Recently I heard something in the midst of a talk about obedience that just made me stop and really think for a moment - and I mean deep thought too!

Delayed obedience becomes immediate disobedience; partial obedience is complete disobedience.

Yes, my mind had to reflect on the matter of obedience. Honestly, I can't say I've always been obedient - as a child, an adult, or even as a slave. But I hadn't ever considered any parts of the bigger picture of what it means to be disobedient, either, until now. It struck me that I hadn’t ever considered delayed obedience as immediate disobedience, nor had I considered partial obedience as  complete disobedience ~mind blown~. I only thought of disobedience as willfully  not completing a task or deliberately going against the Master’s expressed desires, commands, and rules/protocols.

Delayed obedience

When a slave delays in her obedience she has intentionally (even if she says otherwise) decided to pull back on her submission – this is the pinnacle of disobedience. That one decision, especially if it happens regularly, says so very much. It’s a subversive act also, and it does work against the authority of the Master and the submission of the slave, which of course harms the overall relationship. The slave says, "I'll get around to it," which of course is fine if there's a plan of action that has been put together, but then she would be saying, “I’ll get to it  after doing this or that.” In my humble opinion, if the attitude is usually rather lax towards tasks and assignments and all things are done ‘whenever I feel like it’, then, well one's obedience can definitely come into question, among other things but this post is about obedience.

Partial obedience

“But, Master, at least I did this!” This is what we say when we’ve partially completed a task or didn’t manage our time well enough to get to it but still accomplished other things for ourselves. Well, yes, that’s still complete disobedience. Master says, “Girl, iron 3 shirts and 4 pairs of pants this weekend, I’ll need them for work next week.” The slave abhors ironing and spends much of the weekend avoiding the task at hand. Saturday comes and goes, no ironing. Sunday comes and is almost gone and only 1 shirt and 2 pairs of pants have been ironed. The task should have been completed, but it wasn’t. In this example, the slave demonstrates complete disobedience primarily because of her attitude which led her to begrudgingly do even what she did do.

Let's face it; some of us can be a bit rebellious at times. That's a reality. Some Masters enjoy a bit of brat in their slave while others will not tolerate such. But, I'd hazard to guess that all Masters want a slave that is obedient and takes a certain amount of pride in the service that is offered and committed to.  Well, blyss, what if it's something I really don't want to do or I don't like doing like in the example? Well, here is something important to remember: When we decided to follow the slave path; when we decided to petition for and accept His collar - we also committed to expressing obedience even in the tasks we don't find so savory; should we decide not to honor the agreement, and then we shouldn’t be surprised by the consequences of making that decision. Unless it was something negotiated or something you're simply unable to do (and no, it can't be that you're unable because you don't like it!), then obedience in following through with as much of the spirit of submission and service excellence should be a part of the experience and a motivation.

Lots of love, blyss