What Healing Looks Like

John 12:35 “Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.”

God's Healing Touch

What Healing Looks Like

Often times when people are in the throes of pain and suffering they can’t grasp what the finished product of healing looks like. I remember the day of dire diagnosis when everyone around me wore grim and sad faces, reaching out in sorrow to offer their hand of comfort and prayer during a trying time. I made it perfectly clear from the beginning I was not accepting the diagnosis as the death sentence everyone sees at the announcement of a Big C diagnosis. At this point in my journey, you could walk with me holding my hand or perhaps stand face-to-face in a guiding manner, or behind me drifting with the dust of the earth, your choice.

I saw the diagnosis quite differently and I think my stance took people by surprise, understandably so; I saw it as healing. Yes, you read it right, healing. When I took my daily walks, my mantra that I repeated out loud was, I am HEALED, I am Healthy, I am WELL! When I announced my mantra on Facebook my friends were kind of stunned, “You’re healed, really?” Their voices came through in words, clear, bold and loud.

“Yes, I believe I AM,” was my response very soon after my diagnosis of that dastardly death sentence announcement.

Pss.121:1-2 “I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth”

Some people were so aghast that they stepped back and away from me, either thinking I lost my mind or I was in deep denial. To me, they looked like little beacons of light drifting off, holding candles as they slowly floated away from me, off into the night sky. Whatever the case may be, dear friends became people I thought were friends and no longer offered prayer or support in any way. As a few folks stepped away from my inner circle, others entered, droves of people fanned in from out of nowhere, stood up and rained support on me. Not only on Facebook, where my Spiritual family dwells, but my physical family and friends I knew were all in PRAYER for me. They offered the loving prayers in their weekly prayer box at their churches, announcing vocally that they needed prayer for ME, or silently in their inner prayer circle whispered my name asking for healing. Little old me was being healed by prayers!

I understand that not everyone believes in God and I’m okay with that. I do have friends who stayed by me that offered peace and light, and that is a positive I fully accept as a blessing. My healing is not about religion, it is more about FAITH and my faith grew ten sizes in a day through prayer and blessings, in return, I prayed for those souls who backed away from me; they needed my prayer. 

Pss. 103:20 “Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.”

I’m wondering if I came off as arrogant in my stance on healing besides people seeing me as if I was in denial. My first step in my healing journey was to stop worrying about what other people thought! Yeah, that’s a tough one for us all, but if it's healing you seek, cleanse yourself of naysayers right up front.

Healing is not about reading the bible more (though it can’t hurt), it’s not about knowing more scripture than the next person, it’s certainly not about dissecting the Word, word for word, and I can say it is truly not about claiming to know God more than someone else. We all own our own faith and beliefs, what you discern from your faith is where the true touch of healing resides. Although your actions are weighed, there is no amount of acts that can inch you closer than the next person to His embrace.

1 Sam. 2:3 “Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.”

Healing is found by touching base with God within you. Healing is not going to be found outside in the corrupt conventional world. Medical doctor’s are aids in healing, not the means. God is the greatest healing physician in our lives. For some reason, we’ve been conditioned to accept and trust that outside of God, we believers can find healing. Funny how that works isn’t it? 

Pss. 121:2 “My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.”

What does healing look like? How do I explain the explosive beauty of healing? Well, for one, you need to dig deep within the core of your being. WITHIN means not outside in a physical manner, DEEP within, in a spiritual manner; God, prayer, meditation etc., whatever the spiritual means to YOU. In that core realm is where God resides and is waiting for you to acknowledge Him and put your faith and trust in Him. That is when we find, touch and SEE the actual healing take place.

Pss. 121:5 “The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.”

How do we see within all that we are? You must be humbled by your illness, your trials, and tribulation. You might as well toss pride and dignity in the heap, also. This is not the time to panic or seek outside help. This is the time the prayerful meditative mind can touch, breathe, and be one with the part of God in you that needs to be reached. This might be the hardest part of healing, listening to God, not yourself.

I’ve always seen myself as a vain woman and that was a hindrance I could not release in my healing journey until I was forced to face the intense flaming fires of pain and hell, head on...

I was walking along proudly boasting that I was healed, healthy and well. I stuck my fingers in the breast of my jacket, proudly strutted my protocol, spoke to all about my alternative ways. I was sharing physically and vocally my success of this route that God placed me on. Only when I FREED my pride and dignity, I felt, touched, breathed my true healing. Yes, friends, with the aids of medical science! Go figure! The very science that God used in creation, He was now using to implement my full recovery. My faith, when falling into God’s hands, is what saved me.

Prov. 16: 18 “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”

My vanity, pride, and dignity all got swallowed by a black hole in an instant. When my femur burst out of my leg, in the depths of torments rage, I gave my all to Christ. It was at the very moment as I’m sitting on the side of the bed, pantyless and just a t-shirt that EMT’s had to come and pry me out of the room. Not just one or two, there were about four or five men and two women. They were either tending the gurney, the truck or me, bare and broken.

Pss. 121:8 “The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.”

