Exchanges... (earlier posted 8-12-15 @ pastordamon.com)

[Patrick Friar]

The recently released movie the Gift reminded me of the important emphasis of exchanges. An exchange is simply the ways we choose to communicate to others. Period. Awareness of our exchanges both common and uncommone is key. When I interact with others in 2015, I am increasingly finding myself in a world where I must learn how to consistently and convincingly interact with integrity. I may not give every person that I come in contact my loving attention (that is saved for my wife and children) however to make the mistake that I can mistreat any (ole) person I come across with my words, my actions, or even my thoughts ( at some level) is to not understand how the world has evolved in 2015.
In the movie the Gift , Jason Bateman plays the role of an arrogant, entitled bully. The story shows and tells that he never grew up and out of that immaturity. And Gordo (played and directed by Joel Edgerton), along with, ultimately his wife, ( played by Rebecca Hall) were there to effectively make sure that through heavy duty lessons of karma, Bateman’s ‘chickens ultimately come home to roost’. Whether you are the head pastor of a church, an all important state representative (see Todd Courser, Cindy Gamrat) or whoever you may think that you are or may be, gone are the days that you can succeed with bullying your way through persons as if they will not matter in the scheme of things. You and I must show integrity through our common and uncommon exchanges. In that spirit of exchanging haughty for humility, I am coming around to like this world a little bit more all the time…