Thursday, July 08, 2010

"When we were young, most of us loved adventure. There is something about the unknown that draws us, which is why we like stories so much. But I like to leave the theater at the end of the play, knowing that the dilemma of evil has been resolved by the characters on the stage or screen. Like Peter, Susan, Lucy, and Edmund, to find ourselves not as spectators but as central characters in the play itself is somewhat daunting. The stakes are truly high, sometimes literally life or death, and God rarely if ever yells, "Cut!" just as the dangerous or painful scene descends upon us. No stunt doubles come onto the set to take our places. Many of us feel that we have been playing these kinds of scenes ever since we were children. We wonder if the hero will ever show up to rescue us.

We would like to picture goodness as being synonymous with safety. When we think of God being good, we perhaps picture someone like Al on the popular TV program Home Improvement. He is someone who carefully plans out each task ahead of time and has all the proper tools and safety equipment in place; someone who has thought out every possible danger ahead of time and made allowances to ensure our safety as his workmate; someone who goes to bed early, gets plenty of rest, and wears flannel shirts as a mark of his reliability.

Being in partnership with God, though, often feels much more like being Mel Gibson's sidekick in the movie Lethal Weapon. In his determination to deal with the bad guy, he leaps from seventh-story balconies into swimming pools, surprised that we would have any hesitation in following after him. Like Indiana Jones's love interests in the movies, we find ourselves caught up in an adventure of heroic proportions with a God who both seduces us with his boldness and energy and repels us with his willingness to place us in mortal danger, suspended over pits of snakes. "

(John Eldredge, The Sacred Romance , 56-57)

How very true this is in my own walk with God.  It is not safe at times and I have felt "suspended over pits of snakes" more often than I would like to recount.  But, no matter what has happened to me in my life, and what continues to happen, my heart is always drawn back to Him.  He is still my Hero and still my Rescuer and Deliverer.  My life is His.  And I am grateful.

Heart of Hearts




Heart of hearts

My deepest voice

Someone tried to steal

You cannot have the heart of me

No matter what you will



I am strong and I am true

My heart rises above

Your nothingness

Your silenced voice

For I choose a path of love



Heart of hearts

My deepest voice

It has now been found!

For it has all along been here

And let my voice resound
 
written by Lisa Parkin

I will not die an unlived life

I will not die an unlived life.

I will not go in fear
of falling or catching fire.


I choose to inhabit my days,
to allow my living to open me,
To make me less afraid,
More accessible,
To loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing,
a torch, a promise.


I choose to risk my significance.
To live.
So that which comes to me as seed
goes to the next as blossom,
and that which came to me as blossom
Goes on as fruit.

Dawna Markova

How tempting it is to stay anchored in the harbour.

Safely secured to the familiar dock.

On the days the sea is calm and smooth,

It is easy to pull up the anchor and sail,

enjoying the gentle breeze in your hair

and the sun on your face.

But even when there are storms at sea

We are still meant to venture out,

to ride the waves

and even overcome them.

Because it is then that we learn

that we have what it takes.

Our boat is strong,

and our abilities to navigate rough waters,

are even stronger.

And sometimes it is in the midst of that storm

That we see the sun peek through the dark clouds

and the beauty of the contrast

takes our breath away.

We wouldn't have wanted to miss that moment

for all the world....

But if we would have stayed in the harbour,

we would have.

"Emotional maturity is one of the greatest achievements of psychological awareness.  It is the antithesis of emotional immaturity, which expresses itself whenever it wants to, in whatever fashion it feels like, no matter what the consequences.  Hysteria, pouting, manipulation, whining, withdrawal, sarcasm, attack - all these are forms of emotional immaturity.  They show that the person enacting them is still emotionally young, still not strong enough to act maturely.  When we are emotionally mature, on the other hand, we know that the world does not revolve around us, that solutions to problems, whether circumstantial or emotional, take time and will not necessarily come in exactly the form we imagined.  Emotional maturity has patience, knows when to hold it's tongue, and when to offer a comforting word.  Emotional maturity is a fine art."

Excerpted from A Garland of Love: Daily Reflections on the Magic and Meaning of Love by Daphne Rose Kingma

Courage

“Conscience is the root of all true courage; if a man would be brave let him obey his conscience.”

                                                                James Freeman Clarke

Psalm 121

I lift my eyes to the hills
From where will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord
who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
He who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day
nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time on and forevermore.