People who are stuck in life or love many times act like the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz, searching or reaching for an Oil Can to help stop the squeak and retard the rust.

Offering relief to the immediate need is certainly a welcomed gesture to help them move forward. However, continuing to treat the obvious need(s) may not be meeting the need that is the most obvious.

People in counsel want the oil can treatment of “How To”.  They want to be given answers, the process, the steps, tools, tricks of the trade to work on and through their impasse, trouble, and need.

However, gaining all of the so called solutions to fix it without personally becoming the solution, instrument, and vehicle of change yourself, is like offering the Tin Man an Oil Can without a Heart.

At the heart of counsel is to reclaim the heart of every man and woman. If you do not have a change of heart then all of the steps to so called success become a burdensome technique to follow. They may easily become rules that rust or reduce you into a robot.  Many times the Tin Man continually seeks out the latest or newest external techniques…like a new or improved synthetic oil, rather than a new heart.

The Tin Man without a heart moves mechanically through the motions without any of it becoming realized in him or as him. The only purpose of the oil can is to keep you lubricated so you can continue down the yellow brick road toward gaining a new heart.  It is a means not the end.

I know you WANT answers, but what you NEED is mystery. The mystery of finding and living from your heart is the perpetual “Oil Can” that comes with the Manufacturer’s (God) warranty to never rust out. You must become the solution not just get a solution.

The lullaby life of…Somewhere Over The Rainbow comes from loving God with all your heart (Tin Man) all your soul (Lion), all your mind (Scarecrow) and all your strength (Dorothy) and loving your neighbor (Toto…a picture of man’s best friend) as yourself.

There’s no place like home…because that’s where all your dreams really do come true. The promise is a wholehearted life. Anything else is just a bag of wizardry and tricks. You have to go on the journey of a lifetime to find and become your truest self. If you’ll do that then the Oil Can becomes a gift not a gimmick to a new heart, new home, new life and a love that is new, unconditional and eternal.

When you get back home to Kansas you’ll recognize it as the Heartland!