I went blank, got lost in the swirling darkness that surrounded me with a couple of stars and gems in the night sky keeping my focus. I then woke to the reality of my healing on October Fifth, the anniversary of the day that Steven’s dad was released from this earth and went home; also the day that I was released from my torment and went HOME. In the midst of my affliction all of my pride, vanity and dignity were sucked up into a tornadoes vortex, to leave me, humbly picking up the pieces of mirrored glass I called me.

This is when God’s finger reached out and touched me. When I came before Him as Eve, sinful and bare, and begged for mercy. Instead of a soft touch, He embraced me, wrapped his ever loving arms around me shielding me and healed me with the warmth of His love.

Isa. 6:7 “And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.”

John 19:35 “And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.”

Acts 15:8 “And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;”

UnAmerican

The American Flag at Fort McHenry

Baltimore, Maryland

Pss. 136:1 “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.”

UnAmerican

I’m jumping on the bandwagon here. I’ve been called un-American so many times it makes my head spin. Why? Not standing for the National Anthem? No. Not picking left OR right? No. I’ve been called un-American because I don’t like chocolate or fatty foods like bacon and enormous amounts of cheese. Well I’ll be!

I don’t think this post is really about being un-American as much as it is going to be about what riles the world, gets under their skin, irks people to no end. If the cause does not fit into the norm, meaning the [supposed] majority, then you are on the outside, the minority. If you’re black you’re in the minority, orange, minority, alien minority. What if you’re Irish or German does that count you as a minority too? Are the majority of Americans Irish and German? I don’t think this day and age they are. 

It makes you think. What does it mean when someone calls you un-American? I respect soldiers who were drafted at a young age and basically forced to fight for this country. I admire the men and women who choose to continue to fight for this country day in and day out. But does it make me un-American because I don’t and won’t conform to what YOU might want me to post on facebook, Instagram, or twitter?

I was and never will be someone who votes because you tell me I HAVE to vote or be called un-American. When the National Anthem is on, STAND, place your hand over your heart! Say the pledge of allegiance daily. Well, we want our kids to pledge allegiance to a flag for twelve years of their life and we get all riled up because some lying meme says it’s going to be taken out of schools? Americans want everything THEIR way and you’re UNAmerican if you disagree with one or two people who don't think like you think.

I think that our founding fathers when writing the Constitution knew back in the day that God (or mere mention of Him), our rights or our liberties would continue to be an issue in the distant future. I don’t think they thought that allowing people from other countries here was going to be such a big issue but here we are being our American selves and not wanting immigrants to share in our wealth and prosperous land. (I say that loosely as I look around at other countries, impoverished nations and their debts.)

You know, I find it quite amazing that individuals are not allowed to think for themselves, speak out about something they don’t believe in or are shamed because the small brained feel it necessary to be louder than the minority of people who just want to be heard. I thought we had rights to protect us but year after year, political figure after political figure wants to change the way things are run.

I blog today because it is my right as an American to say what I want to say but to lump me together with the other billions of Americans is offensive to me because I am not like them or you for that matter. I don’t read the ‘what people are talking about today’news. To be honest, I go to facebook and see what people are griping about, reeling about, who is offending whom on this or any given day. Then as the writer in me takes over, I research and see if it is worth blogging about. More times than not, the answer is no because I won’t conform to what the masses expect from me. I won’t be a part of the hate brigade and if that makes me un-American, then so be it, off with my head!

Yup, I’m all about God and I’m sure that offends the majority of people but I don’t care. I don’t live to serve man and debate about who’s right and who’s wrong; I live to serve God. Not a country, not a flag, not a battalion, not a president, not anything but God, so yes, if serving ONE God makes me un-American, then Hail to the King of Kings! 

God you reign, God you reign!

Forever and ever… God you REIGN!

Empty Nest

Adam at 7 yrs. old

Pss. 102:7  “I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.”

~ Empty Nest ~

Today is Adam’s first day at ‘work’, well, it is Orientation so he really doesn’t begin work until Monday, if he likes what he hears and sees today. Since he graduated from high school everyone placed the pressure on him from the get-go, “Where will you go to college?” “What are your aspirations?” “Do you have a job” “Do you have your license?” Questions kept coming and coming from friends and family alike. 

The implosion took place the following September when he had no school to go to, no license or job. He felt useless, suicidal at times, depressed and unworthy of being alive. I think I also have the only child alive who turned twenty without ever owning a cell phone. No, our money went to other things, other necessities that had to be taken care of; Adam was/is the last man on the totem pole, has been basically his entire life.

While he has been first on my totem pole, my totem pole has stood alone in a sea of virtuality. He is always my first priority so teaching him to drive a car was first on my agenda. Nail biting at times, exhausting at other times, then it became fun excursions as he learned the ropes and finally got his license. Not to say I’m not still that ‘back seat driver’ voice every time he gets behind the wheel and takes me into the store.

You might ask, so what’s he been doing these past two years? Well, he’s been an enormous help to his semi-disabled mother. He takes the trash out, puts the recycling cans out, washes dishes (sometimes, not all the time) dries and puts the dishes away (all the time), mows the [very big] lawn, vacuums the floor, does basically anything I can’t do and everything I ask him to and no, he doesn’t complain and whine either. 

