The 83rd Oscars were last night. I was unable to see the entire award show because we had Confirmation and my duty was to my catechumens...precious.
Our night was about the Eucharist and how it is the "Source and Summit" of our Faith. While the presenter was speaking, he solicited responses from the 150-ish juniors about times when transformed different things/people in Scripture (hinting at how simple bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ). One of my students yelled out from the back row, "The Incarnation!" I sat there...shocked. One of MY students yelled that. What the what?
The speaker, using a very Socratic method, asked, "So, what did God transform?"
My kid yelled back, "He became a baby." Kind of sassy-like, now that I think about it.
"Well, how did God do it?" the speaker went on.
After a short pause, my student shouted, "Carefully."
Touche, student. Touche.
That little moment, albeit hilarious, made me so proud. My students are kind of understanding the faith and want to know more. Praise the Good Lord! All Glory to God, right? Right.
Coming home from Confirmation last night, I walked into the house to see the Oscars on TV. Zachary Levi and Mandy Moore were singing the nominated song from Tangled (which was awesome) and I was hooked, sitting comfortably in my favorite chair. The Oscars went on for a while and I enjoyed it for the most part. The clincher was the end. Please watch the video....now.
That group of public school kids was adorable. They sang my favorite song, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" as the Emerald City glistened in the background. Then, all of the Oscar Winners walked forward to join the little dreamers themselves.
I loved that moment. Dreams come true. As strange or weird or just plain wrong that some of the movies may have been, all the actors chased their dreams. They went for it. And didn't stop. And last night, some of their dreams came true. They will forever be remembered as "Oscar Winners". I could go on to say things like, "you can gain the whole world and lose your soul", which is a truth...but I don't want to focus on that today.
Listening to some of their acceptance speeches truly moved me. Colin Firth was beside himself for winning "Best Actor", thanking his wife for her support. Tom Hooper, who won the Oscar for Directing The King's Speech thanked his mother above everyone else. The Social Network won for "Film Editing" and the two gentlemen thanked their wives and families. Natalie Portman said in an interview after winning "Best Actress" that she was taking on the most important role of her life now, as a mother. Wow. Her acceptance speeches all awards season have been family oriented. She thanks her parents for giving her life and her fiance for helping her bring life into the world. Granted, she did things a little backwards, but still, she seems to have her priorities right.
It was refreshing to see people in Hollywood know what really counts. It gives me hope. Last night edified that God gives us each gifts to use to bring Him glory. Those gifts are necessary for the world to know Him. They are not our own...but they are very good. Knowing the Giver of the Gifts and putting our priorities right is necessary too. It's important to be careful with how we utilize our gifts and what we do with them. Just as God came into the world "carefully", like my student said, we must practice humility with bringing God into the world using those gifts He's given us. He transforms waht he gives us so that the we may be transformed and be lights in the world around us. Natalie Portman's acknowledgment of her most important role as a mother reminded me that each of our most important role's is to be a child of God and to let Him love us. That's how we can use our gifts best....by loving God and others as He loves us.
Dreams come true, somewhere over the rainbow. They become most beautiful when we can point to God and say, "That's where the dream came from, and that's where it goes." Know what is important.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Useless Information
Do you ever wonder why we say the things we say?
I sure do. I don't mean to say, "why do we say mean things or hurtful things or weird things". I'm talking about those cliche idioms that we say.
"By the skin of your teeth"
"It's all Greek to me"
"Cross your fingers"
Where the heck did all of this come from?
I'm a fan of useless knowledge. A BIG fan. I love going to Barnes and Noble and planting myself in the Trivia section that can usually be found by the fake Starbucks in the store or near the Local travel section. I don't know why I am so very fond of it - my brain is full of useless information, mainly of the pop culture nature. I think that's why I like the History Channel so much, and the show "How It's Made" and stuff like that. I'd like to say that it's a gift from God (because everything is, right?) but I haven't quite figured out how it's supposed to glorify Him or the Kingdom. I don't think I need to know, but I have a feeling it might just make Him laugh with me some times.
Anyway, back to the point...
"I'm here for ya bro. I got a lifetime of knowledge." (That's from She's The Man - see, pointless, but funny.)
I did some research on these idioms, and for your enjoyment, here are some highlights:
"By the skin of your teeth"
That actually is reference from Job...that's right, the Bible. "My bones cleave to my skin, and I have escaped with my flesh between my teeth." (Job 19:20) Job was stripped of everything by God, who loved him, and still remained faithful. To show Satan that Job was a man of faith, he allowed for everything to be taken from him. Job was utterly broken, as I'm sure most of us have felt from time to time, but God proved faithful himself and never let Job escape his love despite all the crummy circumstances with not much beyond "the skin of his teeth". Boom.
