She hadn’t eaten in days. Not that it mattered because she couldn’t keep anything down anyway. She had known she was getting worse for quite a while but kept hoping it would go away. If she just tried harder, stayed clean, but the disease kept growing. Her friends had been watching her spiral further and further down. In fact, they knew she was sick before she did. If they had still been around, she would have called them, but as soon as they saw the signs of her slipping away, they quietly turned and walked away. She needed to get to the hospital, but she was too weak to get herself there. She knew it might even be too late. Maybe they had been afraid she was contagious, at least that wouldn’t have cut so deeply. But she knew they were more afraid for their own reputations. If they continued to associate with her they would be labeled, judged, and left alone to die as she had been. They chose their “social security” over her soul. They would hear of her demise, for sure. They would drop their eyes and shake their heads, sad that it had come to this for her, but secretly they would be relieved that they didn’t catch it and were safe…for now. ----- When someone sneezes we instinctively back up. Who knows what they might have? We don’t want to catch it and risk spreading it. When someone’s illness is the result of their poor choices, especially when stigma is attached, we raise the threat level. We not only back up, we back away. We notice the warning signs. Maybe we say something to them but probably we don’t. We move back for different reasons, but for all of us, as far as we can without causing undue attention. We don’t want that nasty virus of adultery, addiction, deception. Bad reputations can be contagious. So we let our friends slip on to their own destruction. But that’s precisely when they need us to press in. No matter how inconvenient, unpleasant, or reputation-damaging it is, that’s what Love does. Let’s clarify. We don’t enable or co-depend. We do gather up, carrying the sick and dying to the hospital. We bring the wounded hearts, minds, and souls out of darkness and into Light. Sometimes we need to help clean the wound. Sometimes our prayers and presence are all it takes to motivate. But more often we are called to sit in the filth with our friends and let society’s insults and innuendos fly by. It’s not too late to make the next right decision. ----- A warmth began to fill one of her distant friends, one that slowly, lovingly, overpowered the fear. It wasn’t too late, but it was very close. Her doorway had been dark and empty the past thousand times she’d looked through it. Then it slowly cracked open, and warmth, light, and an unsure smile filled the space. As her friend gathered her up she gave a weak smile. She was going to make it after all. #loveinaction #bethelove #bethelight #makethenextrightdecision Thank you for reading, sharing, and commenting. If you’d like to receive these posts and updates in your inbox, please head to the Contact Page to subscribe.
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Evil wears many faces. Some obvious, others insidious. There are different types and calibers. Evil is layered, like the varying veins of sediment in a cliff face. Cries of “this must be stopped” and “be the change you wish to see in the world” abound. But the evil that happened in Charlottesville, and millions of other places every day, will not be stopped by change alone. It’s not about politics, it’s about people. It’s not about legislation or not allowing people to behave in certain ways. It’s not about behavior at all, but the reasons behind it. There will not be change until we stop defining Who and What and deal with Why. A Myriad of beliefs make up Why. Whatever we tell ourselves, in our hearts, day in and day out, becomes what we believe to be true. Evil in equals Evil out. We cannot change the beliefs or replace the evil in anyone else’s heart. We can only change our own, replacing Evil with Love, and take that Love to the world. God’s people must lead the way. Who should understand Love better and deeper than followers of Jesus? We acknowledge