So how do I feel today? Alone. I have to be very careful because I sometimes think I can do everything and wind up hurting myself in the end. Hubby is at work, Adam is off on his new adventure and here I am, alone. But hey, at least when he drove off I didn’t cry my eyes out like I did on his first day of school, and he started in the ninth grade mind you. He was home schooled for fourteen years so that was hard getting used to my day without him and now, I think I may have to get used to my life without him every single day.

I knew this time would come when I’d have to release him to the cruel world and he’d have to fend for himself but it does feel like just yesterday that he was born; when his little tiny fingers wrapped around mine and I made sure I counted ten toes. Now the boy is a young man standing six foot two weighing in at 175 pounds. My baby isn’t so little anymore nor is his life mine. 

Males are different than females when they grow up, the girls are usually closer to their mother and boys, they find a girl to love and leave their mother’s behind. Not that they stop loving their mothers it’s just they’ve found someone who will nurture them the way their mother once did.

So the nest won’t be completely empty for a while and I’m glad about that and he came home today from Orientation happy with a smile on his face and I was so happy to see him… all grown up and becoming his own man. 

Quotation Saturday

Prov. 26:24 "He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him;"

MASKS

“We understand how dangerous a mask can be. We all become what we pretend to be.” 
― Patrick Rothfuss

“No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.” 
― Nathaniel Hawthorne

“We all wear masks, but it's the one we choose to wear that makes a difference.” 
― Kim Yannayon

“It's good to see the snakes revealing themselves. They weren't actually hidden at all. People hide behind the masks, but eventually you see them for who they truly are.” 
― Amaka Imani Nkosazana

DECEIT

“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.” 
― William Shakespeare

“Nothing is more deceitful," said Darcy, "than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast.” 
― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

“It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.” 
― Noël Coward

“The only thing more frustrating than slanderers is those foolish enough to listen to them.” 
― Criss Jami

“God hath given you one face, and you make yourself another.” 
― William Shakespeare

“A rumor is a social cancer: it is difficult to contain and it rots the brains of the masses. However, the real danger is that so many people find rumors enjoyable. That part causes the infection. And in such cases when a rumor is only partially made of truth, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly where the information may have gone wrong. It is passed on and on until some brave soul questions its validity; that brave soul refuses to bite the apple and let the apple eat him. Forced to start from scratch for the sake of purity and truth, that brave soul, figuratively speaking, fully amputates the information in order to protect his personal judgment. In other words, his ignorance is to be valued more than the lie believed to be true.” 
― Criss Jami

PRIDE

“I am not proud, but I am happy; and happiness blinds, I think, more than pride.” 
― Alexandre Dumas

“As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on thing and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down you cannot see something that is above you.” 
― C.S. Lewis

“When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures bristling with prejudice and motivated by pride and vanity.” 
― Dale Carnegie

“Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves. But deep down below the surface of the average conscience a still, small voice says to us, something is out of tune. ” 
― C.G. Jung

TRUTH

“I say what other people only think, and when all the rest of the world is in a conspiracy to accept the mask for the true face, mine is the rash hand that tears off the plump pasteboard, and shows the bare bones beneath.” 
― Wilkie Collins

“RAINBOW VOICES

I ask people of the world and children of light to start reflecting the stories of their souls to vibrate wisdom around the earth. Pick up a paintbrush or microphone. Press the inks of your pens to paper or tap words onto your screens, and start sharing what you know and have learned with the masses. Turn your personal painting into a piece of the earth's puzzle so that our unified assemblage of thoughts, experiences and lessons reveal common truths that cannot be denied. Imagine the changes that could happen if everyone suddenly stopped acting like someone else, became true to themselves, and celebrated the beauty of their uniqueness. Only after people have willingly removed their masks and costumes, and have begun pouring light from their hearts to reveal their vulnerability, dreams and pains, will we be able to see that beneath the surface we are all the same. After all, how can the world collectively fight for truth, if soldiers in its army are void of truth? We must first all be true by putting truth in our words and actions. And to do so, everyone must learn to think and react with their conscience. Imagine what Truth could do to neutralize the clutches of evil once this black and white world suddenly became embraced by a strong rainbow of loud powerful voices. We could put color back into every home, every school, every industry, every nation, and every garden on earth where flowers have been crushed by corruption.” 
― Suzy Kassem

“A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” 
― Mark Twain

“Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.” 
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky

“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always.” 
― Mahatma Gandhi

SPIRITUALITY

“Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light‐years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual. So are our emotions in the presence of great art or music or literature, or acts of exemplary selfless courage such as those of Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both.” 
― Carl Sagan

“The moment God is figured out with nice neat lines and definitions, we are no longer dealing with God.” 
― Rob Bell

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” 
― Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

“I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It's just that the translations have gone wrong.” 
― John Lennon

Pss. 117:2 "For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD."