"It's Greek to me"
Surprise surprise. Also has to do with the faith. In the Middle Ages, monk scribes who were copying manuscripts in libraries had a hard time...Greek wasn't as popular as it was, say, in the time of actually writing the Bible and other popular manuscripts. A lot of the time, they didn't really know what they may have been copying meant, but copy they did. It was all "Greek" to them. "Graecum est; non legitur" ("it is Greek, [therefore] it cannot be read"). It's also referenced in Julius Caesar by good ol' Billy Shakespeare in reference to Casca not understanding what was going down.
"Cross your fingers"
Also from the faith. In the Middle Ages, there were many occult practices of witchcraft and superstitions of ghosts and whatnot. In order to protect themselves, Christians would make the sign of the cross in a form of prayer. However, there were instances where there wasn't enough time to make the sign of the cross, so a practice developed of making a cross with the middle and index finger (kind of similar to the practice of kissing one's thumb cross over the index finger after making the sign of the cross today). Nowadays, people cross their fingers for good fortune. Ta-da.
There are many many more. Look them up for yourselves. It's so funny where some of this stuff comes from. The fact that a lot of our phrase come form a piece of history and our faith...that's pretty cool too. Maybe I'm just a nerd (it's true, I am), but my brain feels bigger from knowing all this useless information. I'm sure God will use it all, someday.
I sure do. I don't mean to say, "why do we say mean things or hurtful things or weird things". I'm talking about those cliche idioms that we say.
"By the skin of your teeth"
"It's all Greek to me"
"Cross your fingers"
Where the heck did all of this come from?
I'm a fan of useless knowledge. A BIG fan. I love going to Barnes and Noble and planting myself in the Trivia section that can usually be found by the fake Starbucks in the store or near the Local travel section. I don't know why I am so very fond of it - my brain is full of useless information, mainly of the pop culture nature. I think that's why I like the History Channel so much, and the show "How It's Made" and stuff like that. I'd like to say that it's a gift from God (because everything is, right?) but I haven't quite figured out how it's supposed to glorify Him or the Kingdom. I don't think I need to know, but I have a feeling it might just make Him laugh with me some times.
Anyway, back to the point...
"I'm here for ya bro. I got a lifetime of knowledge." (That's from She's The Man - see, pointless, but funny.)
I did some research on these idioms, and for your enjoyment, here are some highlights:
"By the skin of your teeth"
That actually is reference from Job...that's right, the Bible. "My bones cleave to my skin, and I have escaped with my flesh between my teeth." (Job 19:20) Job was stripped of everything by God, who loved him, and still remained faithful. To show Satan that Job was a man of faith, he allowed for everything to be taken from him. Job was utterly broken, as I'm sure most of us have felt from time to time, but God proved faithful himself and never let Job escape his love despite all the crummy circumstances with not much beyond "the skin of his teeth". Boom.
"It's Greek to me"
Surprise surprise. Also has to do with the faith. In the Middle Ages, monk scribes who were copying manuscripts in libraries had a hard time...Greek wasn't as popular as it was, say, in the time of actually writing the Bible and other popular manuscripts. A lot of the time, they didn't really know what they may have been copying meant, but copy they did. It was all "Greek" to them. "Graecum est; non legitur" ("it is Greek, [therefore] it cannot be read"). It's also referenced in Julius Caesar by good ol' Billy Shakespeare in reference to Casca not understanding what was going down.
"Cross your fingers"
Also from the faith. In the Middle Ages, there were many occult practices of witchcraft and superstitions of ghosts and whatnot. In order to protect themselves, Christians would make the sign of the cross in a form of prayer. However, there were instances where there wasn't enough time to make the sign of the cross, so a practice developed of making a cross with the middle and index finger (kind of similar to the practice of kissing one's thumb cross over the index finger after making the sign of the cross today). Nowadays, people cross their fingers for good fortune. Ta-da.
There are many many more. Look them up for yourselves. It's so funny where some of this stuff comes from. The fact that a lot of our phrase come form a piece of history and our faith...that's pretty cool too. Maybe I'm just a nerd (it's true, I am), but my brain feels bigger from knowing all this useless information. I'm sure God will use it all, someday.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Lila Rose on Glenn Beck
A must see video. Become educated and get involved.
"All life is worth living."
"All life is worth living."
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Love That Sticks
The following has been on my mind for a while now. Please prepare for a fist full of truth to come straight to your throat.
Right now, on the local Christian radio station, KSBJ (cue the singing jingle - kay ess bee jaaaaaayyy!), there's this movement called "Love That Sticks". The nitty-gritty of it is to encourage people to leave nice, affirming, sticky notes around the city for whomever - co-workers, friends, waiters, strangers, etc.
