked “do you have $10 on you?”
My answer was a resounding but sympathetic “NO” and he walked away believing that I was telling the truth.
In that event, did I lie? .... Well, I don’t think so. Surely, I did not have $10 on me, but I had $20 and $50 notes which are more than but not $10.
What I have done was misrepresented my lack of money and tried to make him believe it.
In the age of increased media hype and paparazzi, we are at constant risk from the influence of false accounts and events. Most times, these falsifications are conscious, deliberate and done to inflict pain or just for the general public to have a laugh.
A few weeks ago, the Queen became a victim of a media stunt that misrepresented the sequence of events in a television documentary. A statement from the BBC reads
The BBC said: "In this trailer there is a sequence that implies that the Queen left a sitting prematurely. This was not the case and the actual sequence of events was mis-represented. 12.07.2007 16:52 www.bbc.co.uk
It’s not surprising that a few days ago, an order came from the royal banning the airing of the documentary…..
Unfortunately, misrepresentation can be done for good and bad reasons, so the ultimate decision lays with you……the reader of this piece.
My advice:
“Love your neighbour as yourself” and remember your neighbours are the members of your families.
“A lie said enough becomes the truth” ….. It’s a great invention (turning lies into truth)…. Don’t be part of it.
From a lay man point of view, misrepresentation means to give a false or misleading account of something.
A quick look at the word as put forward by lexicographers gave synonyms like to “distort”, “falsify”, or “belie” i.e. share the sense of presenting information in a way that does not accord with the truth.
To misrepresent usually involves a deliberate intention to deceive either for profit or advantage
To distort implies a purposeful twisting or emphasizing of certain statements so as to produce an inaccurate or misleading impression.
However, my best definition of misrepresentation is a
“Willful perversion of facts” – wordNet.
I have in time past willfully distorted facts because I was trying to save myself from what I perceived will be a big smack from dad.
I have also in time past misrepresented situations so I could get what I want.
I know people who have done likewise to get other people into trouble.
My question to you is:
Have you ever been misrepresented?
Have you ever misrepresented someone else?
Have you ever perverted the cause of justice to save a family member?
Have you ever perverted the cause of justice to bring about the downfall of a family member? (Work colleague, friend, sibling etc.)
Whizzing through the pages of the bible, a story came to life that depicts misrepresentation in a hilarious way.
“There was a couple named Abraham and Sarah, and Sarah was a chick (I mean HOT)…as in pretty. Abraham knows this as well and on one of their travels to a different city, he did something rather deceptive.
He told the people of the city that Sarah was his sister because he feared that if they knew Sarah was his wife, they would kill him and take her.
FACT: Sarah was actually Abraham’s sister but it was a very distant connection…. So technically he was telling the truth.
More often that not, fear is a major ingredient in us misrepresenting someone or a situation. We get scared of the consequences of telling the truth and this brings me to a simpler definition of misrepresentation.
“Misrepresentation is simply telling a lie or making someone believe in a lie without you actually telling the lie”
Consider this event:
In my back pocket lies my wallet….a timberland one if you care to know. In my wallet lies a combination of things notably $20 and $50 notes (yeah I’m rich if you are wondering).
A friend came over and asked “do you have $10 on you?”
My answer was a resounding but sympathetic “NO” and he walked away believing that I was telling the truth.
In that event, did I lie? .... Well, I don’t think so. Surely, I did not have $10 on me, but I had $20 and $50 notes which are more than but not $10.
What I have done was misrepresented my lack of money and tried to make him believe it.
In the age of increased media hype and paparazzi, we are at constant risk from the influence of false accounts and events. Most times, these falsifications are conscious, deliberate and done to inflict pain or just for the general public to have a laugh.
A few weeks ago, the Queen became a victim of a media stunt that misrepresented the sequence of events in a television documentary. A statement from the BBC reads
The BBC said: "In this trailer there is a sequence that implies that the Queen left a sitting prematurely. This was not the case and the actual sequence of events was mis-represented. 12.07.2007 16:52 www.bbc.co.uk
It’s not surprising that a few days ago, an order came from the royal banning the airing of the documentary…..
Unfortunately, misrepresentation can be done for good and bad reasons, so the ultimate decision lays with you……the reader of this piece.
My advice:
“Love your neighbour as yourself” and remember your neighbours are the members of your families.
“A lie said enough becomes the truth” ….. It’s a great invention (turning lies into truth)…. Don’t be part of it.
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