Quotation Saturday

1 Sam. 2:3 “Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.”

DELUSION

“You will never find the real truth among people that are insecure or have egos to protect. Truth over time becomes either guarded or twisted as their perspective changes; it changes with the seasons of their shame, love, hope or pride.” 
― Shannon L. Alder

“In reading The History of Nations, we find that, like individuals, they have their whims and their peculiarities, their seasons of excitement and recklessness, when they care not what they do. We find that whole communities suddenly fix their minds upon one object and go mad in its pursuit; that millions of people become simultaneously impressed with one delusion, and run after it, till their attention is caught by some new folly more captivating than the first.” 
― Charles Mackay

“My father taught me that you can you read a hundred books on wisdom and write a hundred books on wisdom, but unless you apply what you learned then its only words on a page. Life is not lived with intentions, but action.” 
― Shannon L. Alder

“In dream, delusion, and fantasy, exist man’s next best reality: that place where he is the creator of his own worlds; where he builds, learns, discovers and entertains; is master of all outcomes, his own god of destiny, and thus the student of his own evolving and ever uncertain truth.” 
― Duane Hewitt

ARROGANCE

“When you think yours is the only true path you forever chain yourself to judging others and narrow the vision of God. The road to righteousness and arrogance is a parallel road that can intersect each other several times throughout a person's life. It’s often hard to recognize one road from another. What makes them different is the road to righteousness is paved with the love of humanity. The road to arrogance is paved with the love of self.” 
~ Shannon L. Alder

“Arrogance is a creature. It does not have senses.
It has only a sharp tongue and the pointing finger.” 
~ Toba Beta

“Be careful not to mistake insecurity and inadequacy for humility! Humility has nothing to do with the insecure and inadequate! Just like arrogance has nothing to do with greatness!” 
― C. JoyBell C.

“Patriotism ... is a superstition artificially created and maintained through a network of lies and falsehoods; a superstition that robs man of his self-respect and dignity, and increases his arrogance and conceit.” 
― Emma Goldman

“Arrogance is someone claiming to have come to Christ, but they won't spend more than five minutes listening to your journey because they are more concerned about their own well being, rather than being a true disciple of Christ. Blessed is the person that takes the time to heal and hear another person so they can move on.” 
― Shannon L. Alder

CONCEIT

“Time and time again does the pride of man influence his very own fall. While denying it, one gradually starts to believe that he is the authority, or that he possesses great moral dominion over others, yet it is spiritually unwarranted. By that point he loses steam; in result, he falsely begins trying to prove that unwarranted dominion by seizing the role of a condemner.” 
― Criss Jami

“If a man thinks he is not conceited, he is very conceited indeed.” 
― C.S. Lewis

“He thinks the sun comes up just to hear him crow.” 
― Charles Martin

“Why did you come in to-night with your heads in the air? 'Make way, we are coming! Give us every right and don't you dare breathe a word before us. Pay us every sort of respect, such as no one's ever heard of, and we shall treat you worse than the lowest lackey!' They strive for justice, they stand on their rights, and yet they've slandered him like infidels in their article. We demand, we don't ask, and you will get no gratitude from us, because you are acting for the satisfaction of your own conscience! Queer sort of reasoning!... He has not borrowed money from you, he doesn't owe you anything, so what are you reckoning on, if not his gratitude? So how can you repudiate it? Lunatics! They regard society as savage and inhuman, because it cries shame on the seduced girl; but if you think society inhuman, you must think that the girl suffers from the censure of society, and if she does, how is it you expose her to society in the newspapers and expect her not to suffer? Lunatics! Vain creatures! They don't believe in God, they don't believe in Christ! Why, you are so eaten up with pride and vanity that you'll end by eating up one another, that's what I prophesy. Isn't that topsy-turvydom, isn't it infamy?” 
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky

“Arrogance is perhaps the most socially acceptable form of sin in the church today. In this culture of abundance, one of the only ways Satan can keep Christians neutralized is to wrap us up in pride. Conceit slips in like drafts of cold air in the winter. We don't see it, but outsiders can sense it.” 
― David Kinnaman

HYPOCRISY

“Often those that criticise others reveal what he himself lacks.” 
― Shannon L. Alder

“I wore black because I liked it. I still do, and wearing it still means something to me. It's still my symbol of rebellion -- against a stagnant status quo, against our hypocritical houses of God, against people whose minds are closed to others' ideas.” 
― Johnny Cash

“He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it.” 
― George Orwell

“Those who plead their cause in the absence of an opponent can invent to their heart's content, can pontificate without taking into account the opposite point of view and keep the best arguments for themselves, for aggressors are always quick to attack those who have no means of defence.” 
― Christine de Pizan

“To pretend, I actually do the thing: I have therefore only pretended to pretend.” 
― Jacques Derrida

ACTION

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” 
― Mahatma Gandhi

“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” 
― Kurt Vonnegut

“Faith is about doing. You are how you act, not just how you believe.” 
― Mitch Albom

“People tend to be generous when sharing their nonsense, fear, and ignorance. And while they seem quite eager to feed you their negativity, please remember that sometimes the diet we need to be on is a spiritual and emotional one. Be cautious with what you feed your mind and soul. Fuel yourself with positivity and let that fuel propel you into positive action.” 
― Steve Maraboli

