Chemistry classes were an endless source of fascination for me. The theory part always went straight over my head, but in the lab I saw endless possibilities.

Conveniently forgetting the "this is what you do" parts, I quite miraculously remembered all the "do not under any circumstances do this" bits.

Result? Acidic liquids and poisonous vapours beckoned tantalisingly, and for a whole year I was a menace simply because I failed to acknowledge that rules are usually created for a reason.

Did I suffer from selective hearing?

Or just exhibit wilful interpretation?

Perhaps a bit of both?

The jury's still out. 😉

Seriously, though, we've all been there in one way or another.

Learning, yes.

Doing, yes again.

Discerning right from wrong in-between?

Knowing how yet unable to translate knowledge into an ethical do?

Perhaps not so much.

Which makes me wonder if a why is the one all-important ingredient we sometimes fail to consider before we act. An essential that either temporarily paralyses or scuppers altogether, depending on whether our reasons are good or bad…

On the verge of disseminating a juicy bit of gossip, do I reconsider when I realise it could have far-reaching consequences, or is my addled brain’s inability to contain the gist one minute longer my excuse?

Is it a fit of conscience that makes a thief hesitate before the steal, or the need to ensure they can't be seen whilst committing the crime?

Can a generalissimo tell the difference between being warmly welcomed as an emancipator even as he invades a sovereign country, and despised and rejected as a murderous oppressive intruder?

Anyone who's followed a despot’s trajectory - metric rise and fall inclusive- can attest to the formulaic signs. The ones the latter has missed, as well as the ones which will later define them.

Knowing how to war, yet not when; then doing so sans logic - incapable of conquering in any true sense of the word.

Not land.

Not hearts.

Not minds.

And never, ever voices.

The madness in the motive?

It’ll get you every time.

👓

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#Ukraine2022

#StopTheBloodshedWhateverTheWhy

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📖 You can rationalize it all you want and justify the path of error you have chosen, but you’ll find out in the end that you took the road to destruction.

Proverbs 14:12 TPT (YouVersion)

📖 All the ways of a man are clean and innocent in his own eyes [and he may see nothing wrong with his actions], But the Lord weighs and examines the motives and intents [of the heart and knows the truth].

Proverbs 16:2 AMP (YouVersion)

💬 Sun Tzu - 6th century BC Chinese general and military strategist