the depth of our hypocrisy and seek continual transformation from the One who died of Love for us. If the church is not God’s Love to the world, if we don’t call out “send me,” if we don’t advance in Love from home to neighborhood to nation, then Evil wins. The cliffs stand, bold and strong, and Evil remains entrenched. It will require water, and lots of it, to break them down. It’s time for the church to rise. It’s time to move. It’s time to be the Water. Make Charlottesville the turning point. God’s people must be His Love in waves of good actions to crumble the cliffs of Evil. What Can We Do? Be the Waves When waves crash into cliffs time and time again, the cliffs start to get cracks and crevices. The cliffs lose sediment, bit by bit, slowly weakening and eventually crumbling. Jesus didn’t die so we would believe or behave “correctly.” He died so we would share His Life and Love with others. Without Love we have nothing, can do nothing, are nothing. Love is broader, more varied, and far more powerful than warm fuzzies or romance. We must love deeply, unconditionally, with purpose. We must do everything in love -- every single thing. God’s people must band together to be Love Waves, crashing into the cliffs of Evil again, again, again. Work With the Wind Waves are formed when wind blows. The wind transfers its energy to the water, and the water carries it. The greater the speed, duration, and distance, the larger and more powerful the waves. Waves of Love must be energized with the Wind of the Holy Spirit. Get in God’s Word every day – deeply and open-mindedly. Ponder it when you lie down and get up, in the shower and the car, dinner table and conference table, chapters, songs, and prayers. Drink it down, memorize it, and let it flow from your mind, heart, and tongue. Let the Holy Spirit teach you. Let that Still, Small Voice that says, “This is the way. Walk in it,” transform you. Let the Holy Spirit Wind move you where, when, and how He needs you to go. Focus Forward Toward the Cliffs When the currents flow in one direction and the waves follow, they circulate through the ocean. But when differing currents collide they form whirlpools and waves move in circles rather than forward. The Church has lost its direction, its current. We have become whirlpools, churning against ourselves rather than storming the cliffs. We must focus forward with Love instead of around in jealousy and judgment. How to Be Waves It’s much easier to keep the sediment in the cliff than it is to force it out. But each time the waves hit the cliffs they shake and loosen tiny fragments of sediment and wash them away. While daily change appears imperceptible, over time the effects become clear. It’s much easier to keep a negative mindset in place than to force it out. But each time Love hits, it shakes and loosens tiny fragments of evil and washes them away. We may not perceive daily progress, but over time it will be revealed. For every negative comment you hear, it takes six positive ones to cancel it out. Based on this principle, for every negative, evil action we must give back six positive, loving ones, just to cancel it out its effects. That’s why we must aim higher, choosing a larger ratio to make the change. God’s people as Love Waves must give and do according to a 7:1 ratio, seven acts of love for every one act of evil. To be even more effective we need 8:1, 10:1, 100:1. What does this look like? Find the need. Discover the pain. Notice the evil. Then mow its lawn. Take a meal. Pay the bill. This will not be easy. Your loving actions will be misunderstood, rejected, thwarted. You will make sacrifices. Pain and blood are certainties. But nothing else will bring the change we seek. Love on people. Serve them. Be creative about it. Tell them your Why. And do it seven more times. Better yet, do it with seven or more of your friends. Only then will we turn the tide. #lovewaves #bethelove #loveinaction #turnthetide #dontbethechangebethelove Thank you for reading, sharing, and commenting. If you’d like to receive these posts and updates in your inbox, please head to the Contact Page to subscribe.