I love this.
I am a huge proponent of affirmations. If "Affirmations" were a company, I would be employed as the Public Relations representative.
This "movement" is what every person needs. Who doesn't want to be told they are good? Granted, I understand that some people do not know how to accept compliments, but come on. I can tell a serious different in my own attitude when I make a conscious effort to affirm others. And I'm not talking about "you're awesome" or "stay cool" or any other lame-sauce yearbook-ism. I'm talking real-deal affirmations. Taking note of a specific thing you see that is good in another person. It's like seeing "God" in someone else. And isn't that what we're supposed to do? I've heard that that's what loving someone is...seeing God in that person...affirming their inherent goodness in a real and tangible way.
I'll be honest, I hate not being affirmed. I haven't felt very affirmed much in the past few months. Now, don't take this to mean that I'm looking for compliments. I love to be told that I'm good. Most people do. I know my goodness comes from God, but it makes a difference to hear it from a truly audible voice that others can hear too. That's not meant to sound needy or egotistical. I mean that sometimes, it means the world to hear that you're beautiful, or funny, or wise, or appreciated. But the world we live in is uncomfortable at telling someone they're good. I think it's seen as a weakness. That's malarkey. Horse manure. Bull honkey. [Insert your own term here]. I believe, it's a strength.
Think about it. In Genesis, after God had created everything, he found it "very good". He spoke life into the world. We can speak life into the hearts of those we meet with a simple "love that sticks".
There have been studies done in the past with people undergoing organ transplants are more likely to survive and thrive if they have a good support system around them to build them up and assist during troublesome times. Their transplanted organs are more likely to bond to their bodies and their bodies are less likely to reject the organ. You can translate this to mean, if you are going through anything at all and have people around you to build you up, you are more likely to persevere and overcome, and to come to know that you are loved by God and that other person, if you will. (And I will.) Words bring life. Or on the flip-flop, words can destroy life...but we'll leave that for another time.
Just get over being afraid or feeling awkward! Get over yourself and tell someone they are good! There's a scene in "My Best Friend's Wedding" where Michael is explaining to Jules that his fiance told him that "If you love someone you say it, you say it right then, out loud, or the moment passes you by". Share the love! I promise (in a semi-selfish way) that it will even make you feel better too. It's a way to follow the call to be a disciple, anyway. Do you really think that for the 3 years they were traipsing around the Holy Land, Jesus never told his followers, "hey, you're doing a great job following" or "you loved that person today, way to go"? Granted, in scripture we see Him tell them things they were doing not-so-great (ways to improve, if you will, but there's something to positive reinforcement, and I'm certain that the Messiah knew that and did it from time to time. Tough love is good, but Love is best. Take a tip from the Big Guy - say nice things to people this week. You will never know the impact your kind words can have on another...again allow me to emphasize that this isn't some run-of-the-mill "you're really nice" comment.
The more you can recognize God in others, the good in someone else, and are able to call it out in another, the more you yourself will know your own goodness, and ultimately come to know God more. Love begets Love. Challenge...put a nice sticky note on your roommate's desk, your barista's tip jar, your professors mailbox, etc. Do SOMETHING!!!! Let someone know they are good and loved. It's one of the greatest ways we can spread the Light around. Don't hide it under a bushel - NO! Let it shine, silly. Love wins. Always. Bottom line. In the face of adversity, Love wins. Love somebody today with a little affirmation. Love is what sticks around, after all.
Right now, on the local Christian radio station, KSBJ (cue the singing jingle - kay ess bee jaaaaaayyy!), there's this movement called "Love That Sticks". The nitty-gritty of it is to encourage people to leave nice, affirming, sticky notes around the city for whomever - co-workers, friends, waiters, strangers, etc.
I love this.
I am a huge proponent of affirmations. If "Affirmations" were a company, I would be employed as the Public Relations representative.
This "movement" is what every person needs. Who doesn't want to be told they are good? Granted, I understand that some people do not know how to accept compliments, but come on. I can tell a serious different in my own attitude when I make a conscious effort to affirm others. And I'm not talking about "you're awesome" or "stay cool" or any other lame-sauce yearbook-ism. I'm talking real-deal affirmations. Taking note of a specific thing you see that is good in another person. It's like seeing "God" in someone else. And isn't that what we're supposed to do? I've heard that that's what loving someone is...seeing God in that person...affirming their inherent goodness in a real and tangible way.
