do not play victim

Everyday.

... I fought my tendency to be arrogant, to be bitter, to be whining and complaining all the time, to be negative, to boast about my *cough* overrated *cough* self-righteousness, to be grudgeous -- is that even a word? -- basically, to be human.

Yes some people have mistreated me in the past, but it is not an excuse to lie around doing nothing, play victim. I will rise again, I will overcome. Like the angel said to Mary, Immanuel: God is with us.

Why? What is the danger of playing victim?

I wonder.

... If Saul took what Samuel said in 1 Sam 12 personally.

I mean like the theory I've read somewhere, that children of divorced couples often blame themselves for what happened.

So what's with Samuel and Saul?

Let me give you a glimpse of what had happened. Saul, the first anointed king, just won a war against the Ammonites. Before him, no one had ever been anointed king. Israel, until shortly before, had been ruled by judges. One of the last judges was bidding goodbye to the nation. He was going to retire and leave things to be taken care by the new, young king.

Not before making a fuss first, Israeli-style.

"Then Samuel called on the Lord, and that same day Lord sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the Lord and Samuel."

Samuel's got to say something. "Now then, stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes! ... realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the Lord when you asked for a king."

I feel for Saul! I can see his eyes grew larger and larger listening to every words.

Now he got two choices. One is to be truly offended - "You talked me into agreeing all this coronation bulls... thing, yet now you're telling people they've committed a great sin by asking for a king?" Another is to humble oneself in front of God whose right mind he couldn't fathom.

He could play victim or he could play along.

So what did he choose?

...

......

How I wish to see this story ends differently! How Samuel wished to see this story ends differently! "You have done a foolish thing... He would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time."

...

Btw this crossed my mind just now, but perhaps the writer of Star Wars had this biblical story in mind when creating the scene in Mustafar. You know, just before the duel, Obi Wan Kenobi told Anakin Skywalker: "You were the chosen one!"

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