I am coming to an amazing place as I understand the only way to love someone is to let them find their own path, and on their path their own way. Because if I interject anything of 'myself' it will only be misdirection or the wrong way. Oh yes, I am following Jesus, He is in me. I can point everyone to Him, and also say 'please don't follow me'. There is flesh to be dealt with every moment of everyday. There is ego to die, the tongue to control, the mind that needs to be renewed and the 'acting out' of fear, which are always going to be poor examples of my faith and of God's unconditional love and compassion. Worship, reading His Word and speaking about the Lord always invites the Spirit, but when out of the Spirit the flesh manifests fleshly desires and fear which need to always be conquered. I now see there is no place for judgment, ever, only unconditional love, compassion for those hurting and searching and desiring to be loved.
Yesterday I was hurting as I heard about a man that lived within our courtyard of our apartment complex. Neighbors asked if I heard what happened and I said 'no'. He had committed suicide after losing his job. There are so many deeply hurting people, finding no way out their pain, no one available to listen, no one to love them without judgment. They are everywhere. To be able to look at them, and smile or at least say a silent prayer because we 'do' know. It may be all they need to get them through another day. We can be sure of it, everywhere people are in despair and hurting. We can choose to lead them to Jesus knowing our hope and our difficulties, but for others to see Him in me, I must be truthful about myself without facades. True unconditional love and true compassion (love can never be faked) draws searching and the desire to know and desire more.
“When I meet someone, I look into his or her eyes, because that person for me is Jesus.” Mother Teresa
'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Jesus ___ Matthew 25
Love them Like Jesus loves them
Love them like they are Jesus
Love Them Like Jesus, Casting Crowns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qfaiKiCh7I&feature=related
I sent the following out recently. It was written by a dear friend Lizabeth Doolittle on February 20 after the despair and grief for another dear family, whose son who was tragically killed two days before. It is so powerful and if we could only completely get it. And Pam if you are reading this...I so love you and Steve and Chris. We cannot even begin to imagine how difficult it is for you, but if it ever feels like you want to give up please remember that you are surrounded by love and we are all prayerfully waiting for you.
Love Broke Out (I like the past tense here)
Verb: break out breyk awt1. Start abruptly"After 1989, peace broke out in the former East Bloc"- erupt2. Begin suddenly and sometimes violently"He broke out shouting""Love Broke Out", "Prayer Broke Out", "Kindness Broke Out"These are the headlines I would love to see in the newspapers, instead of the senseless tragedies we do see. A family in our community lost a son in such a senseless event. Headlines were written about this unfathomable loss of life and all of those who loved this family and those who just love life wanted those headlines and reporting to be a made up horror story, lies, fabrications, a fictional tragedy. But the loss was real.A friend, Vicky, wrote to me on facebook that a 15 year old girl was life-flighted from her neighborhood, after suffering a stroke. Vicky said all the neighbors came out of their homes and "prayer broke out".I love this definition of "break out"--- 2. Begin suddenly and sometimes violentlyAdjective: violent vI-(u-)lunt1. Acting with or marked by or resulting from great force or energy or emotional intensityLet love break out. Let prayer break out. Let kindness break out. Let us be violent, forceful, energetic, passionate, purposeful, proactive about our prayers, displays of love, and tangible acts of kindness! Jesus encouraged us (yes, even us pacifists) that the violent take the Kingdom of heaven by force. THIS is the violence we need to see. Real women and real men passionately, purposely loving. Let love and prayer and kindness break out (suddenly and sometimes violently) now. Remember the song, "Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me"? Let violent, passionate, purposeful, proactive, energetic, love break out and let it begin with me. And you. And you. And you....
Friday
March 6, 2008 Being Still, Mastering Oneself
One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself. Leonardo DaVinci
The sculptor represents the transition from one pose to another.. he indicates how insensibly the first glides into the second. In his work we still see a part of what was and we discover a part of what is to be. Auguste Rodin
Wow Auguste, do I need that inspiration of 'what is to be' about right now. But I know that it isn't the future vision anymore it is the present moment from which the vision is born. It is that stillness and wonder that inspires every artist, it then becomes and extension of the artist's very being and thought. This is why we were created, that is, to communicate. All communication is an art.
The most wondrous thing that has occurred in my searching for a deeper or closer walk with Jesus, is finding that place to be able to be still and wait on or with Him. I know first hand it is very hard with too much exterior interference, like talking too much, 'doing' too much, planning too much, being on the computer too much :-). There were quick glimpses of stillness with Him that 'I allowed' if looking at this perspective, because it really is always my choice to be still. It seems that this is the devil's greatest achievement, that is, keeping us too busy, taking away time to be still, to be present with Him and with each other. This isn't just a modern day phenomenon.
