World Waits

I really need to start taking the advice I give to others for myself. It's so easy for me to offer advice and give encouragment without taking that advice for myself. Lately I've really felt like I need some encouragment in my life.

Anyway, the advice I gave/give that I should take for myself is to not let screw ups to mess up your life and throw you of course. I think as a christian it's easy for me to beat myself up for messing up and missing the mark but God wants us to get up and continue. We're only human and we're not perfect and we're going to miss the mark from time to time. The idea is to not give up but to keep going.


Here's a video for Jeremy Enigk's song "World Waits". It's an incredible song (and incredible album) that I've been listening to a lot lately.

Just ask

A quick in the moment inspiration post. I was reading in Exodus and what Moses says to God sticks out to me.

"Moses said to the LORD, "You have been telling me, 'Lead these people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, 'I know you by name and you have found favor with me.' If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.
"The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."

Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?"

And the LORD said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name."

Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory."

And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."

Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."

Exodus 33:12-23

I think sometimes we're so afraid to ask God for something because we're afraid he'll say no or we'll not get an answer but Moses wasn't afraid. He knew what he wanted and what he wanted God to do for him and the people of Israel and he just asked God.

Don't be afraid to ask. Be bold and ask!

Inspiration

Moving Forward
by Rainer Maria Rilke

"The deep parts of my life pour onward,
as if the river shores were opening out.
It seems that things are more like me now,
That I can see farther into paintings.
I feel closer to what language can't reach.
With my senses, as with birds, I climb
into the windy heaven, out of the oak,
in the ponds broken off from the sky
my falling sinks, as if standing on fishes."







THE DAWN OF WEIRD
by Derrick C Brown

‘Twas the dawn of Weird
and I had woken up early.

There was no difference between
sky and sea,
so dogs chased tennis balls into the shore break
of cumulus clouds.

Sea lions flew point
in the formations of sparrows.

Fishermen caught birds,
apologized
and set them free.
The birds were understanding and as a gift
brought back worm sandwiches
which were surprisingly tasty.

Airplanes landed safely underwater
as mermaids guided us in with pop-electric jellyfish.

Guns had turned to black licorice.
All the cops were nibbling on shotguns
and one by one all the criminals cried
and turned themselves in
to the dentist.

Hospitals morphed and became
rubber bounce castles.
They had to call security
to usher out the scalpels
and to keep the elderly
from hogging the twisty slide.

Billboards became drive-in movie screens
replaying what our feet looked like
when we were chasing our dreams.

Everyone walked home.

And all the tombstones
in all the graveyards
crumbled into seeds.

Flora bloomed immediately.

Bees halted on the outskirts
of the cemetery walls,
reverence for the ending,
the passing of all.

With antennae bowed
and honey tears starting,
they pledged to stand guard
of the bright human garden.

The largest pile of flowers…
It rose from your name.
The wind swelled a whisper
That said

‘They’re O.K., they’re all O.K.’

My Lord, it was a solid mountain of sunflowers.

The world blazed in color and I welcomed the change.
It was the dawn of weird and the morning of strange.

Amazing how all this
did come to pass,
just a child cutting loose
in a poetry class.

Be a Light

8/4 Journal Entry

Be A Light:

Jesus called us a light. A couple things jump to my mind. First is this picture of light as a guide. When it’s dark people gravitate towards the light. When the power goes out people looking something, anything to illuminate the darkness.

The other picture I get is that of a lighthouse. Used as a warning to ships. Lights used to warn of danger ahead. I think the metaphor Jesus used is often taken to only mean a guide. It’s often used as a reference to the world around us. That we Christians, as the light of Christ, are meant to be light in the darkness, to illuminate our world. But what if some of us are called to be lighthouses? What if our purpose, as the light of Christ, is to help steer others away from poor choices, from impending doom, from the rocky cliff up ahead? If God cares for people and people will know us by our love what better way to show the love of God then by helping keep others safe. Helping a friend make the right choice. Yes people can be the light in the darkness to attract others to them but I thank God for the people who have been lighthouses in my life. Those who have helped keep me from making poor decisions.

Throw in the Towel

A reflection of this weekends sermon.

Loving others is serving others.

"So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees."
(Hebrews 12:12)