Trying Times - "High And Mighty" Series

Trying Times – “HIGH AND MIGHTY”

by

Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid (5/29/2013, 6/1/2013, 6/15/2013, 6/18/2013, 6/22/2013, 6/29/2013, 7/6/2013, 7/11/2013, 7/15/2013, 7/21/2013, 7/30/2013)

“And one told David, saying Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness” (II Samuel 15:31, King James Version, [Absalom seduceth Israel]).

Greetings in the Name of Jesus,

I could hear the spirits talking as I gardened outside, walking from one end of the garden to the next, surveying what I still needed to accomplish, to meet my daily goals, “High and Mighty!” I pondered the words, “High and Mighty” to myself, wondering what it meant. I knew the truth of those words intended to manifest in my life sooner than later and those words did, just that. The day did not grow nigh, in fact, it was still early before high noon that I spoke to Human Resources about hiring. The last time we spoke, she seemed quite impressed and said, “You are highly qualified” yet I did not get hired but there was hope; I should just keep knocking on the doors until someone hired me; so what happened?

Now, she spoke like I was an intruder and I was in their neck of the woods. I was conceived, here, and to date I have lived here 10 years. I could not understand why, other than the politics of the day prevailed, those in waiting, who did not prepare themselves, like biblical David and were not of God, bucked up and complained that they waited for the opportunity for years and she just could not toss their fortune and their welfare to the side and hire an outsider. The line of reasoning of course, came from some of my family, those that maintained their illiterate nature and those who were just plain cut-throat, in dealings to out-pace whomever they wanted to be “the outlandish” so they could seek favor to receive the benefits, when if the truth be told, then, the world knew they spent time away from the family lands just as my family sect; they returned and pretended they had been here all along toiling and striving, in the soil while everyone else ran off to seek their fortunes elsewhere and now that the jobs finally opened up, here, they should receive the bounteous harvest. Boy!

Can they lie? Yes! They took their chance on seeking their fortune elsewhere, ran back and played the great pretender! Now, I have to deal with their untruth and competitive madness, “High and Mighty!”

Well, the lie that got them the job was the lie they wanted to use to oppress me and explained, “They hired the novice. It was all about the budget. The experienced applicants were paid more wages so it was smart business sense to hire the novice applicants. It was discrimination to say such a malpractice but I held her confidence and frankly enjoyed her honest delivery of what happened, however, it did not make me feel any better to get kicked to the curb for experience or for having lived elsewhere than to appreciate the decision they made to hire the novice.”

No, it was all about leadership and everyone knew you could not expect a pinto to take you where only a limousine goes and where a cadillac could get you, almost there. And, the idea that human capital was cheaper by the dozen when you hired a novice only goes as far as the question, “Can they drive?” will take you. Can they drive scores to where you want them? Can they drive performance to peak? Or, was it a constant slippery slope, high today, gone tomorrow, with continuous error, not knowing where they were; to whom they belonged to and obedience God's plan.

Was it righteous to meet your payroll and not your goals? If, you could not drive beyond

3

the margins, then, you were marginalized with little hope, no doubt about it and those to whom

you held responsibility for and to, picked up on the shallow depth of water, wading in no substance, failing God and yourself; throwing the baby out with the bath water for the little

budget given, was squandered away in the meaningless effort to fake responsibility, for God said, “All things are possible.” Why do you make a mockery of the word of God acting like God can not afford to hire the best and experienced so that they could turnaround and train the novice? In my father's house are many mansions, if it were not so, then, I would not have told you.

Please, let my living not be in vain. Father, do not let my living be in vain. I could not feel right living a life of vain glory, ignoring the truth inside of me. When have you ever read that