In grade school I had some good friendships, although none of my friends seemed to like each other. I tended to do things one on one with each of them. I always thought having a group of friends would be fun, it just didn’t happen. Then came high school. Most of my grade school friends went to a different high school, so I was starting over. On the first day of classes a few of us girls had problems with our schedules. We sat together while the administrators worked it out and got to talking. We became friends. A few others joined us and suddenly I belonged to a group. It was fantastic, just as I thought it would be. But about a year later, the unofficial leader of the group decided I got on her nerves. The rest of the group decided the same thing. Nearly instantly I was out. Sadness followed shock as my world collapsed. Here I was, starting over again. But honestly, it turned out to be a terrific thing. Long story short I was able to reacquaint myself with some of my grade school friends (plus a dear few others) and they are still in my life today. It’s because of them that I discovered my love of theatre and desire to work backstage, which changed my life completely. I forgave those who tossed me out, even to the point of wishing them well in their lives. I learned that if I held on to that pain it would interfere with my peace, love, and life, and I had no intention of allowing anyone that kind of control over me. Forgiveness freed me from the pain of their betrayal. I moved on and have continued to form good friendships throughout adulthood. But some wounds aren’t healed by forgiveness alone. Decades later I spent the day shopping with a new friend, one of those amazing people you don’t stop talking to from the moment you get together until the moment you HAVE to go. Somewhere in the conversation that day I absentmindedly said that I was better taken in small doses, good for a while but not too much all at once. We parted ways and I didn’t think anything more about it. A few days later she called me. She was bothered by my comment. She said she didn’t know why I thought that, but she disagreed. That sent me into soul searcher mode. Where HAD I gotten that idea? I realized it was from the group’s betrayal. But while forgiveness healed the pain, it couldn’t heal the scar. When they had said I got on their nerves, I believed them. I hadn’t questioned, I simply internalized. And I extrapolated that since I got on their nerves, I probably got on everyone’s nerves. But that’s a lie. Now hear me out, I KNOW I can get on peoples’ nerves. My husband and sons can testify to that. EVERYONE gets on peoples’ nerves at some point or other. But does that mean I get on EVERYONE’S nerves? Absolutely not. I began to see that believing this lie damaged my other friendships. If I sensed friends were losing interest I would pull away in self-protection. I saw that rather than pulling away from a potential problem, I could press in and communicate. If there was a problem we could try to work it out. If not, so much the better. My friend loved me enough to address the lie and speak the truth, which brought healing to the old scar. They say the truth hurts, and they are right. But the truth also heals. Makes me wonder what other lies I have believed. What lies have you believed? #bethelove #forgivenessandtruth #loverejoiceswiththetruth #truthheals Thank you for reading, sharing, and commenting. If you’d like to receive these posts and updates in your inbox, please head to the Contact Page to subscribe.
I needed a new attitude with this person really badly. I didn’t know if it was them, me, hormones, or the heat wave. I did know that if my heart continued down the road it was on, it would be devastating to our friendship.
I did something I don’t make a huge practice of but has worked for me some in the past. I prayed for guidance, took a deep breath, and opened my Bible at random. Oh dear. Seriously? First Corinthians 13. AKA The Love Chapter. *facepalm* *sigh* Yes, yes, Love above all. Love is patient and kind; not envious, not boastful, not proud, not rude, not self-seeking, not easily angered; keeps no record of wrongs; doesn’t delight in evil; always protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres; and never fails. The greatest thing is love. I got it. *sigh* My friend is patient with me, and kind…not rude or self-seeking….does keep a record of wrongs but doesn’t delight in evil. My friend does protect, sometimes trusts, maybe hopes, maybe perseveres a little. “How about you?” Me? I’m awesome at loving this person! I’m patient and kind…most of the time. Okay, maybe I’ve slacked off in that a little. I’m not envious, boastful or proud, except, maybe, when I’m right. I’m not rude. Well, there was that one time. But other than that… I’m not sure I like where this is going. “You do still love that person. You’ve just forgotten how. Their love for you is as imperfect as yours is for them. Love that they try. Notice the little things. You are called to be a messenger of My Love. You need to know how to do it and do it well. It will make all the difference. Go and ponder My Love today and I will handle everything else.” Okay. Love my friend as well as I can and always try to love better. Hmmm. I wonder what the chances are that they’ve read First Corinthians 13 lately… Never mind. I’m nothing if not loyal. If you mess with my family or friends, you will feel my wrath long before I enter the room.