I'll be honest, I hate not being affirmed. I haven't felt very affirmed much in the past few months. Now, don't take this to mean that I'm looking for compliments. I love to be told that I'm good. Most people do. I know my goodness comes from God, but it makes a difference to hear it from a truly audible voice that others can hear too. That's not meant to sound needy or egotistical. I mean that sometimes, it means the world to hear that you're beautiful, or funny, or wise, or appreciated. But the world we live in is uncomfortable at telling someone they're good. I think it's seen as a weakness. That's malarkey. Horse manure. Bull honkey. [Insert your own term here]. I believe, it's a strength.
Think about it. In Genesis, after God had created everything, he found it "very good". He spoke life into the world. We can speak life into the hearts of those we meet with a simple "love that sticks".
There have been studies done in the past with people undergoing organ transplants are more likely to survive and thrive if they have a good support system around them to build them up and assist during troublesome times. Their transplanted organs are more likely to bond to their bodies and their bodies are less likely to reject the organ. You can translate this to mean, if you are going through anything at all and have people around you to build you up, you are more likely to persevere and overcome, and to come to know that you are loved by God and that other person, if you will. (And I will.) Words bring life. Or on the flip-flop, words can destroy life...but we'll leave that for another time.
Just get over being afraid or feeling awkward! Get over yourself and tell someone they are good! There's a scene in "My Best Friend's Wedding" where Michael is explaining to Jules that his fiance told him that "If you love someone you say it, you say it right then, out loud, or the moment passes you by". Share the love! I promise (in a semi-selfish way) that it will even make you feel better too. It's a way to follow the call to be a disciple, anyway. Do you really think that for the 3 years they were traipsing around the Holy Land, Jesus never told his followers, "hey, you're doing a great job following" or "you loved that person today, way to go"? Granted, in scripture we see Him tell them things they were doing not-so-great (ways to improve, if you will, but there's something to positive reinforcement, and I'm certain that the Messiah knew that and did it from time to time. Tough love is good, but Love is best. Take a tip from the Big Guy - say nice things to people this week. You will never know the impact your kind words can have on another...again allow me to emphasize that this isn't some run-of-the-mill "you're really nice" comment.
The more you can recognize God in others, the good in someone else, and are able to call it out in another, the more you yourself will know your own goodness, and ultimately come to know God more. Love begets Love. Challenge...put a nice sticky note on your roommate's desk, your barista's tip jar, your professors mailbox, etc. Do SOMETHING!!!! Let someone know they are good and loved. It's one of the greatest ways we can spread the Light around. Don't hide it under a bushel - NO! Let it shine, silly. Love wins. Always. Bottom line. In the face of adversity, Love wins. Love somebody today with a little affirmation. Love is what sticks around, after all.
A cold hippie's tale
I feel kind of like a hippie.
I've been sitting in a coffee shop all afternoon, drinking black/chocolate/mint tea (yum!), and writing. If you could see me, you would notice that I look quite hippie-esque too - wearing a big baggy sweater and jeans with holes. I've been listening to music from Elizabethtown and Parenthood (one of my favorite TV shows with the BEST soundtrack). I've made acquaintances with the local indie-rockers and internet commuters.
This is a great place to write. There's local art on the walls and kids with tattoos who dish out coffee and tea while they study for tomorrows tests. It's a dream.
The one sobering thing is the temperature outside - it is freezing.
I realize that many of you hear me say, on occasion, or boast, rather, how warm it is in Texas, how wonderful it is and how much it must suck to be up north in the snow.
I am eating my words. Metaphorically speaking. Although, I am hungry, now that I think about it...
It's so cold. I have on tights under my jeans. I left the snowy tundra so I wouldn't have to make extreme wardrobe decisions like this. Fail.
Sitting in this coffee shop makes me happy. It inspires me. I feel like perhaps, somehow, I'm united across time and space with great writers who sat, just like me, trying desperately to make their fingers keep up with their brains - and their words paint the picture they so intensely wanted the world to see and understand. I found this prayer the other day for writers...there's a line in it that goes like this:
"But most of all, Lord, help me to know the Truth, so my fiction is more honest than actuality and reaches the depths of my reader's soul."
I like this line. It makes me feel like when I pray the words, and try to get out what is inside of me, that greatness is possible. Even more than that, that there is a universal story. There IS a universal story (the story of salvation) and it's woven through each of our hearts uniting us to something and SOMEONE greater than ourselves. The TRUTH in the prayer is that story. A truly good story strikes a chord in the hearts of the readers, calling out to them that which is undeniable.
Take for example "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers. Here's a story that I push on anyone and everyone I can. I do that because the universal story is apparent in it. Love (not the ooey-gooey form, but the real substantial "makes-you-willing-to-do-anything-because-it-comes-from-God" kind) drives it. Granted, it is a very faithfilled story, but the Truth is there and the author isn't afraid to run from it. She embraces it.
