Prayer in Fog

Isle of Skye, Scotland

I can scarcely imagine a minute or two

Without the consolation of having you

Stand with me as these trials appear

A fog hangs with me, but to you it's clear

The step I should take and the path to follow

Please guide me that way, cause movement tomorrow

For my hope is alive and my faith is true

Thy will be done is my prayer to You

Quotes

Hey Friends... Check out my new quotes page!! (Click on "Quotes" above)

Oftentimes in the course of my reading, I come across some lines that make me think, smile, or almost exclaim out loud "So true!"

These snippets are usually at my fingertips, whether underlined in my books or written in my journal, and I thought I would open my books and maintain a page of quotes that are worthy of a few readings. So, check it out from time to time. I will keep adding quotes to the page.

Quotes can speak volumes in just a few lines.

Silence Speaks Loud

Where silence should speak loud, we speak instead. Where words of love would heal we do not dare to voice them: from sound and silence both have fled.

-Madeleine L'Engle

These lines have always been my favorites of Madeleine L'Engle's. A great, creative writer, Madeleine has a way of showing the reader something ordinary in an artistic, thoughtful way. She gets me thinking differently, which is partly why I love reading her books. Whether fiction or non-fiction. In just a few sentences she articulates the issue from both sides in a thought provoking context.

How many of us keep silent when we should speak? Or speak when we should encourage the silence?
I have observed that silence makes most people uncomfortable. I use those silent moments to take in other people. I like to see how they react to pauses in conversation. The majority of people will fill any silent moment with random comments when sometimes they lose the fact that a pause in a conversation can speak volumes. There might be a meaningful silence that someone is filling with rubbish right now.

And on the other side, sometimes we are given the opportunity to show love through our words and we let that chance slip by. Our words can bring comfort, encouragement, wisdom, ideas, and love. There might be something that other person needs to hear. But your words should be chosen with care, for once spoken, they cannot be taken back. Tell someone not to think about elephants, and what do they immediately think about? Elephants.That person may not be ready to think about elephants.

Planting Trust

Hiking in North Carolina

So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

1 Corinthians 3.7

We can do all the planning, planting, urging, and prep work, but nothing is going to come to fruition that God does not want. How cruel is God, then, to hinder us from something we try to obtain? Why should we follow God if He takes those seedlings away? Or doesn't allow something to grow? We live in a culture where we are told we deserve so-and-so to happen. We have earned it, with all our toil and trouble, so we are to believe.

May I bring the not-so-gentle reminder that God is only taking away that which we never deserved or had. Everything we have is a gift, which we did nothing to earn. Thankfully, the grace we are given is not something we can earn more of or lose. If we look at this world from the perspective that this is a training ground, we see that it is not so bad. But if we expect all our aspirations to come true in this broken place and that we deserve certain things to happen, we will be severely disappointed. As C.S. Lewis writes, "I am beginning to find out that what people call the cruel doctrines are really the kindest ones in the long run. I used to think it was a "cruel" doctrine to say that troubles and sorrows were "punishments." But I find in practice that when you are in trouble, the moment you regard it as a "punishment" it becomes easier to bear...Imagine a set of people all living in the same building. Half of them think it is a hotel, the other half think it is a prison. Those who think it a hotel might regard it as quite intolerable, and those who thought it was a prison might decide that it was really surprisingly comfortable."

So why, then, should we trust in God, who may or may not fulfill all our hopes, dreams, and wants? Since He is omnipresent, omniscient, creator of the universe, painter of our sky, and knows how many eyelashes I have, I'd say with all my heart and soul that He knows what is best for each of us. That's how I can trust.

Dust

Tynemouth Beach, UK

Scattering among a dust cloud this morn

Contemplations break, then are reborn

Fusing patterns along the ground

As the dust finally settles down

Formulating arrays of distinct thoughts

Generous notions once fought

Are now displayed in the sand

But I cannot read another's hand

His thoughts are higher than mine

So the sequences in the line

Look like foreign language to me

Instead of troubling to try and see 

That which my eyes don't yet know

In faith I shall see where this will go

In following, the light will guide each turn

In stopping, the dust will swirl and churn

Flag for Thought

As I drove to church yesterday morning, I took the scenic route, going partially around Lake Hollingsworth like I always do. Before I turned into the Florida Southern campus, I passed a man running along the lake wearing a U.S. Army tee-shirt and holding up in one arm a very large U.S. flag attached to a metal pole. My first thought was how tired his arm must be, but then I began to wonder why he chose to display his patriotism in that manner. I assumed he must love this country and probably has experiences and stories to share about why he feels that way. He was alone and I wonder how many people stopped him to ask why he was running holding up a large flag. Perhaps to show his support of this country in such a bad economic time where the effectiveness of our government is brought into question often as we are caught in this stagnant rut. Perhaps to remind people of the honorable men and women who serve and protect this country no matter what the economy looks like. We are all abiding by our government's rules and laws, as we should because they are allowed by God. I am just thankful that I can trust in God and everything He promises and I don't have to worry about trusting and relying on any government or politician's promises. Then I read Jesus' thoughtful response to those who tried to trap him with their questions about authority.

Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples. "The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees are the authorized interpreters of Moses' Law. So, you must obey and follow everything they tell you to do; do not, however, imitate their actions, because they don't practice what they preach. They tie onto people's backs loads that are heavy and hard to carry, yet they aren't willing even to lift a finger to help them carry those loads. They do everything so that people will see them. 