If what you do to them is unintentional, that’s one thing. But if you mess with them and you know better, especially if you profess to love Jesus, then you will REALLY wish you hadn’t. I have some friends who have been treated unethically, immorally, potentially illegally, and definitely unchristianly by people who love Jesus and do know better. My friends and their families have suffered greatly from these actions. I. Am. BEYOND. FURIOUS. Just ask those close to me. Unfortunately, the situation goes past my friends personally and into the organization they are all attached to. It has suffered from this and it will only get worse. I realize that asking for the heads of these people on platters is more than a little excessive. I admit that I am biased, and while I don’t have ALL of the facts, I do have a great many. Honestly, give me five minutes with all those involved and I can right all wrongs. It’s a good thing I am not God. One deep concern is what will happen to the organization in the long run. What if it doesn’t survive the damage? Would God allow these actions to cause its death? My thought is that quite possibly, yes He could. It saddens me to even write that. But I have to remember that God is more interested in the hearts of the people than the organization itself. Not only my friends’ hearts, or their families’, but the people who are causing the damage, too. God allows institutions, even countries and cultures, to be damaged or even destroyed by those who refuse to turn their hearts to Him, even if they are His own people. God is willing to let them fall away if it means getting closer to our hearts. Not only our hearts, but “theirs” as well. Because as much as I’d like to see these people as my friends’ enemies (and therefore my own), they aren’t. Our battles are not against other people, but against the actions of The Enemy using other people. I have to remember that my God is their God, too. While people must be held accountable and bear the consequences of their actions (myself included), God requires us to love, offer mercy, and extend grace and forgiveness, in the hopes of reconciliation with God’s people, and God Himself. I have to take my desire for justice out of my Momma Bear paws and put it in His hands and leave it there. My wisdom is foolishness compared to His. I have to be patient and loving, trust His way and timing, and know that no matter what happens with the organization, He will use it for good and His glory. Sometimes the Momma Bear has to growl and bear it. #bethelove --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for reading, sharing, and commenting. If you’d like to receive these posts and updates in your inbox, please head to the Contact Page to subscribe. He gently set the last eyelash in place, then declared the beautiful doll complete.
“Awake, my daughter,” he whispered, and he breathed on her. Her chest rose as she inhaled sharply. She exhaled slowly, her eyes opened and focused on her creator and she smiled. “Hello,” he said. “Welcome to your life.” Every ounce of her was tinged with joy when they were together. They were so in tune they could even think each other’s thoughts. She would ask and he would answer. He would guide, she would follow. She explored, he showed her newness every day. She kept choosing to stay with him. But she slowly began to lose interest and wandered away. She looked over her shoulder and could still see him, but distantly. She could still hear his muffled thoughts or could she? Perhaps they were her own. He shouted for her to come back, but she kept walking further and further away. She fell on the path and skinned her knee, and where he used to swoop her right up and heal her, he couldn’t reach her anymore. She had left him one tiny step at a time. Then one day she realized she was all alone. The loneliness had come on so insidiously she hadn’t perceived it. She hadn’t intended to turn her back on him, to run away. Could she go back? Surely he didn’t want her anymore or he would be here. But she couldn’t find him. All she had to do was ask, and he would be closer. For each step she could make back to him, he was able to get much closer. By this point she couldn’t remember if she had known him at all, or if she had simply heard others talk about him. But she knew one thing for sure. She didn’t want to be alone any longer. She looked at her smudged and torn dress and scuffed shoes. She tried to run her fingers through the knots in her hair. She made her hands into fists, knitted her brow, and took the tiniest of steps back toward him. He met her right there. Over time, the more steps she took to him, the more she remembered. And the more she learned of him, the more she experienced for herself. And she heard his voice and thoughts again, just like before. It was never perfect, but then again, it was never meant to be. But it could be as good as she made it. #bethelove #thepowerofwith ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for reading, sharing, and commenting. If you’d like to receive these posts and updates in your inbox, please head to the Contact Page to subscribe. Lord, I’ve been banging my head here for hours. I have nothing to say.