Personally, I would change this title from 'The Thinker to 'Being Still' because it is also easy to 'think too much'. This is the mastery of oneself.
The sculptor represents the transition from one pose to another.. he indicates how insensibly the first glides into the second. In his work we still see a part of what was and we discover a part of what is to be. Auguste Rodin
Wow Auguste, do I need that inspiration of 'what is to be' about right now. But I know that it isn't the future vision anymore it is the present moment from which the vision is born. It is that stillness and wonder that inspires every artist, it then becomes and extension of the artist's very being and thought. This is why we were created, that is, to communicate. All communication is an art.
The most wondrous thing that has occurred in my searching for a deeper or closer walk with Jesus, is finding that place to be able to be still and wait on or with Him. I know first hand it is very hard with too much exterior interference, like talking too much, 'doing' too much, planning too much, being on the computer too much :-). There were quick glimpses of stillness with Him that 'I allowed' if looking at this perspective, because it really is always my choice to be still. It seems that this is the devil's greatest achievement, that is, keeping us too busy, taking away time to be still, to be present with Him and with each other. This isn't just a modern day phenomenon.
Personally, I would change this title from 'The Thinker to 'Being Still' because it is also easy to 'think too much'. This is the mastery of oneself.
Thursday
March 5, 2009 Life Happens
Life Happens!!!
With faith like a child. It's not 'childish', it is totally dependant on God for everything. Totally naked before Him, totally stripped of the need for anything other than sustenance. What a hard and difficult lesson to learn in our society. There is no fear, just childlike faith, loving life and clearly watching and waiting for the next beautiful miracle fluttering in our path.
How beautiful life is!!
With faith like a child. It's not 'childish', it is totally dependant on God for everything. Totally naked before Him, totally stripped of the need for anything other than sustenance. What a hard and difficult lesson to learn in our society. There is no fear, just childlike faith, loving life and clearly watching and waiting for the next beautiful miracle fluttering in our path.
How beautiful life is!!
Wednesday
March 4, 2009 What are we doing out there?
Satellites are tracked by United States Space Surveillance Network (SSN), which has been tracking every object in orbit over 10 cm in diameter since it was founded in 1957. There are approximately 560 satellites operating in Earth orbit, out of ~8,000 man-made objects in total. In its entire history, the SSN has tracked more than 26,000 space objects orbiting Earth. The majority of these have fallen into unstable orbits and incinerated during reentry. The SSN also keeps track which piece of space junk belongs to which country. ___www.wisegeek.com
Satellite Internet access operates via geostationary (fixed-position) satellites that beam microwaves from about 22,300 miles above the Earth's equator to your dish antenna and transceiver (transmitter/receiver). Satellite Internet access is available in two forms: two-way and one-way.
http://www.articlesbase.com/technology-articles/how-does-satellite-internet-access-work-82574.html
Anyway, I guess I am in one of those moods, seeking information though important to those in the this tech world but a waste of time for someone like me. I guess this is another as I'm in thinking about how we are able to communicate through these tiny boxes without seeing a face except in our mind's memory drive. It is a great tool, but I don't ever want to forget how important it is to be with you and all of God's creation and experience it all first hand and not by this artificial intelligence method. So, you may think the next is so out of place in my emails but it's what I am feeling this morning....so don't be shocked. It's a peculiar way of saying 'I love you' and want to make sure your computer screen is clean enough to see clearly all of this information that is flying around cyberspace. :-).
Here it is after traveling approximately 44,600 miles from my computer.
http://www.raincitystory.com/flash/screenclean.swf
Satellite Internet access operates via geostationary (fixed-position) satellites that beam microwaves from about 22,300 miles above the Earth's equator to your dish antenna and transceiver (transmitter/receiver). Satellite Internet access is available in two forms: two-way and one-way.
http://www.articlesbase.com/technology-articles/how-does-satellite-internet-access-work-82574.html
Anyway, I guess I am in one of those moods, seeking information though important to those in the this tech world but a waste of time for someone like me. I guess this is another as I'm in thinking about how we are able to communicate through these tiny boxes without seeing a face except in our mind's memory drive. It is a great tool, but I don't ever want to forget how important it is to be with you and all of God's creation and experience it all first hand and not by this artificial intelligence method. So, you may think the next is so out of place in my emails but it's what I am feeling this morning....so don't be shocked. It's a peculiar way of saying 'I love you' and want to make sure your computer screen is clean enough to see clearly all of this information that is flying around cyberspace. :-).