-Matthew 23.1-5

Phantom Bliss

I trust not to thy phantom bliss,

Yet, still, in evening's quiet hour,

With never-failing thankfulness,

I welcome thee, Benignant Power;

Sure solacer of human cares,

And sweeter hope, when hope despairs!

-Emily Brontë

For a long time, my brother Jason's friend, Renee, referred to my other brother, Ryan, as the "phantom brother" because the rest of us had met her and hung out with her on several occasions, and yet somehow she hadn't met Ryan or my sister-in-law, Sam. She heard all about them and knew they existed somewhere, but they remained elusive. Not intentionally, of course. But we would joke with her about our phantom brother. Until they all finally met, and he was no longer a phantom.

Sometimes I feel like certain things in my life are like what Emily Brontë refers to as 'thy phantom bliss'. That elusiveness surrounding the things I hope for. I ascertain from her words similar feelings of my own. Tiny glimpses of that future bliss, which is not concrete or fully developed, so it is a phantom. And at times the hope that I cling to so tightly falls into despair. While specific hopes crack occasionally under the uncertainties that creep in, behind the scenes I am unaware of what pieces God is placing in the perfect spot so that they bring the circumstances needed for the next step in His plans for me. And unbeknownst to me, tomorrow could hold one bright answer to my questions!

So that crack in my hope is being filled by thankfulness. Emily Brontë calls it 'never-failing', and I pray that my thankfulness is never-failing because I have everything to be thankful for. I recognize in myself when I lose sight of that thankfulness. God has use for this time and it should not be wasted. How can He use me later if I am lost in despair now? Being thankful for gifts brings a joyful heart because when you are thinking about the cool breeze, the radiant sunset, the hilarious old lady in the check-out line, listening to live music, or laughing with a good friend, you are filled with God's loving abundance rather than your despairing thoughts. It's not easy, though, and oftentimes I need a little encouragement to back on track.
I thank God for those people who are in my life who do this for me. If you have listened to my despairs and given me your time and thoughts, you are my encouragement, and I am thankful. We all need that sometimes.

Check out the new issue of Catapult Magazine! The topic is "Let's Get Together", the gift of community. I wrote a new article for the magazine!
http://www.catapultmagazine.com/

Good Morning

The real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day. Standing back from all your natural fussings and frettings; coming in out of the wind. 

                                                  -C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity 

It's so true, isn't it? You wake up and immediately think about what you need to do today. Your mind races, trying to compile the lists in your head. If I have vivid dreams like I have been experiencing lately, I will lay there for a minute or two and re-compile the dream in my head, trying to remember the details.

My next step is to grab an outfit from my closet. Sometimes that takes a little bit of thinking if I just stand there staring at my clothes and no ideas come to mind. 

I actually like mornings. It's a fresh start. New day. Plenty of time to do good things. My mind is clear. And my mind starts working really well after a cup of coffee.

Mornings can become a crazy hectic rush to get out the door for most people. Too much to do in a short time before work. I only have myself to get ready. No kids to feed and dress. So, I've got it pretty easy because I can sit and eat some cereal and yogurt before I head out.

I do prefer mornings as a reflection time. I love when I have time to brew some coffee, open my journal and Bible, and just enjoy the peace and quiet. My brain waking up, reading the Bible. There is no better thing.

Guten Morgen.

Give Me All

The Christian way is different: harder and easier. Christ says, "Give me All. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don't want to cut off a branch here and a branch there. I want to have the whole tree down. I don't want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked- the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours."

-C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

An old co-worker came back to visit the office today. He is always the talkative, social, fun-loving guy. He was talking with a few of us near our desks about how he was on his way to visit his sister for her 21st birthday, and the partying they were going to do. Most of us just roll our eyes as he goes on about it because we know he drinks a lot and likes to party with any chance he gets. And then he said his sister asked him to bring his church clothes for Sunday.

An older lady, who sits near my desk was listening to the conversation and she made some comments about how church boys cannot be trusted. She wondered out loud how someone can regularly go to church and then get drunk on other nights? It didn't make sense to her, and she's not a Christian. That bothered me because this is her perception of a guy who says he's a Christian, when all his actions do not show it.

The more I thought about it, the more it bothered me. As a Christian, I know everyone sins and falls short, but when your lifestyle (which you choose all for yourself) reflects chasing girls, drinking, &c...look at the perception the name "Christian" is getting. That these things are somehow acceptable....

If you say you are a Christian, you should want to make the lifestyle choices that reflect the beliefs, morals, and values of a Christian, otherwise you are mis-representing what we believe. And that actually detours people from wanting to learn more about the loving God.

What draws people to Christianity, what makes them curious to know more, is seeing Christians who stand up for what is right, who resist temptation, who show kindness when they are treated with disrespect, who hold their tongues, and who make it through tough times with their head on their shoulders and hope alive. They will wonder why and how we choose to live this way.

God doesn't just want parts of your life. He wants all of it, and if you aren't willing to let the Creator of the universe mold you and guide you, then don't walk around claiming you are a Christian. These are harsh words, I know. And none of us can fully live up to this. Yet, God calls us to be perfect, which means, we have a lot of work to do. If you aren't moving forward, closer to God, then you are speeding away....