Quotation Saturday ~ Humanity

Pss.10:4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

HUMANITY

“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi

“It's funny how humans can wrap their mind around things and fit them into their version of reality.”
~ Rick Riordan

“We can know only that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom.”
~ Leo Tolstoy

“Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul.”
~ Oscar Wilde

EQUALITY

“To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man's injustice to woman. If by strength is meant brute strength, then, indeed, is woman less brute than man. If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man's superior. Has she not greater intuition, is she not more self-sacrificing, has she not greater powers of endurance, has she not greater courage? Without her, man could not be. If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future is with woman. Who can make a more effective appeal to the heart than woman?"
~ Mahatma Gandhi

“Equality is not a concept. It's not something we should be striving for. It's a necessity. Equality is like gravity. We need it to stand on this earth as men and women, and the misogyny that is in every culture is not a true part of the human condition. It is life out of balance, and that imbalance is sucking something out of the soul of every man and woman who's confronted with it. We need equality. Kinda now.”
~ Joss Whedon

“Wherever you find a great man, you will find a great mother or a great wife standing behind him -- or so they used to say. It would be interesting to know how many great women have had great fathers and husbands behind them.”
~ Dorothy L. Sayers

“All opinions are not equal. Some are a very great deal more robust, sophisticated and well supported in logic and argument than others.”
~ Douglas Adams

TOLERANCE

“Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the wrong. Sometime in life you will have been all of these.”
~ Lloyd Shearer

“It is not for me to judge another man's life. I must judge, I must choose, I must spurn, purely for myself. For myself, alone.”
~ Hermann Hesse

“It's a universal law-- intolerance is the first sign of an inadequate education. An ill-educated person behaves with arrogant impatience, whereas truly profound education breeds humility.”
~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

“Christian, Jew, Muslim, shaman, Zoroastrian, stone, ground, mountain, river, each has a secret way of being with the mystery, unique and not to be judged”
~ Rumi

“Laws alone can not secure freedom of expression; in order that every man present his views without penalty there must be spirit of tolerance in the entire population.”
~ Albert Einstein

PREJUDICE

“Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilised by education: they grow there, firm as weeds among stones.”
~ Charlotte Brontë

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
~ Martin Luther King Jr.

“There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.”
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is not right, I will happily change, for I seek the truth, by which no one was ever truly harmed. It is the person who continues in his self-deception and ignorance who is harmed.”
~ Marcus Aurelius

Prov. 8:13 “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.”

Quotation Saturday

Pss. 35:20 “For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land.”

RIOTS

“Whenever I happen to be in a city of any size, I marvel that riots do not break out everyday: Massacres, unspeakable carnage, a doomsday chaos. How can so many human beings coexist in a space so confined without hating each other to death?”
~ Emil Cioran

“On the plus side, there were no rioters in sight but on the minus side this was probably because everywhere I looked was on fire.”
~ Ben Aaronovitch, Midnight Riot

“You can't fight hatred with hatred and expect anyone to listen to you. You can only try to lessen it with humor, wit, truth and commonsense. If that doesn't work run like hell, while they throw rocks at you.”
~ Shannon L. Alder

“Man kept control over the machines he created, I wish God would have done the same with the man he created.”
~ Amit Kalantri

THIEVES

“For if you suffer your people to be ill-educated, and their manners to be corrupted from their infancy, and then punish them for those crimes to which their first education disposed them, what else is to be concluded from this, but that you first make thieves and then punish them.”
~ Thomas More, Utopia

“Man is not, by nature, deserving of all that he wants. When we think that we are automatically entitled to something, that is when we start walking all over others to get it.”
~ Criss Jami

“Looters become looted, while time and tide make us mercenaries all.”
 Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man's Fear

“There is no honour among thieves.”
~ American proverb

“ Some will steal and say it is not stealing, it is borrowing. Some will borrow and say it is not borrowing, it’s pilfering. Some will pilfer and say it is not pilfering, it is rightfully sharing. Call it what it is, a dishonest illegal act!”

~ Joni

PROTEST

“But it is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the negro poor has worsened over the last twelve or fifteen years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity.”
~ Martin Luther King Jr.

“When people believe that the local government and economy serve their needs. There is little desire to protest.”
~ Auliq Ice

We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”
~ Elie Wiesel

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
[Remarks on the first anniversary of the Alliance for Progress, 13 March 1962]”
~ John F. Kennedy

JUSTICE

“Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.”
~ J.R.R. Tolkien

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”
~ Elie Wiesel

“Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.”
~ Benjamin Franklin

“I am tired of people saying that poor character is the only reason people do wrong things. Actually, circumstances cause people to act a certain way. It's from those circumstances that a person's attitude is affected followed by weakening of character. Not the reverse. If we had no faults of our own, we should not take so much pleasure in noticing those in others and judging their lives as either black or white, good or bad. We all live our lives in shades of gray.”
~ Shannon L. Alder

PEACE

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
~ Martin Luther King Jr.

