Liability or Asset?

The Lord is my strength and song…
— Psalm 118:14

Sometimes, it only takes a slight alteration of perspective to change our lives entirely. We have all heard the old cliché, “You are what you think.” Many of us have things about our lives, about our personalities which we view as liabilities, but what if those liabilities were really assets? What if they were God’s gifts?

Over the years, I have heard numerous jazz musicians refer to Louis Armstrong as the musician’s musician, as their greatest inspiration. Recently, I heard the story about the name Satchmo and I was deeply inspired.

Louis Armstrong was gifted with a very generous mouth. It seems that when he was growing up, he was ridiculed for this and called “Satchel Mouth.” As the years went on, the name “Satchel Mouth” evolved into Satchmo, and as his success and fame grew, this was the fond nickname used by the millions who loved him! What better gift for a world-class trumpeter than a generous mouth!

For many years I have often said, “I wish I weren’t so sensitive!” Then at a Jean Houston seminar, she told me that from a larger perspective, my sensitivity is the very quality that gives birth to my compassion. I took a deep breath and said, “Oh!”

Are you critical of yourself at this very moment? Take a few minutes to be still, and open your heart to God’s Divine re-interpretation. Refocus. Take another look. Is there a gift in it? Notice how what you were deeming a liability, can all at once become a Divine Asset! Now, take a deep breath and say, “Oh!”

Today, I stop limiting my life. I look at my life with an open mind, and an open spirit, going forth with the joy of knowing that I am gifted to see the Divine Truth about myself, and it is good, very good!

Rev. Dr. Rainbow Johnson
ADAAP Outreach Minister