Here it is after traveling approximately 44,600 miles from my computer.
http://www.raincitystory.com/flash/screenclean.swf
Tuesday
March 3, 2009 Transition to the Promise
Work hard, then, on the disappointment or anticlimax which is certainly coming to the patient during his first few weeks as a churchman. The Enemy allows this disappointment to occur on the threshold of every human endeavour. It occurs when the boy who has been enchanted in the nursery by Stories from the Odyssey buckles down to really learning Greek. It occurs when lovers have got married and begin the real task of learning to live together. In every department of life it marks the transition from dreaming aspiration to laborious doing. The Enemy takes this risk because He has a curious fantasy of making all these disgusting little human vermin into what He calls His "free" lovers and servants—"sons" is the word He uses, with His inveterate love of degrading the whole spiritual world by unnatural liaisons with the two-legged animals. Desiring their freedom, He therefore refuses to carry them, by their mere affections and habits, to any of the goals which He sets before them: He leaves them to "do it on their own". And there lies our opportunity. But also, remember, there lies our danger. If once they get through this initial dryness successfully, they become much less dependent on emotion and therefore much harder to tempt. _________The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis
Wow, we can all relate to this transition, the disappointments. Yes, we want freedom, but when coming down to the bottom of all of it, if we don't become disillusioned in the desert, we then are able to cross over to the promise waiting for us. This is so powerful, this is the point of making it or breaking it, giving up or going on. There is absolutely no temptation when my emotion or my ego is out of the way. I want to be deliberate in explaining what I feel about all of this because I often wind up in this place between wonder and disappointment, ecstasy and despair, we all do. And when feeling trapped and wanting to go back (how crazy is this?!), which truly is all from trying to 'do it on my own' and 'working hard' (which is the 'doing' instead of the 'becoming'), those moments in the dry places when I begin to choose what appears to be 'opportunity' but instead it is a very, very 'dangerous' place. And thank God now I see the obvious temptation. This is more than taking my life back, it is choosing not to give it away. There is no longer fear of going back, it is being frozen (what a thought in the heat of the desert!) and not going forward, which will cause me to wander for many, many years.
So while being uncomfortable and purged while my sick, vile, ego is being burned off little by little, there is emerging this great and awesome wonder called FAITH.
Maybe I can't watch this today because of the flood of emotion it brings, it is me, the artist, the one seeking comfort, the one looking back (how dangerous this is), the one wandering, the one who sees the promise land ahead and the giants don't scare me anymore. Because the all consuming fire has burned off that part of my ego and I want to go forward.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSXciv06218&feature=PlayList&p=388378D6FDF31FC3&playnext=1&index=9
Wow, we can all relate to this transition, the disappointments. Yes, we want freedom, but when coming down to the bottom of all of it, if we don't become disillusioned in the desert, we then are able to cross over to the promise waiting for us. This is so powerful, this is the point of making it or breaking it, giving up or going on. There is absolutely no temptation when my emotion or my ego is out of the way. I want to be deliberate in explaining what I feel about all of this because I often wind up in this place between wonder and disappointment, ecstasy and despair, we all do. And when feeling trapped and wanting to go back (how crazy is this?!), which truly is all from trying to 'do it on my own' and 'working hard' (which is the 'doing' instead of the 'becoming'), those moments in the dry places when I begin to choose what appears to be 'opportunity' but instead it is a very, very 'dangerous' place. And thank God now I see the obvious temptation. This is more than taking my life back, it is choosing not to give it away. There is no longer fear of going back, it is being frozen (what a thought in the heat of the desert!) and not going forward, which will cause me to wander for many, many years.
So while being uncomfortable and purged while my sick, vile, ego is being burned off little by little, there is emerging this great and awesome wonder called FAITH.
Maybe I can't watch this today because of the flood of emotion it brings, it is me, the artist, the one seeking comfort, the one looking back (how dangerous this is), the one wandering, the one who sees the promise land ahead and the giants don't scare me anymore. Because the all consuming fire has burned off that part of my ego and I want to go forward.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSXciv06218&feature=PlayList&p=388378D6FDF31FC3&playnext=1&index=9
Monday
March 2, 2009 Together in Crisis
With so many concerned about the direction of this economic crises, and so many losing their jobs, their life's savings, concern is everywhere. This crises can be survived, any crises we can survive standing with and serving each other.