“An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi

“When I say it's you I like, I'm talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything you can ever see or hear or touch. That deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive. Love that conquers hate, peace that rises triumphant over war, and justice that proves more powerful than greed.”
~ Fred Rogers

“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.”
~ Albert Einstein

 Job 13: 5 “O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom.”

Poetry Sunday ~ In The Day

Pss. 37:30 “The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.”

In the Day

Praise the Father, Praise the Son,

Praise the Great and Holy one.

In the day when no love shines

The haughty man will rise

Holding there within his hand

The truth behind his lies.

In the day when people think

That wisdom comes from shores

It sails along the currents feed

Right into open doors.

In the day when man is fooled

By fancy ways of talking

Finding face with a false god

A feeble form of walking.

In the day when man can serve

Two masters in his pride

Humanity will surely fall

And nowhere can man hide.

In the day when man can love

Relinquish earthly hate

Walk along the path with Christ

And enter Heavens gate.

Praise the Father, Praise the Son,

Praise the Great and Holy One.

Pss. 111:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.”

 

 

Quotation Saturday

1 Cor. 4:14 I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.

 CHARMING

All charming people have something to conceal, usually their total dependence on the appreciation of others.

~ Cyril Connelly

“With mortal age comes the immense need for childish charms. Like a fine wine, sweetens with maturity.”
~ Rae Lori

“Don't rush to design your face to look beautiful, attractive and charming. Rather, be quicker to decorate your mind to appear as goal-oriented, passion-embedded and action-driven.”
~ Israelmore Ayivor

“If you look up "charming" in the dictionary, you'll see that it not only has references to strong attraction, but to spells and magic. Then again, what are liars if not great magicians?”
~ Deb Caletti

DECEITFUL

“It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.”
~ Noël Coward

“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.”
~ William Shakespeare

“Mindfulness helps us get better at seeing the difference between what’s happening and the stories we tell ourselves about what’s happening, stories that get in the way of direct experience. Often such stories treat a fleeting state of mind as if it were our entire and permanent self.”
~ Sharon Salzberg, Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation

“Never pretend to be something you are not, especially to be accepted. Be loved for who you are, it will be tough at times but worth it.”
~ Isabella Poretsis

CONSCIENCE

“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”
~ Martin Luther King Jr.

“Your conscience is the measure of the honesty of your selfishness.
Listen to it carefully.”
~ Richard Bach

“The Roots of Violence: Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character, Commerce without morality, Science without humanity, Worship without sacrifice, Politics without principles."
(Young India, 22 October 1925)”
~ Mahatma Gandhi

“Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves. But deep down below the surface of the average conscience a still, small voice says to us, something is out of tune. ”
~ C.G. Jung

PRIDE

“A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.”
~ C.S. Lewis

“Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need. ”
~ Khalil Gibran

“All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride.”
~ Sophocles

“When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures bristling with prejudice and motivated by pride and vanity.”
~ Dale Carnegie

BELOVED

“Over the years, I have come to realize that the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection. Success, popularity, and power can indeed present a great temptation, but their seductive quality often comes from the way they are part of the much larger temptation to self-rejection. When we have come to believe in the voices that call us worthless and unlovable, then success, popularity, and power are easily perceived as attractive solutions. The real trap, however, is self-rejection. As soon as someone accuses me or criticizes me, as soon as I am rejected, left alone, or abandoned, I find myself thinking, "Well, that proves once again that I am a nobody." ... [My dark side says,] I am no good... I deserve to be pushed aside, forgotten, rejected, and abandoned. Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the "Beloved." Being the Beloved constitutes the core truth of our existence.”
~ Henri J.M. Nouwen

“Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion.”
~ Brennan Manning

“To ignore, repress, or dismiss our feelings is to fail to listen to the stirrings of the Spirit within our emotional life. Jesus listened. In John's Gospel we are told that Jesus was moved with the deepest emotions (11:33)... The gospel portrait of the beloved Child of Abba is that of a man exquisitely attuned to His emotions and uninhibited in expressing them. The Son of Man did not scorn or reject feelings as fickle and unreliable. They were sensitive antennae to which He listened carefully and through which He perceived the will of His Father for congruent speech and action.”
~ Brennan Manning

Quotation Saturday

John 15:19 “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”

Advent is a time to wait, listen and ponder the awesome wonder of God. Pause and spend some time this season reflecting on God’s gift of love. Jesus IS the reason for the season.

“Advent: the time to listen for footsteps – you can’t hear footsteps when you’re running yourself.”

~ Bill McKibben

“The supreme trick of Old Scratch is to have us so busy decorating, preparing food, practicing music and cleaning in preparation for the feast of Christmas that we actually miss the coming of Christ. Hurt feelings, anger, impatience, injured egos—the list of clouds that busyness creates to blind us to the birth can be long, but it is familiar to us all.”

~ Edward Hays, A Pilgrim’s Almanac

“Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this life, in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; So that, at the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal.”

