the entire world,
from america to haiti,
from darfur to our own neighborhood,
is held together in the hands of God.
his support is greater than any government and
his love is more precious than that of a married couple.
simply put,
God = love
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
breeze
smile.
turn your face to the wind.
let the breeze caress your cheeks.
may it paint a portrait of my soul.
clean the brushes, scrape the palette clean.
the painter will replace the old, dried, and unused.
new colors will emerge;
perhaps a bold magenta or a quiet green seaweed who's only evidence of interaction wraps between my toes.
lean over the cup of water.
a pair of eyes greets me
as a pale forehead wrinkles into perspective.
they say "eyes are the windows to the soul".
my painter.
where art thou?
i look in the cup and you are not there.
i look in the comfort and you are not there.
i search and climb, pull and push.
i turn my head and find you sitting there with me.
sitting in the simple.
listening in the noisy.
loving in the turmoil.
you are there.
continue to let the breeze pursue
and
love
me.
(alex wrote this poem.)
turn your face to the wind.
let the breeze caress your cheeks.
may it paint a portrait of my soul.
clean the brushes, scrape the palette clean.
the painter will replace the old, dried, and unused.
new colors will emerge;
perhaps a bold magenta or a quiet green seaweed who's only evidence of interaction wraps between my toes.
lean over the cup of water.
a pair of eyes greets me
as a pale forehead wrinkles into perspective.
they say "eyes are the windows to the soul".
my painter.
where art thou?
i look in the cup and you are not there.
i look in the comfort and you are not there.
i search and climb, pull and push.
i turn my head and find you sitting there with me.
sitting in the simple.
listening in the noisy.
loving in the turmoil.
you are there.
continue to let the breeze pursue
and
love
me.
(alex wrote this poem.)
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
peace
"Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me."
-Psalm 51: 10-12
"...sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything."
-Matthew 6:10
"Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God."
-2 Corinthians 7
these verses have taken on new meaning for me.
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me."
-Psalm 51: 10-12
"...sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything."
-Matthew 6:10
"Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God."
-2 Corinthians 7
these verses have taken on new meaning for me.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
a thought
"We can fix without serving. And we can help without serving. And we can serve without fixing or helping....fixing and helping may often be the work of the ego, and service the work of the soul."
-Rachel Remen (1996)
-Rachel Remen (1996)
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Discipline
"it takes discipline."
ever heard that expression before?
it seems like that very word, "discipline" denotes negative conotations.
unnerving, obligation, choiceless, rules...
could discipline ever be achieved out of love?
could love be discipline?
imagine a parent holding a child's hand while crossing the street. a parent disciplines their child in this way out love. in a similar way, Christ disciplines us. he pulls and prods, gives and takes away from our lives everyday. but like the parent, he is always there.
a friend painted this picture for me today. a child sees his father fixing the pipes underneath a sink. the young boy eagerly wants to help and the father lets him. together, they hold on to the wrench, turning it and turning it until the sink is fixed. God allows us to take part in his mission, never leaving us alone but always holding onto that wrench with us.
ever heard that expression before?
it seems like that very word, "discipline" denotes negative conotations.
unnerving, obligation, choiceless, rules...
could discipline ever be achieved out of love?
could love be discipline?
imagine a parent holding a child's hand while crossing the street. a parent disciplines their child in this way out love. in a similar way, Christ disciplines us. he pulls and prods, gives and takes away from our lives everyday. but like the parent, he is always there.
a friend painted this picture for me today. a child sees his father fixing the pipes underneath a sink. the young boy eagerly wants to help and the father lets him. together, they hold on to the wrench, turning it and turning it until the sink is fixed. God allows us to take part in his mission, never leaving us alone but always holding onto that wrench with us.
Friday, January 29, 2010
He turned my world upside down
"Sell everything and give it to the poor."
That's a scary thought.
Shane Claiborne says that "God comforts the disturbed and disturbs the comfortable." Jesus calls us not to preach from pulpits but to live a simple life that's not very simple at all. To love when our body tells us to yell. To stay when we just want to walk away. To hug when our mind tells us to judge. To let God do the giving rather than have us bandage a wound with our meaningless material items.
Just yesterday, I saw my cousin who was very sad. The stresses of a daily week and a new semester at school were just piling up on her leaving little room to take a clean breath of fresh air. My words did nothing. I felt powerless standing in the middle of the bookstore only able to give a hug. But through that hug, I saw Jesus and I knew that regardless of what those other twenty or so people in the bookstore thought of a girl in a bright pink coat hugging a crying woman, I knew within my heart that this is Christianity.
That's a scary thought.
