Category Archives: friends

by

what is pure surprises with its beauty

Theme:

There is so little that is pure in life. What is pure is so rare.
Scene:

I saw two sisters playing a card game together. The older one is being so kind, to entertain her younger sister at Grandma’s cabin in the mountains. The power was off temporarily and the only sound was their voices as they played. The purity of such an interaction is rare. Perhaps as fleeting as the clean air and blue sky here, high above the cities below that contain most of what we have come to accept as real life.

What I saw at this moment was the purity of sibling love, enjoying the quiet of a cool afternoon in the mountains, away from the television, the rush of the busy lives at home and the pressure of other obligations. This was just time for two. One to give, the other to receive the gift of time, before colleges and marriage draw them into lives of their own and families of their own.

These two girls will grow older and inevitably apart. The trips to the mountains together will be fewer and not as care- free. Families change as naturally as the seasons. As they get older and busier, school will demand more time, perhaps boyfriends or athletic pursuits will draw each one to spend more time with others.

Love like this does not die, nor fade, nor get erased. It becomes the backdrop to another layer of life and offers itself as a foundation for loves yet to be discovered. When other ‘important’ things begin to demand time and attention I trust that the deep sense of belonging fostered during a simple child’s game of cards will bring such strength and solace to reinforce the bond of family, sisters, friends.

As I am working nearby, straining with a simple task that has become difficult, the card game conversation has become the cabins soundtrack since the radio has gone silent with the flip of a circuit breaker. They play beautifully, quickly, for the hundredth time, a game of ‘Go Fish’ and must not realize how precious is the closeness they will always share, or how it speaks through their laughter, the giggling of pure fun filling the old cabin with another layer of happy memories.

I perspire, and mutter at the wires in the wall. The outlet is made new again, and the circuit breaker reset so that the Ipod can bring forth its’ music again.

I thank God for the examples of purity that exist in this world that I am passing through.

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dear friend

I must always call you that, for in my mind that is what you remain. Even when the part of you that I cherished and was so attracted to has been eclipsed, I know it is there. I know that you are there inside a shell, behind a mask of hurt and confusion. I am sorry I contributed to your pain and feeling of loss by speaking harshly, plainly to the growing contention between us. I don't recall who started it, nor does it seem to matter much now. I just need to get some things off my mind, off my chest, so I can sleep tonight.

I picture myself sitting on your comfy couch, nervous because he is in the room, forever changing the way you talk and limiting what I can say, what I can do. No more tears from you, and no more will I be able to hug you and try to chase away the scary things that wage war against your mind and heart. That is his job now, and I need to pray he does it better than I ever could, and stays longer than I managed to stay. He has what I had once asked for and never gotten, your commitment. I presume you have his complete devotion and full will to make the best of every day with all its challenges.

I am so sorry about your mom and dad leaving you with such a mess, but you know you did some of this to yourself by exploring where you did not have to go. Sometimes a book that has a tragic ending does not need to be read to its conclusion. On the other hand you have more information here than most will ever have about WHY their family did not work. What will you do with this? What can you do? Not much really, no more than you have tried.

You have a chance. You know the truth, but until you embrace it it will not set you free. You can now see that what your father preached did not bring happiness or fulfillment into his life. Putting up with all his crap compromised your mother to the point of denying herself joy, and shortening her life by destructive habits. She tried, with you and your brother, to overcome the evil that lurked in your home. she put on the best face she could, but behind the scenes was directing the show, and was in fact stuck playing a part she wrote, but could not voice her own desperation, so she tended to yours and greived as you fought the battles that left you scarred and lonely, sad and sick from the pain of not fitting in your world.

As of today I release you from my mind and from my heart to go and be and do whatever it is that you are to do. I will no longer dwell on what was, or could have been for us. That is gone a long time ago. You helped me. I helped you. Now we go on in seperate paths, to goals that are unshared. You have what you wished for, longed for, desired. Make it work. I will work on my life, raise my daughter, encourage my sons, and serve my God with my life, my strength and my testimony. I will pray for you one more time as I sleep tonight, and trust you to the care of the God who never sleeps, and the savior who knows you more intimately than I even could, and loves you beyond words.

God bless you and your husband, and bring peace to your household

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the joy, the confidence, the indwelling

the joy that Christ brings to the soul reunited with Him will not always bring smiles to the faces of our friends. I don’t think they are jealous of our relationship with Jesus, since they have no knowledge of is goodness and mercy.

the confidence we exude when we are sure of something is sometimes mistaken for cockiness, self assuredness, or being puffed up by pride. while we need to be careful to give God credit for all the marvelous works He does, the wonder is that sometimes He does them through us ( lowly disgusting sinners and worm food that we are) He gives us talent, and then raw materials, and often helpers. He inspires us. He breathes into us

the indwelling of the Holy Spirit makes others uncomfortable, like we have xray vision or the ability to read minds. It is God who knows the heart, and yes sometimes it is His will to reveal a crumb of His knowledge to us, His servants to use for His kingdom, His glory. We may call it prophecy, or discenment, or word of wisdom. The world calls it creepy, self righteous, and ( my favorite) judgemental.

All this to say I though it was a woman that I did not understand. It seems to me now that it was a person lost in themselves, ruled only by self, and without a written revelation that was interpreting my actions in such a way as to protect herself from seeing God at work, His love manifest in my heart, His compassion in my eyes, and His desire for fellowship in my offer of friendship.

I am doing what I do today because of God, to glorify His son, and empowered only by the Holy Spirit. I hope my writing pleases Him.

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the pearl of great price

Matthew 13 – parables were in view last night as the world view familiar to the son of jesse
adjusted again to the times and seasons of the Creator of all. How beautiful the simplicity of Jesus words and His teachings. I have to believe that He made it up as he went along, that prose flowed from His human mind and lips as a result of His connection to the father moreso than as a result of His own divinity.

Here is the secret of Jesus, and you can do it too. Get to the mind and heart of your reader/ listener. Walk and listen long enough with them that you can speak THEIR language, and then you can connect and communicate, and really share.

TBC