Good sigh....I am sitting in my favourite chair, listening to some Michael Franti, lazin' after a busy day of removing hardy weeds and brush from my new property. It has been a good day, very productive. I haven't blogged in a while, and though I have started several posts, I have not completed any of them. I do not feel bad about this because I know that what I write will have its purpose when God deems it. In the meantime, have been reposting some older stuff that people have been Googling as of late.
Usually when I write, I do just that - write. I do not lay out some concept, brainstorm, or meditate upon it with great effort, I just write. This method of writing serves me well for blogging, but not for writing papers. I get too caught up in factors that might have or could influence the concept that I am writing about and I end up easily becoming paralyzed in the writing process. Without a list of criteria to guide me, I could research a concept forever...or until I become bored.
I mean, the reality of most academic writing, is regurgitating what others have already processed and trying to make it sound new, fresh, important...perhaps even interesting. Someone (I don't recall who and I don't feel like Googling it) once said that there are no new ideas. I think that there are, but they are few and far between.
pizza flavoured ice cream
solar powered toilets
a book that can read itself (thanks Nicole:) )
world peace
sensored volleyball courts that keep score
bullet reflector sheilds (think pong)
underground communities in Africa by melting the sand into glass domes
ummm...let's see....anybody else come up with these same ideas?
Ideas...where do they come from? Seriously, where do those ideas come from that flash before you seemingly out of nowhere? I am sure there are many theories about where ideas come from...your subconscious, your environment, energy waves randomly colliding, spirits, God.
Thinking...It really is a gift. Whether it is rational or not, thinking is an incredible process...and we only use, what? 10% of our brain?!
Writing...communicating...code breaking...comprehending...incredible stuff that most of us take for granted. Those of us who cannot read and write create different ways of communicating and code breaking to cope. Visit(volunteer at) any adult literacy center and you will have a better understanding of this!
Hmmm...On that note: "Have you tried fried Snickers?" - I just read that on Twitter. (Now I am thinking...comprehending...writing...) Fried Snickers?! Are you kidding me?! Shall I book you an appointment with the cardiologist now or after your arteries have hardened over?! Who thinks up these things? That's as bad as fried cheesecake!...oh wait...that's gooood...
Anyhow, when it comes to ideas and blogging, there are some pretty fantastic minds out there! Check out some of the blogs in my side bar if you don't believe me. Good stuff, good writing, great minds...All of them a gift from God, the source of all things good. ;)
Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?~Job 11:7
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Love the Unlovable
The sunrises - the birds are singing, my Lord never slept - He watches over all...¸
I wake while the stars shine - His voice gently calling, 'Sit with me,' He says -
So up I get.
Love the unlovable.
Please show me how.
Partner with me.
I will partner right now.
Love the unlovable.
Please show me who.
All in your path.
I will partner with you.
I awoke earlier than usual
My King gently spoke
Love the unlovable
Take up my yoke.
I wake while the stars shine - His voice gently calling, 'Sit with me,' He says -
So up I get.
Love the unlovable.
Please show me how.
Partner with me.
I will partner right now.
Love the unlovable.
Please show me who.
All in your path.
I will partner with you.
I awoke earlier than usual
My King gently spoke
Love the unlovable
Take up my yoke.
Who are the unlovable?
I guess I will find out.
In my mind I am thinking that the unlovable could even be me. I laugh in my heart, it just dawned on me now - in order for me to show love to another, I must love myself.
I had not really considered this at first thought.
I thought I loved me, but perhaps I need to allow the Holy Spirit in deeper.
If there is anything that needs to be removed from my heart that hinders me from loving others, it would be something that I have allowed to hinder me from loving me.
This morning the words I heard from my Father were, "Love the unlovable."
Friday, September 18, 2009
You Can POSSESS Something and NOT OWN It
You can POSSESS something and NOT OWN it and you can OWN something and NOT POSSESS it. ~Rob Bell
I went to a Rob Bell lecture last night. He was discussing suffering and creativity and how the two are linked and how it links us to others, and to God. I was grateful for the opportunity to go. Rob's presentation was thought-provoking and humourous - a wonderfully insightful night laced with a few audience participatory object lessons. Mr. Bell certainly has a gift...but we knew that already, didn't we?!