Ken and I lost everything 3 years ago, we can honestly say we survived with you at our side. We are living examples of this promise and stand 'waiting' to survive this together with you as a constant reminder as He uses all of us, as we are His servants, we 'wait' on Him Lord Jehovah Jireh - 'Our Provider', we 'wait on' and 'serve each other'. And as this brings me tears thinking about how true it is, we are here for each other. We will soar above it all as we encourage and support each other.
Yesterday it was loud and clear to me in one of those profound ways that happens like 'hit you up the side of the head' experiences reminding me to 'wait' on the Lord. I couldn't help remember what came to me last year thinking of the oxen's yoke and the eagle. Here is part of it from June 6 last year.
Psalm 103:1 Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2 Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-- 3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
Isaiah 40:31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
Matthew 11:28 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
When we are yoked together the burden is shared. Notice the similarity in the photos of this wooden oxen yoke and the wing span of the eagle in flight.
http://www.rptrading.biz/Spring-OxYokeLrg.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/86/215441782_449f8a5985_s.jpg
Ken and I lost everything 3 years ago, we can honestly say we survived with you at our side. We are living examples of this promise and stand 'waiting' to survive this together with you as a constant reminder as He uses all of us, as we are His servants, we 'wait' on Him Lord Jehovah Jireh - 'Our Provider', we 'wait on' and 'serve each other'. And as this brings me tears thinking about how true it is, we are here for each other. We will soar above it all as we encourage and support each other.
Yesterday it was loud and clear to me in one of those profound ways that happens like 'hit you up the side of the head' experiences reminding me to 'wait' on the Lord. I couldn't help remember what came to me last year thinking of the oxen's yoke and the eagle. Here is part of it from June 6 last year.
Psalm 103:1 Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2 Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-- 3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
Isaiah 40:31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
Matthew 11:28 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
When we are yoked together the burden is shared. Notice the similarity in the photos of this wooden oxen yoke and the wing span of the eagle in flight.
http://www.rptrading.biz/Spring-OxYokeLrg.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/86/215441782_449f8a5985_s.jpg
Some interesting eagle facts:
Although poets sing praises of the apparently effortless soaring and gliding of bald eagles, in fact their flight may be awkward and exhausting. Because of their size, eagles need optimal flying conditions to display true elegance. Optimal conditions include enough wide-open space (unhampered by trees or branches), a high take-off point, and good wind conditions. Eagles depend on large masses of warm air called thermals to soar and glide gracefully. The rising air lifts the birds to great heights. When winds pass over hills and mountains, an updraft of air is created along the windward sides. This upward sweep of wind works with the eagle's wing size and span to keep the eagle aloft. ____ Eagle Biology; Structure & Anatomy http://www.eagles.org/vueaglewebcs/bio_str_anat.htm
Oh yeah!!!
Video & Song
'Everlasting God' Lincoln Brewster
http://youtube.com/watch?v=jP2nz6PG8KM
Matthew 25:40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me.'
Although poets sing praises of the apparently effortless soaring and gliding of bald eagles, in fact their flight may be awkward and exhausting. Because of their size, eagles need optimal flying conditions to display true elegance. Optimal conditions include enough wide-open space (unhampered by trees or branches), a high take-off point, and good wind conditions. Eagles depend on large masses of warm air called thermals to soar and glide gracefully. The rising air lifts the birds to great heights. When winds pass over hills and mountains, an updraft of air is created along the windward sides. This upward sweep of wind works with the eagle's wing size and span to keep the eagle aloft. ____ Eagle Biology; Structure & Anatomy http://www.eagles.org/vueaglewebcs/bio_str_anat.htm
Oh yeah!!!
Video & Song
'Everlasting God' Lincoln Brewster
http://youtube.com/watch?v=jP2nz6PG8KM
Matthew 25:40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me.'
Sunday
March 1, 2009 Silent Reaching
There are many hands and hearts needing to be held, all the time, every moment of every day.
The action of reaching may not be the obvious holding out a hand asking to be held. If not careful we will miss the reaching because it sometimes comes with silent cries. With deliberate attention we slow down enough to look into the soul of another and find that place where we all connect, a place of beauty and perfect love.
It may not be a hand reaching, but with eyes looking into eyes, hearts looking into hearts. Words become unecessary when communication is from the heart and the soul.
The action of reaching may not be the obvious holding out a hand asking to be held. If not careful we will miss the reaching because it sometimes comes with silent cries. With deliberate attention we slow down enough to look into the soul of another and find that place where we all connect, a place of beauty and perfect love.
It may not be a hand reaching, but with eyes looking into eyes, hearts looking into hearts. Words become unecessary when communication is from the heart and the soul.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)