Thursday, April 03, 2014

Sometimes life is a tapestry with easily traceable threads.

Sometimes life is a mosaic of multi-colored tiles.

Sometimes life is a broken mirror. 


Always life is God's artwork.

Saturday, March 29, 2014

I Give

It is better to give than to receive. You've heard it said a million times and yet do you believe it? It is a famous quote and yet do you know who said it? Have you ever really thought of the intent of the quote? I have. You hear it quoted often and in many contexts by many people, but what the heck does it mean?

I believe it's a statement about giving and receiving rather than the givER or receivER like so many would have us believe. It's a statement of fact, not a judgement on giving versus receiving. The word 'better' seems always to be the focus rather than the statement as a whole. Jesus simply said it as a matter of fact, not as a beginning of an argument. I've heard it used mostly to urge people to give--usually monetarily--and often followed by, "God loves a cheerful giver!". I'm pretty sure God loves uncheerful givers too. He loves everyone! I think Jesus, as the giver of all givers, stated it like he would have stated, "the sky is blue when the sun shines", not as a way to compare giving and receiving. It's just a fact.

If you master the art of giving you might never feel the need to receive ever again. Giving is an enjoyable act. In fact, God enjoys it so much that he does so every time He gives me another second; another breath; another day to understand redemption. He's like that.

I wanna be like that.

Thursday, March 06, 2014

I Am Not My Friend

So that I have no reason not to write, I am going to answer a few of these questions this year.
Here goes:

If you had a friend who spoke to you in the same way that you sometimes speak to yourself, how long would you allow this person to be your friend?

The answer to this question is simple. And yet it is not.

The simple answer is this: I would not be a friend to this person for very long. I would be hurt. And hurt is not something I look for in friendship. I tend to withdraw from hurt.

The not so simple answer is this: I do not consider me a friend to myself. You see, I speak to myself poorly--and by poorly I mean down right mean, at times--because I know that, unlike a friend, I can never leave me. I have an expectation of at least a modicum of politeness from my friends. I think friendship deserves that. I want my friends to be honest--even brutally so at times--but I think it can be done in a respectful and kind manner. When I talk to me I dispense with the formalities of friendship. (Even as I wrote that last sentence I realized that honesty, respect and kindness are not the formalities of friendship, but rather the foundational blocks of friendship) Somewhere in the back of my mind I must think that I need or even deserve the negativity I spew at myself. As if I know myself better than my friends do. The truth is I only believe one perspective of myself if I can so denigrate me. It's a false perspective that I perpetuate by my own words.

It's time to look in the mirror and ask for forgiveness...kindly.