Shane Claiborne says that "God comforts the disturbed and disturbs the comfortable." Jesus calls us not to preach from pulpits but to live a simple life that's not very simple at all. To love when our body tells us to yell. To stay when we just want to walk away. To hug when our mind tells us to judge. To let God do the giving rather than have us bandage a wound with our meaningless material items.
Just yesterday, I saw my cousin who was very sad. The stresses of a daily week and a new semester at school were just piling up on her leaving little room to take a clean breath of fresh air. My words did nothing. I felt powerless standing in the middle of the bookstore only able to give a hug. But through that hug, I saw Jesus and I knew that regardless of what those other twenty or so people in the bookstore thought of a girl in a bright pink coat hugging a crying woman, I knew within my heart that this is Christianity.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Love Has a Face
This morning, I continued my journey in the book, Irresistible Revolution, by Shane Claiborne. It's weird how things work. I listen to something (anything for that matter) repeatedly and assume that I've got it nailed only to realize that I have missed the true essence. You can say to someone: "I love you" but not love and the action is meaningless because it was not birthed in love but rather, obligation. Sometimes the best moments in life are the ones that are left unsaid; simply two people enjoying each other's company bound by the common string of love.
Claiborne tells a story about love, one that requires a person to actually live like Jesus did. See if you are able to recognize that true meaning of Christianity, that the actual heart of God cannot be explained away by science or wrapped neatly in a gift box. His defintion of love applies to everyday where his followers are required (because they seek a greater kingdom here on earth) to love in the most simplest of ways.
"Most days I would go to the clinic run by the lepers-become-doctors, and a line would form as people waited to be treated. The doctors would lay out a huge pile of cotton about four feet high, and my job was to roll cotton balls for them as they cared for one another. I would watch intently, fascinated by their love and compassion. One afternoon as things were winding down, one of the doctors had to leave early, but there were a few patients still waiting to be seen. He looked at me and emphatically said, "You know how this works; you have been watching. It's your turn." Startled, I just stared at him. I had been watching, and I did know what to do, but I wasn't sure I dared. I came forward and sat in the doctor's seat and began staring into the next patient's eyes, and the decision had already been made. I began carefully dressing the man's wound. He stared at me with such intentisty that it felt like he was looking into my soul. Every once in a while he would slowly close his eyes."
"When I was finished, he said to me that sacred word I had come to love: "Namaste." I smiled with tears in my eyes and whispered, "Jesus." He saw Jesus in me. And I saw Jesus in him. I remember thinking back to the stained-glass window my United Methodist church bought for over $100,000. I saw a clearer glimpse of Jesus in this leper's eyes than any stained-glasss window could ever give me." (Claiborne 83-84)
this is what i want to do.
to simply love.
to be.
just as jesus was for me.
Claiborne tells a story about love, one that requires a person to actually live like Jesus did. See if you are able to recognize that true meaning of Christianity, that the actual heart of God cannot be explained away by science or wrapped neatly in a gift box. His defintion of love applies to everyday where his followers are required (because they seek a greater kingdom here on earth) to love in the most simplest of ways.
"Most days I would go to the clinic run by the lepers-become-doctors, and a line would form as people waited to be treated. The doctors would lay out a huge pile of cotton about four feet high, and my job was to roll cotton balls for them as they cared for one another. I would watch intently, fascinated by their love and compassion. One afternoon as things were winding down, one of the doctors had to leave early, but there were a few patients still waiting to be seen. He looked at me and emphatically said, "You know how this works; you have been watching. It's your turn." Startled, I just stared at him. I had been watching, and I did know what to do, but I wasn't sure I dared. I came forward and sat in the doctor's seat and began staring into the next patient's eyes, and the decision had already been made. I began carefully dressing the man's wound. He stared at me with such intentisty that it felt like he was looking into my soul. Every once in a while he would slowly close his eyes."
"When I was finished, he said to me that sacred word I had come to love: "Namaste." I smiled with tears in my eyes and whispered, "Jesus." He saw Jesus in me. And I saw Jesus in him. I remember thinking back to the stained-glass window my United Methodist church bought for over $100,000. I saw a clearer glimpse of Jesus in this leper's eyes than any stained-glasss window could ever give me." (Claiborne 83-84)
this is what i want to do.
to simply love.
to be.
just as jesus was for me.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
"...but the greatest of these is love."
"Love without courage and wisdom is sentimentality, as with the ordinary church member. Courage without love and wisdom is foolhardiness, as with the ordinary soldier. Wisdom without love and courage is cowardice, as with the ordinary intellectual. But the one who has love, courage, and wisdom moves the world."
-Ammon Hennacy, Catholic activist
1893 - 1970
-Ammon Hennacy, Catholic activist
1893 - 1970
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