~ The Book of Common Prayer, published in 1662

“Christmas has lost its meaning for us because we have lost the spirit of expectancy. We cannot prepare for an observance. We must prepare for an experience.”

~ Handel Brown

PRIDE

“For the believer, humility is honesty about one's greatest flaws to a degree in which he is fearless about truly appearing less righteous than another.”
~ Criss Jami

“Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.”
~ Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

“Chasing a person doesn’t give you value or build values in you. You earn your value by chasing morality and practicing dignity.”
~ Shannon L. Alder

“Wealth is a gift from God, and pride is bequeathed to us from the devil.”
~ Douglas Wilson

WISDOM

Pss. 49:3 “My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.”

~ King James Version of the Holy Bible

“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.”
~ Isaac Asimov

The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.”
~ Paulo Coelho

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.”
~ Confucius

JUDGMENT

1 Chr. 16:14 “He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth.”

Job 19:29 “Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.”

Pss. 37:28 “For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.”

Pr. 19:28 “An ungodly witness scorneth judgment: and the mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity.”

Sacrifice

1 John 4: 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

I live a life without to live a life with. Doesn’t make sense does it?

This is what is on my heart today:

Mark 8: Mark 8: 34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
[35] For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.
[36] For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
[37] Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
[38] Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

I grew up in a household with five older siblings. They all had wants and needs and most of them TOOK what they wanted and needed. I learned from them. I stole, I drank, I lied, I hated. I was a normal child right? Wrong. And to think I was being raised Catholic, and you wonder why I’m not Catholic now?

I respect the Catholic religion but I lose respect for people who ABUSE that religion or any religion for that matter. I’ve seen many ‘Christians’ abuse the faith too, so I’m NOT pointing fingers here. Speaking from experience, MY experience, I’ve lost all respect for my family. There are things I’ve forgiven over and over and over again, only for them to continue to be the hypocrites they are. It truly hurts.

When I chose to convert from being a Catholic to a Christian, I knew I was different than them. Not BETTER than, just different than. They knew it too and I feel THAT is the reason I’ve been shunned half of my life.

Sacrifice. Sometimes you have to give up things in order to get the real things out of life. Yesterday’s post was about values. Sacrifice, I believe, is a part of the vitality that carries values and morals the full length. I also believe a nation without God is a faltering nation.

Imagine a young girl, say sixteen or seventeen, sacrificing the pleasure of attention from a guy, feeling so self–assured, and waiting to have sex and a baby. Because we all know teen pregnancy is out of control. The majority of these teens were born out of a teen pregnancy.

The mother feels trapped; they let grandparents, the school system, and any other person raise their kids while they go on drugging, working, ignoring the child that they bore. Then when the child grows, gets into trouble, she washes her hands of them, or worse becomes a grandmother having to raise her child’s child! She didn’t do any good at raising HER child as a teen, what makes her think she can do better at raising a grandchild?

Sacrifice. Sometimes a girl needs her confidence in herself so she DOESN’T need the attention of a man/boy. As you know, to boys, girls are what THEY need to conquer the world. Waiting to have sex is NOT an option and they take the first easy, low self-esteem girl they see, and ruins her life by making her feel that sex is the answer to both of their insecurities!

You might be saying, “What does she know?” I’ll tell you! I was one of those low self- esteem girls pregnant at sixteen! Go ahead, point fingers. Remember, I was raised in an alcoholic drug infested household where the Catholic religion was being abused. Granted my mother and father have been married sixty years now, their children, not ALL have never gotten out of the destruction alcohol causes.

Me? I married the first boy who touched me and got me pregnant. We stayed married for twenty years. I felt I owed it to God to sacrifice my entire life to Him so I stayed married, until God said it was time to move on. After cleaning myself up and dedicating my life to God, life took on a whole new meaning. (I had no one but GOD guiding me.)

I wonder if someone can reach out to these girls at a ripe young age and help them to see their inner beauty. We have too much evil crawling the streets so getting to reach these kids is harder than it sounds. Boys need to see their worthiness too! Girls are NOT just sex toys and boys are NOT just sex machines.

No one is willing to sacrifice these days. Their cable television is more important than their car. Their fast food is more important than a family-eating together-at home-meal. Their clothes are more important than their electric bill. You see what I’m saying here? If adults are struggling with the simple sacrifices, how are we to expect our children to learn from us? How is this teaching them responsibility?

Have you ever tried walking into the Goodwill and buying clothes? To proud? What? Do you think people are going to look at your butt and say, Goodwill, pass. Are you really THAT self righteous that you can’t sacrifice $20 jeans for a $6 pair of name brand jeans?

Really? Let go of that pride and ego and you might find that extra money you need every month to pay bills.

Spend time with the kids, play Frisbee, horseshoes, catch or take nature walks. By SACRIFICING small things you will unknowingly be bringing God into your life. If you already HAVE God in your life, you should already understand this.

Life is not about having it all, that’s greed. Life is not about going out and taking anything you can’t have, that’s selfishness. Life is not about killing one thing to get another, that’s anger, greed AND selfishness. Life is about LOVE and wrapping it up in your heart to share it with others. Life is about sacrifice and when you can’t sacrifice, you won’t know the blessings God has in store for you. You’ll never taste the fruit you so richly deserve and are freely given.