His NOOMA videos are famous among church communities in the US and Canada. These clever, entertaining, and informative short films stir the heart and the mind of the viewer. That being said, in the presentation last night, he included a clip from a trip he took and in it were people worshipping...I will not tell your more about what he presented around that clip so as not to spoil the experience for any of you who might attend this lecture, but the clip was absolutely beautiful. It made me want to stand and join those on the screen. You see, they possessed something. And ironically, what they possessed, they also gave away, or rather, shared with others - even unintentionally.
What struck me was that the expression of worship exhibited by the people in the video encouraged me to want to express myself without inhibition also. Others viewing this video may feel just the opposite. They may feel afraid to release themselves....but why? Pride? Fear? Ignorance? ?
As Christians, how much do we hold back thus hindering not only ourselves but others? By not sharing what we possess, by not freely give what we have been given? What we possess, we do not own...it is not ours to hoard.
This reminds me of another quote I read not too long ago, "The function of freedom is to free someone else." ~Anne Lamott
If God has given us all we need...if He has provided for us...if He has allowed us to partner with Him...if He has set us free...who are we not to share all that we have to glorify Him?
We can possess something and not own it, we can own something and not possess it. All that God has given us, our talent, skills, food, intelligence, wealth, experiences, faith, etc....He has given to us so that we can share with others, and in doing so, we glorify Him; we are further liberated to be all that we were meant to be, and we are blessed more than we could have ever imagined.
Think about it. And then don't just sit on your thoughts, but share them, put your thoughts into action. Be free, share freely, and give God the glory.
I went to a Rob Bell lecture last night. He was discussing suffering and creativity and how the two are linked and how it links us to others, and to God. I was grateful for the opportunity to go. Rob's presentation was thought-provoking and humourous - a wonderfully insightful night laced with a few audience participatory object lessons. Mr. Bell certainly has a gift...but we knew that already, didn't we?!
His NOOMA videos are famous among church communities in the US and Canada. These clever, entertaining, and informative short films stir the heart and the mind of the viewer. That being said, in the presentation last night, he included a clip from a trip he took and in it were people worshipping...I will not tell your more about what he presented around that clip so as not to spoil the experience for any of you who might attend this lecture, but the clip was absolutely beautiful. It made me want to stand and join those on the screen. You see, they possessed something. And ironically, what they possessed, they also gave away, or rather, shared with others - even unintentionally.
What struck me was that the expression of worship exhibited by the people in the video encouraged me to want to express myself without inhibition also. Others viewing this video may feel just the opposite. They may feel afraid to release themselves....but why? Pride? Fear? Ignorance? ?
As Christians, how much do we hold back thus hindering not only ourselves but others? By not sharing what we possess, by not freely give what we have been given? What we possess, we do not own...it is not ours to hoard.
This reminds me of another quote I read not too long ago, "The function of freedom is to free someone else." ~Anne Lamott
If God has given us all we need...if He has provided for us...if He has allowed us to partner with Him...if He has set us free...who are we not to share all that we have to glorify Him?
We can possess something and not own it, we can own something and not possess it. All that God has given us, our talent, skills, food, intelligence, wealth, experiences, faith, etc....He has given to us so that we can share with others, and in doing so, we glorify Him; we are further liberated to be all that we were meant to be, and we are blessed more than we could have ever imagined.
Think about it. And then don't just sit on your thoughts, but share them, put your thoughts into action. Be free, share freely, and give God the glory.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Fear Not, Obedience, and Faith
2 Kings 4
The Widow's Oil
The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves."
Elisha replied to her, "How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?"
"Your servant has nothing there at all," she said, "except a little oil."
Elisha said, "Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side."
She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another one."
But he replied, "There is not a jar left." Then the oil stopped flowing.
She went and told the man of God, and he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left."
The Widow's Oil
The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves."
Elisha replied to her, "How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?"
"Your servant has nothing there at all," she said, "except a little oil."
Elisha said, "Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side."
She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another one."
But he replied, "There is not a jar left." Then the oil stopped flowing.
She went and told the man of God, and he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left."
Monday, September 7, 2009
Crying Face Glacier
image by Michael Nolan
I always find it amazing to see the world through other people's eyes and in this case, Mr. Nolan caught a moment of irony in nature. It reminds me of the scripture that says:
"I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."~Luke 19:40
Luke 19:39-41 (in Context) Luke 19 (Whole Chapter)
All around us these days, the world and it's people are crying out...crying out for salvation from the chains of oppression. Can you hear it?
What is your response?
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.~
John 14:6
John 14 (Whole Chapter)
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