Love is universal. It is necessary because it is God. (Sweet baby Jesus, somebody keeps opening an closing the front door of this place, letting the frigid air in. Brr...you're on my list.) It is what drives us individually and is what drives a good story.
I was reminiscing earlier about an adventure I had to take on my own once. A friend of mine reminded me that she too had to take a trip like that. And you know what, Love drove the whole way. It was fantastic! It was scary as hell but at the heart of it all, it was good. Plain and simple. And isn't that what a good story should be, too? Scary as hell but GOOD?
Love is that way, I suppose. It's vulnerable. It's open. It makes the impossible possible. It gets you out of yourself and into Someone bigger than you. It makes you become who you are meant to be, and sometimes who you've been hiding from all along. I don't know if any of this makes much sense to you, but any good story must have Love, not just the ooey gooey kind. It's gotta be real.
The realness makes the Love go. It's truth and it's honest. It reaches the depths. It beckons. It encourages. It makes you real. In the story "The Velveteen Rabbit", I can remember this line where somebody says "Once you've been made real, you can't be made un-real again." I think this real-truth-honest-deep-beckonging-Love does it all.
May all your stories be driven by Love and may they show your readers the Light of Hope, Love and Truth. Love is a light and it illuminates the story within.
Peace,
Today's Hippie
I've been sitting in a coffee shop all afternoon, drinking black/chocolate/mint tea (yum!), and writing. If you could see me, you would notice that I look quite hippie-esque too - wearing a big baggy sweater and jeans with holes. I've been listening to music from Elizabethtown and Parenthood (one of my favorite TV shows with the BEST soundtrack). I've made acquaintances with the local indie-rockers and internet commuters.
This is a great place to write. There's local art on the walls and kids with tattoos who dish out coffee and tea while they study for tomorrows tests. It's a dream.
The one sobering thing is the temperature outside - it is freezing.
I realize that many of you hear me say, on occasion, or boast, rather, how warm it is in Texas, how wonderful it is and how much it must suck to be up north in the snow.
I am eating my words. Metaphorically speaking. Although, I am hungry, now that I think about it...
It's so cold. I have on tights under my jeans. I left the snowy tundra so I wouldn't have to make extreme wardrobe decisions like this. Fail.
Sitting in this coffee shop makes me happy. It inspires me. I feel like perhaps, somehow, I'm united across time and space with great writers who sat, just like me, trying desperately to make their fingers keep up with their brains - and their words paint the picture they so intensely wanted the world to see and understand. I found this prayer the other day for writers...there's a line in it that goes like this:
"But most of all, Lord, help me to know the Truth, so my fiction is more honest than actuality and reaches the depths of my reader's soul."
I like this line. It makes me feel like when I pray the words, and try to get out what is inside of me, that greatness is possible. Even more than that, that there is a universal story. There IS a universal story (the story of salvation) and it's woven through each of our hearts uniting us to something and SOMEONE greater than ourselves. The TRUTH in the prayer is that story. A truly good story strikes a chord in the hearts of the readers, calling out to them that which is undeniable.
Take for example "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers. Here's a story that I push on anyone and everyone I can. I do that because the universal story is apparent in it. Love (not the ooey-gooey form, but the real substantial "makes-you-willing-to-do-anything-because-it-comes-from-God" kind) drives it. Granted, it is a very faithfilled story, but the Truth is there and the author isn't afraid to run from it. She embraces it.
Love is universal. It is necessary because it is God. (Sweet baby Jesus, somebody keeps opening an closing the front door of this place, letting the frigid air in. Brr...you're on my list.) It is what drives us individually and is what drives a good story.
I was reminiscing earlier about an adventure I had to take on my own once. A friend of mine reminded me that she too had to take a trip like that. And you know what, Love drove the whole way. It was fantastic! It was scary as hell but at the heart of it all, it was good. Plain and simple. And isn't that what a good story should be, too? Scary as hell but GOOD?
Love is that way, I suppose. It's vulnerable. It's open. It makes the impossible possible. It gets you out of yourself and into Someone bigger than you. It makes you become who you are meant to be, and sometimes who you've been hiding from all along. I don't know if any of this makes much sense to you, but any good story must have Love, not just the ooey gooey kind. It's gotta be real.
The realness makes the Love go. It's truth and it's honest. It reaches the depths. It beckons. It encourages. It makes you real. In the story "The Velveteen Rabbit", I can remember this line where somebody says "Once you've been made real, you can't be made un-real again." I think this real-truth-honest-deep-beckonging-Love does it all.
May all your stories be driven by Love and may they show your readers the Light of Hope, Love and Truth. Love is a light and it illuminates the story within.
Peace,
Today's Hippie
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Need a band-aid?
If you know me well, one of the things you can most likely recall is that I love Archangel Raphael. Like, a lot. On his feast day, I wrote about him. One of my favorite things that he is a patron of - HEALING.