I live a life without to live a life with. Makes more sense now, doesn’t it?

Mark 10:19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.
[20] And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.
[21] Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

Poetry Sunday ~ All Good Men

“All Good Men”

©Adam Zipp

The gunpowder and smoke,

the sounds of a roaring hell,

that is where the glory is shed,

along with the blood stained rivers,

the sick lay wounded in their beds.

Turn away from the pain,

let the night sky fall down like rain,

it is said that good men die young,

but good men stand up to be strong.

Good men fight,

They play the songs of the war bands,

they guide us all with an unseen light,

and always take our hands.

Liberty lives within strong men,

even when evil lashes out like a roaring fire,

the darkness will seep out from the Lion’s Den,

If good men do not aspire.

They never fought alone,

One good man can win a battle,

but when grouped with many men,

together a war can be won.

The men who fought,

they are strong and wise,

they have been through the pits of hell,

always risking their lives.

In the cold months ahead,

in the long warmth of the dead,

may we give thanks to those living and gone,

for everything they have done,

let us thank a vet.

Lent: Day Thirty-one ~ Pride

Ezek. 7:10 Behold the day, behold, it is come: the morning is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded.

Pride

Prov.  16: 18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

Pride goes before a fall is a paraphrase of an ancient Hebrew proverb, designed to warn man that excessive pride will often cause one to fail. Excessive pride? Oh, I know people like that. I have family members who are so proud of their beautiful richly decorated homes and their fancy garden and pool by the wayside. That would be pride in the excessive. A ‘look what I have and you don’t’ attitude.

Me, I’m just happy in being alive, having a roof over my head, and having food in the refrigerator to fix for my family. I’m not a prideful person and any time it tries to rear its ugly head I have to swat it away like a pesky fly, kill it before it becomes too excessive.

We are not called to be prideful among men. To me, pride is a form of shame also; shame of health issues, shame of poverty issues or shame of living arrangements, all a form of pride. When someone is ashamed to take assistance from someone reaching out to them, pride rears its ugly head and the words that come out are, “No, no, I don’t need any help.”

Man is so prideful that he would rather do without than to take a handout. Even if it is freely offered, man in his shame hides his face proudly stating to themselves that they are too good for charity. This is the fall; they will hunger. Sure they’ll pray for food, a better job, ways to make ends meet but when assistance arrives they are too prideful and miss a rish blessing.

I think the problem is that man tries too hard to acquire something instead of knowing when a blessing arrives; it passes by on the train heading out of town and they miss the opportunity because of their pride.

About eight years ago, I thought I was too proud, but when Steven lost his job, was going blind, and we had no means for food we surely didn’t pass up the food at the food pantry that was ours if only our pride wouldn’t walk through the door with us.

Sure I was witness to people taking advantage of a system that was put in place to help people like us. I myself wasn’t able to go out and get a job because Steven was losing his sight, he needed to be taken to the doctors, he needed to be taken places that he could not have gotten to on his own. Yes we were offered gas for our truck from the Pastor and no we didn’t hide in shame, we HAD to take it. We were learning how to humble ourselves.

When we needed help in moving from Texas to Nebraska, the arm of the Lord reached out and guided us seeing to it that we had a house to come to, accepting assistance from people who didn’t even know us, to ones who knew us personally. We basically were in God’s hands for about three years before things began to change. Steven got his sight back, Steven got a job and we learned a lot about what the face of patience looks like along with a humble spirit, along with watching any ounce of pride fleeing from us like we were lepers.

I then was diagnosed with lower lumbar facet joint arthritis in my back. A chronic pain which would limit my mobility but praise God, didn’t leave me completely immobile. I can do lots of stuff, but pride often tries to rear its head. Like some Loch Ness monster, it peeks out only for me to see. “No, I don’t need a cane,” “No, I don’t need pain pills,” “No, I don’t need this or that or the other thing.” Yup, pride, swimming in the murky waters wanting me to take a hold of it BUT never really ensnaring me in its trap.

Sure I can be too proud to declare that I’ve stood in line at the Department of Welfare, I can put on a brave face and claim ‘I NEVER stood in the aisles of a food pantry.’ But what would the point in that be? I’m here to tell you that even the Godliest of people have suffered the pangs of pride; threw off the ugliness and embraced true blessings.

The next time you look at a homeless man or woman and think they are the scum of the earth, why not think of what put them there? Why not show a little compassion and understanding knowing that not ALL homeless people WANT to be where they are. They just never caught a break. Your pride won’t allow you to walk up to one and hand him coffee or a few quarters for some food. No, you’re too afraid he’ll just use the money for booze but really that is your pride talking. You’re too proud to approach the homeless.

Heb. 13: 2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

And keep in mind, while you’re sitting there all haughty and prideful, a fall will come when you least expect it and you’ll have no one else to blame but yourself. Pride is also dressed in boasting. Neither is attractive or becoming to a Christian.

Pss.10:4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.