Talk about My love. My love for you. Ummm…can You be more specific? Talk about… How I’m always here for you even when you can’t hear me. Even when you can’t see or sense. Like right now. You may be blinded, unable to sense anything, but that doesn’t mean I’m not here. Bad things happen to you that if you could vote you’d have voted differently. You vote by the choices you make, but even if you choose perfectly, bad things do happen. Every person on the planet experiences this. Everyone has bad things. I’m with them in it all. And that’s the key word here: WITH. I’m not far away, yelling directions at you like a drill sergeant. I’m in the fray, the rat race, even the darkness, WITH you. You can’t perceive the air you breathe, the oxygen that fills your lungs, and it’s the same with Me. I’m as close as you want Me to be, as close as you will let Me be. I can fill your heart, mind, spirit. The oxygen of My Spirit flows and encompasses every cell you have. Tell them I love them. Tell them I’m not what they’ve been told. They believe lies about Me. I created everything good, and everything to be good. I gave My life to save them. My Spirit goes throughout the earth to encourage and communicate. Tell them I am Love. I am Truth. I am Comfort, Peace, Joy. I am the source of every good thing in their lives. I am the most solid and stable thing in the universe. If they would return to Me I would heal them. Tell them all of this. I’m going to lose at least part of my audience…and I know that sounds selfish and wimpy but I’m being honest and it’s what I’m thinking. They have the choice whether to listen or not. But you have to tell them in order for them to make the choice. Free will is the riskiest decision I made when I created mankind. But it’s not love if it’s not a choice. I want their love. But they have to choose Me. I’ve made it as obvious as possible. I made Nature beautiful and balanced. All of Nature reveals Me. I made salvation as easy as possible: Repent, be baptized, confess with your mouths Jesus is Lord and believe in your hearts I raised Him from the dead and you’ll be saved. That’s it. Open the door and I’ll come in. Life won’t be easier. It may even get harder, but it will be worth it. They need to know. They need to hear it from you. Because you know, better than many, how deep and wide and long and high My love is. Some will listen to you because you have demonstrated it. Some will not listen no matter what you do. But tell them anyway. It looks like You just did. #bethelove #heisnotwhatyouthink #Godlovesyou ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for reading, sharing, and commenting. If you’d like to receive these posts and updates in your inbox, please head to the Contact Page to subscribe. Pretty much without exception, if I know you, I am or have been jealous of you in some way, for some reason.
If you have a college degree higher than an Associates, I’m jealous of that. If you’re over 5 feet tall, I’m jealous of that. If your skin tans and doesn’t burn. If you can wear earrings. If you can focus your attention for any extended period of time. If you can wear more than one hairstyle. If you can figure out technology. If you can tell a story. If you can write fairly quickly. If you can be asked an impromptu question without your brain completely shutting down. I won’t go on, but I could. It’s important to note that I’m talking about jealousy, not envy. My desire to have what you have is jealousy. My desire that if I can’t have it, you can’t have it either, is envy. Jealousy starts the moment I turn my focus from me to you and decide that what I have is less in some way. It begins with comparison, and as Theodore Roosevelt said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” The good news is that we don’t have to be the losers in our own lives. We can fight against jealousy. Two mindsets help me. I say help because I will probably always struggle. The first is to be content and grateful for what we have. If we must compare, do it with broader perspective. Let it not be with the many who have more, but with the multitudes who have less. There is the saying “If you have food in your fridge, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of the world.” Focusing on that one sentence alone wipes out the vast majority of my “issues” AND helps me be grateful for the wealth I do have. “Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” --Eckhart Tolle The second part is to focus forward. Everyone has a purpose, and our purposes are not in competition with each other. Jesus didn’t give the Great Competition. He gave the Great Co-Mission. There is room for everyone on the road, and we can help each other as we all move forward. When I look around at everyone else I lose focus on my own purpose. When I focus forward, I see my own path more clearly. If we focus on our own paths, and are grateful and content, we can see ourselves and others without the green lens on their supposedly greener grass, and we can love ourselves and them better. I don’t have to be jealous of you. That doesn’t mean I won’t be, but I can do something about it. #bethelove #ditchjealousy For an excellent and extraordinary four part podcast on envy, CLICK HERE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for reading, sharing, and commenting. If you’d like to receive these posts and updates in your inbox, please head to the Contact Page to subscribe. Once, on a lovely open plain, there was an ash tree and another tree. They started out next to each other, but as they grew their branches and leaves reached to each other and intertwined. The rains trickled down to the trunks and then to their roots, which were also entwined. The trees would bend in the northwest winds, the branches of each holding the other up. Together they held and protected birds and other creatures that nested in and around them. To look at them you wouldn’t know where one tree ended and the other began.