My entire life, this has been something prominent, whether I knew it or not. Now, please do not misunderstand me with this - I cannot lay my hands on anyone and heal them. Trust me, I've tried. Seriously. I mean, if God chose to do that through me, that'd be great. But so far, that's never happened.
Sidebar:
When I was about 20, I was in Chicago and this man (I forget his name, but he left an impression on me) prayed with me and said that God wanted to give me the gift of healing. I thought he was weird, but wanted to put it to the test. (I'm bullheaded and was very cocky at this point in my life.) So I went to a friend's side who was very sick, laid my hands on him and prayed that God would heal him. I thought I'd see light shoot out of my hands, fill his whole being, and then he would sit up and being leaping and bounding around the room singing praises like David.
That didn't happen.
He did get better, in like a week. I decided that I had nothing to do with it and didn't think about "healing" for a couple years.
Needless to say, healing has been a huge part of my life. I've studied it...mostly in the realm of psychology, knowing that a lot of healing is needed in our world and in the hearts and minds of people. Healing isn't just in the miraculous though. Yes, God's miraculous healings are amazing. People being cured of cancer, being able to walk, see, speak, you name it, He can do it. But I think that some of the greatest miracles are the healings of the heart, those which nobody really sees and outsiders never really notice that it has happened.
Healing takes time. It's a journey. But when it happens....it happens. Raphael went on a journey with the young Tobias to grant God's healing grace to his father and future bride, Sarah (please see the book of Tobit).
After walking 200 miles, going through what I'm sure was not always the most pleasant of circumstances, healing came out of left field for Sarah. A couple weeks and 200 more miles later, healing came home to Tobias' dad. It was quite the adventure for all involved in the story.
The point I'm trying to make is that healing happens. Not always when or how we expect, but it happens. This introduction is all because I went through this a couple of days ago.
I've been on my own "epic walk" of healing for a while. The one day, out of the blue, everything changed. The questions that I had wanted to ask to find what I thought would be healing after all this time for myself I didn't need to ask. I didn't want to ask. God did it. I had peace. For those of you that think you might know what I'm talking about, trust me, you don't. Sorry to throw that curve ball at you.
A couple wounds in my own heart had been festering and becoming gangrenous to my life. I knew God was going to heal me, that I had to put forth my own effort too, but for a while, it seemed endless. And then...it just wasn't. Something happened, and I realized that I had been healed for a while, and didn't realize it. I had been dwelling in the past and not living in the present where, consequently, I had been healed.
We do that a lot. We name ourselves by our hurts. "Hi, my name is (insert name here) and I (insert brokenness here)"...."Hi (name)", sayeth the group.
The truth is, we cannot live in the hurt. We do need to experience it, feel it, know that it is there, but then know something very crucial - we are not our wounds. We are Christ's. He is the Healer and He can do it. No matter what has happened in our lives, we have a Father who's only intention is to Love. Crap happens. Mistakes are made, on our own part or on the part of someone else....but we are no mistake. Love is no mistake. Healing is a free gift given by God. We have to choose to accept it, claim it, and live in it.
Why do we make it so hard on ourselves? We can get so used to living a certain way and thinking a certain thing. And then, here comes God with a real fix, a real cure (His Love and Grace) and it frightens us because we doubt and we want to fix it ourselves. We want to analyze the hell out of ourselves and find the answer...when the whole time the answer is in front of us. Trust me, I studied a lot of psychology, I know how to analyze. I asked myself all the correct "counseling" questions to get to the bottom of it, to find the cure. But I had to get out of myself and get into Him.
I'll be honest, "getting into Him" was so hard. It is hard to trust a doctor that you can't see...that's why WebMd is evil and causes hypochondriacs to repopulate the modern world. Letting go is never easy, especially when it's your own heart and it's hurts. But the "letting go" is the first step. It's the hardest. It's surrender and it doesn't sit well with our fallen ways. Coming from some one who has had to "let go" a time or two, it is the opposite of fun (and I like doing things that are fun).
Bottom line: that's where the healing begins. It begins with a step. One step leads to one epic journey. (That was for you Kate.) And one epic journey is in store for us all...to get back to Him and to get back to one another. Relationship is forged in fire. He's got more than a band-aid for the pain, even better than Neosporin. Allow Him to burn the hurts. It's gonna sting, but in the end, it is GOOD.
Healing is for everyone. There's a quote from an author that I found. (I confess I know nothing about him or his writing, but he's at least got something right:
“Eventually you will come to understand that love heals everything, and love is all there is.”
