If the trumpet gives an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself for the battle. – I Corinthians 14:8
First Corinthians is a book in the New Testament of the Christian bible, written by Saint Paul while he was in Ephesus to the church in Corinth he had founded. First Corinthians is generally thought to have been written sometime between 53 and 57 AD and is one of 13 epistles credited to Paul in the New Testament, and one of seven of these to be considered by most biblical scholars to be of unquestioned authenticity.
Today’s Thought comes in the context of Paul encouraging his church’s members to speak in tongues and to prophesize, but to do so in a manner that is easy to understand, because if they don’t who will hear the message?
Today’s Thought is relevant in our lives, even for those of us for whom the bible holds little influence and who do not speak in tongues.
We must be confident in this life. We must be confident in ourselves. We must be confident that the path we are on is the life we were meant to be living. There is no substitute for this because only when we are living the lives we were meant to live are we doing ourselves or anyone else any good.
No one will believe in us like we believe in ourselves. It’s not possible. Sure, your mother will come pretty close. A good spouse will try. But that’s really it because nobody has the breadth or depth of vision for our lives that we do. It’s not possible nor, frankly, is it particularly desirable because why should somebody believe in ourselves more than we do?
Our trumpet must not give off an uncertain sound. No matter what we do – build a chair, teach a class, serve a customer – our trumpet must ring with certainty because only with the certainty of being true to ourselves will our lives resonate with others.
The Thought for the Day runs regularly. Quotes are from Gaylon’s personal quotebook, begun in a motel room in Berkeley, California in 1988.