One day a lumberjack came. He noticed the ash tree would be good for carving, but the other would not. It took him quite a while to decide how best to cut the ash tree and still leave the other, but he finally succeeded. Along with the trunk he took as many of the ash’s branches as he could, but cut off the entwined ones, leaving them for the other tree to drop and the wind to take away. The other tree grieved the loss of her friend. Where the ash had once stood, protecting and holding her, she was now exposed and weak. She closed her own branches tightly around the ash’s branches. In defiance of the winds and rains she held on to what was left of her friend, but eventually the ash’s branches grew brittle, and their rattling in the wind only served to remind her of her loss. Finally, one by one, her tears mixing with wind and rain, she let the ash’s dead branches fall. But though she couldn’t see it, a wonderful thing was happening. As she let go of the dead branches, her own branches were growing stronger in the wind and rain. Her weaker side was filling out. She had been so focused on the ash’s branches, thinking they would keep her strong. What she didn’t realize is there was still life for her from the ash’s roots. Air and nutrients flowed into her own roots, allowing them to flourish. By letting the dead branches go, she was able to grow in new directions, nourished by the memories of her friend. Loss is inevitable and painful but the joy of the having is worth it, along with the memory it leaves behind. #bethelove #growththroughgrief ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for reading, sharing, and commenting. If you’d like to receive these posts and updates in your inbox, please subscribe. Emma & Ellie were nestled in the coffee house booth when Emma’s friend, Kat, walked in. “Hey, what are you up to?” Emma asked. “Just grabbing a latte after the protest,” Kat replied. Ellie furrowed her eyebrows a bit and said, “The political protest on the square?” “Yep,” Kat answered. “We’ve got to care for and support this part of society.” “Helping people is the way to go,” Emma said, then noticed something on Kat’s arm. “New tat?” Kat smiled and showed off the skull with a knife through the eye socket on her lower arm. “It is! What do you think? I like it but my parents say it’s a little gruesome.” Ellie raised one eyebrow, silently agreeing with Kat’s parents. Emma chuckled and shook her head. “It’s definitely you, and you know I love you.” Kat chuckled and leaned over to Ellie. “I’m trying to talk her into getting one, something harmless like a bunny.” She winked at Emma and checked the time on her phone. “Okay, gotta run. I’ll see you next week. Love you, too, and it was good to meet you, Ellie.” “Same here,” Ellie replied, trying to not sound sarcastic. Kat walked to the counter to order. Ellie leaned forward in the booth. “Who was that?” “She’s my old roommate’s sister,” Emma replied. “We always got along better than the roommate and I did. She’s fun and interesting.” Ellie shook her head. “But you guys are complete opposites from each other in politics, lifestyle, and religion.” “Yeah, but those are details.” Ellie sat back in her seat. “Pretty big details. Do you just avoid talking about those subjects?” “No, we talk about them, but Kat isn’t just her politics or spiritual views. She is my friend and I love her for ALL the things she is. To focus on the one or two I’m not as comfortable with denies me the privilege of knowing her as a whole person.” Ellie’s eyes widened. “Doesn’t it infuriate you when she gets heated up about her politics?” “I don’t focus on how her politics differ from mine. If I did, I probably would get mad, but it wouldn’t be worth it to lose an awesome friend. We go deeper than the details. Yes, she is passionate about her politics, but that’s head stuff. I focus on her heart, no matter what direction her passion takes.” “What do you have in common if not the details?" “We didn’t think we had much in common at first, but the more we got to know each other, the more we realized we share hopes, dreams, fears, wounds. It turns out we have a lot more in common than not. That is what bonds us.” Ellie pondered this. “I guess, with you and me, we share many of the same details but also quite a few of the deeper things as well.” Emma smiled. “Absolutely. And I love you both.” #bethelove #deeperthanthedetails --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for reading, sharing, and commenting. If you’d like to receive these posts and updates in your inbox, please subscribe. |
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