Today, let Love surprise you. That's the best kind - when it comes out of nowhere. I think God does that to emphasize that it's His GIFT and there was nothing you could do to deserve it or earn it. Thank God. Ask Saint Raphael the Archangel for his assistance on your journey. He is a protector and will show you the Father who loves, heals, unites, binds, redeems, etc.
My entire life, this has been something prominent, whether I knew it or not. Now, please do not misunderstand me with this - I cannot lay my hands on anyone and heal them. Trust me, I've tried. Seriously. I mean, if God chose to do that through me, that'd be great. But so far, that's never happened.
Sidebar:
When I was about 20, I was in Chicago and this man (I forget his name, but he left an impression on me) prayed with me and said that God wanted to give me the gift of healing. I thought he was weird, but wanted to put it to the test. (I'm bullheaded and was very cocky at this point in my life.) So I went to a friend's side who was very sick, laid my hands on him and prayed that God would heal him. I thought I'd see light shoot out of my hands, fill his whole being, and then he would sit up and being leaping and bounding around the room singing praises like David.
That didn't happen.
He did get better, in like a week. I decided that I had nothing to do with it and didn't think about "healing" for a couple years.
Needless to say, healing has been a huge part of my life. I've studied it...mostly in the realm of psychology, knowing that a lot of healing is needed in our world and in the hearts and minds of people. Healing isn't just in the miraculous though. Yes, God's miraculous healings are amazing. People being cured of cancer, being able to walk, see, speak, you name it, He can do it. But I think that some of the greatest miracles are the healings of the heart, those which nobody really sees and outsiders never really notice that it has happened.
Healing takes time. It's a journey. But when it happens....it happens. Raphael went on a journey with the young Tobias to grant God's healing grace to his father and future bride, Sarah (please see the book of Tobit).
After walking 200 miles, going through what I'm sure was not always the most pleasant of circumstances, healing came out of left field for Sarah. A couple weeks and 200 more miles later, healing came home to Tobias' dad. It was quite the adventure for all involved in the story.
The point I'm trying to make is that healing happens. Not always when or how we expect, but it happens. This introduction is all because I went through this a couple of days ago.
I've been on my own "epic walk" of healing for a while. The one day, out of the blue, everything changed. The questions that I had wanted to ask to find what I thought would be healing after all this time for myself I didn't need to ask. I didn't want to ask. God did it. I had peace. For those of you that think you might know what I'm talking about, trust me, you don't. Sorry to throw that curve ball at you.
A couple wounds in my own heart had been festering and becoming gangrenous to my life. I knew God was going to heal me, that I had to put forth my own effort too, but for a while, it seemed endless. And then...it just wasn't. Something happened, and I realized that I had been healed for a while, and didn't realize it. I had been dwelling in the past and not living in the present where, consequently, I had been healed.
We do that a lot. We name ourselves by our hurts. "Hi, my name is (insert name here) and I (insert brokenness here)"...."Hi (name)", sayeth the group.
The truth is, we cannot live in the hurt. We do need to experience it, feel it, know that it is there, but then know something very crucial - we are not our wounds. We are Christ's. He is the Healer and He can do it. No matter what has happened in our lives, we have a Father who's only intention is to Love. Crap happens. Mistakes are made, on our own part or on the part of someone else....but we are no mistake. Love is no mistake. Healing is a free gift given by God. We have to choose to accept it, claim it, and live in it.
Why do we make it so hard on ourselves? We can get so used to living a certain way and thinking a certain thing. And then, here comes God with a real fix, a real cure (His Love and Grace) and it frightens us because we doubt and we want to fix it ourselves. We want to analyze the hell out of ourselves and find the answer...when the whole time the answer is in front of us. Trust me, I studied a lot of psychology, I know how to analyze. I asked myself all the correct "counseling" questions to get to the bottom of it, to find the cure. But I had to get out of myself and get into Him.
I'll be honest, "getting into Him" was so hard. It is hard to trust a doctor that you can't see...that's why WebMd is evil and causes hypochondriacs to repopulate the modern world. Letting go is never easy, especially when it's your own heart and it's hurts. But the "letting go" is the first step. It's the hardest. It's surrender and it doesn't sit well with our fallen ways. Coming from some one who has had to "let go" a time or two, it is the opposite of fun (and I like doing things that are fun).
Bottom line: that's where the healing begins. It begins with a step. One step leads to one epic journey. (That was for you Kate.) And one epic journey is in store for us all...to get back to Him and to get back to one another. Relationship is forged in fire. He's got more than a band-aid for the pain, even better than Neosporin. Allow Him to burn the hurts. It's gonna sting, but in the end, it is GOOD.
Healing is for everyone. There's a quote from an author that I found. (I confess I know nothing about him or his writing, but he's at least got something right:
“Eventually you will come to understand that love heals everything, and love is all there is.”
Today, let Love surprise you. That's the best kind - when it comes out of nowhere. I think God does that to emphasize that it's His GIFT and there was nothing you could do to deserve it or earn it. Thank God. Ask Saint Raphael the Archangel for his assistance on your journey. He is a protector and will show you the Father who loves, heals, unites, binds, redeems, etc.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Writers block
"Writers block": noun
1. The inability to begin or continue work on a piece of writing; normally temporary. (Real definition)
2. A brick wall standing in the way of something good and worth climbing only able to be moved by a combination of God's will and man's. (My definition)
It has been quite some time since I clicked on my bookmarks and even ventured to blog. I should explain...
For a couple months, I have had nothing to say. My mama always said "if you have nothing nice to say, it's better to say nothing at all"...or something like that. Maybe my mother never even said that. It is a possibility that the maxim was never uttered by her, only drilled into my head by society. That's a good one, Society. Touche. Nevertheless, I didn't have anything to say. God was pretty silent.
That sucked.
I hate it when God says nothing. Wait, let me rephrase that. I hate when God says a lot, then follows it up with something like "Don't forget everything I've said thus far, P.S. I love you" and then shuts up. God loaded me up with a bunch of wonderful things he said to me into a boat, christened it with a bottle of champagne, said "bon voyage" and sent me on a wild adventure on my own across the ocean. Emphasis on the alone part.
Not only did I feel alone, but I had nothing to say about it. I felt like a Debbie Downer and didn't want anyone to have to go through what I was going through. I did reach a point however when I had something to say. In the depths of my being I wanted to write, to speak, to share. But I was afraid. It sounds dumb and irrational, but I was afraid to tell stories. I felt like so much time had passed. Is it worth it? What would people think? Did I lose my mojo? Do I really have something to say? Long story short, a lot of doubt.
And even when, God willing, I pushed through that, I still didn't write. I had become so used to being afraid of words. Lame sauce. I had become afraid to share.
There is no real ending to the story. I'm nervous writing right now. Perhaps that's the process...you get stuck, get used to being stuck, don't know how to live any other way, and then it takes a gale-force wind of God combined with your own will to push across the ocean, dock, and get yourself off the freaking boat and onto new land. Not to beat a dead horse of an analogy, but I feel like an explorer now. I'm in new uncharted territory of myself with an experience that has shaped me and made me new and different and I'm enjoying getting to know "me" in this new world. I'm excited. God moves and does and recreates in His time and His purpose. "Writers block" be darned. God is bigger than you. And I'm sticking with Him.
1. The inability to begin or continue work on a piece of writing; normally temporary. (Real definition)
2. A brick wall standing in the way of something good and worth climbing only able to be moved by a combination of God's will and man's. (My definition)
It has been quite some time since I clicked on my bookmarks and even ventured to blog. I should explain...
For a couple months, I have had nothing to say. My mama always said "if you have nothing nice to say, it's better to say nothing at all"...or something like that. Maybe my mother never even said that. It is a possibility that the maxim was never uttered by her, only drilled into my head by society. That's a good one, Society. Touche. Nevertheless, I didn't have anything to say. God was pretty silent.
That sucked.
I hate it when God says nothing. Wait, let me rephrase that. I hate when God says a lot, then follows it up with something like "Don't forget everything I've said thus far, P.S. I love you" and then shuts up. God loaded me up with a bunch of wonderful things he said to me into a boat, christened it with a bottle of champagne, said "bon voyage" and sent me on a wild adventure on my own across the ocean. Emphasis on the alone part.
Not only did I feel alone, but I had nothing to say about it. I felt like a Debbie Downer and didn't want anyone to have to go through what I was going through. I did reach a point however when I had something to say. In the depths of my being I wanted to write, to speak, to share. But I was afraid. It sounds dumb and irrational, but I was afraid to tell stories. I felt like so much time had passed. Is it worth it? What would people think? Did I lose my mojo? Do I really have something to say? Long story short, a lot of doubt.
And even when, God willing, I pushed through that, I still didn't write. I had become so used to being afraid of words. Lame sauce. I had become afraid to share.
There is no real ending to the story. I'm nervous writing right now. Perhaps that's the process...you get stuck, get used to being stuck, don't know how to live any other way, and then it takes a gale-force wind of God combined with your own will to push across the ocean, dock, and get yourself off the freaking boat and onto new land. Not to beat a dead horse of an analogy, but I feel like an explorer now. I'm in new uncharted territory of myself with an experience that has shaped me and made me new and different and I'm enjoying getting to know "me" in this new world. I'm excited. God moves and does and recreates in His time and His purpose. "Writers block" be darned. God is bigger than you. And I'm sticking with Him.
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