29 July 2013

if- rudyard kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:


If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:


If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’


If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

21 July 2013

all the poor and powerless- all sons and daughters


All the poor and powerless
And all the lost and lonely
All the thieves will come confess
And know that you are holy
Will know that you are holy

All will sing out, Hallelujah
We will cry out, Hallelujah

All the hearts who are content
And all who feel unworthy
All who hurt will nothing left
Will know that you are holy

Shout it, go on and scream it from the mountains
Go on and tell it to the masses
That He is God

We will sing out, Hallelujah
We will cry out, Hallelujah
We will sing out, Hallelujah
He is God

19 July 2013

eugene peterson on the book of job, and suffering.

When these people go through suffering, their lives are often transformed, deepened, marked with beauty and holiness in remarkable ways....
...So, instead of continuing to focus on preventing suffering- which we simply won't be very successful at anyway- perhaps we should begin entering the suffering, participating insofar as we are able- entering the mystery and looking around for God. 
Pity can be nearsighted and condescending; shared suffering can be dignifying and life-changing.
...The mystery of God eclipses the darkness and the struggle. We realize that suffering calls our lives into question, not God's. The tables are turned: God-Alive is present to us. God is speaking to us.

-From the intro to Job in the Message

belong

Joining Lisa-Jo Baker over here for Five Minute Friday.
It's a little scary- but good. Join us? :)

Belonging  isn't something I've always felt....

I was always the tall girl.

The one who didn't go to their school.

Older than everyone, or younger.

Never quite the same.

As I've gotten older, though,

here in high school,

I've realized-

it's okay not to fit in.

Being different is what makes me me.

I am willing to be different.

And, after all, aren't I a stranger in this world,

in it, obviously,

but not of it?

Yes.

I don't need to feel the pressure to belong here,

because I'm just here temporarily.

And the little bits of fitting in?

Glimpses of heaven.

Finding my spot?

Being who I'm made to be,

echoing my creator,

in honor of Him,

being what He made me for.

Yes,

I belong-

in Him.

And that is enough.

I am content.

Love:)

R


17 July 2013

the road not taken - robert frost

 
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

12 July 2013

be still- the fray

 
 
 
Be still, and know that I am God.
Psalm 46:10a
 
 
Be still and know that I'm with you
Be still and know that I am here
Be still and know that I'm with you
Be still, be still, and know

When darkness comes upon you
And covers you with fear and shame
Be still and know that I'm with you
And I will say your name

If terror falls upon your bed
And sleep no longer comes
Remember all the words I said
Be still, be still, and know

And when you go through the valley
And the shadow comes down from the hill
If morning never comes to be
Be still, be still, be still

If you forget the way to go
And lose where you came from
If no one is standing beside you
Be still and know I am

Be still and know that I'm with you
Be still and know I am

09 July 2013

the sound of a name and the sound of a breath

Breathing.
Hear the sound.
YHVH.
A name.
The name of God.
His personal name.
We say it Yahweh.
Listen again.
Yahweh.
He names Himself to Moses in the fire of the burning bush,
and it is a word that is the sound of the breath He breathed into Adam,
dust of the earth
in the beginning.
The very breath of your lungs echoing the Holy and Personal name of the God of the Universe,
Creator of words and worms.

YHVH.

Hear your breath.
He names Himself and then makes us breathe it out.
Exhale,
in fear,
exultation,
sorrow,
joy:
and still you say His name.

You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God
{Exodus 20:7a}

Only a few chapters later.
Do not profane the Name of the Living God.
Written in stone on the mountain for the people of stone hearts to see.

So if my every breath echos the name of the God of Lights,
how often have the words of this mouth of mine broken that command?
Angry, unkind, unholy words.

And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
{Isaiah 6:5-7}

Unclean lips.
Speaking words that do not honor God.
Malachi writes

But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap.
{Malachi 5:2}

he is like a refiner's fire.
His fire is the coal touched to these unclean lips,
His blood the covering of my guilt and atonement for sin.

I once was lost,
but now,
oh, but now I'm found.

In reflection of the God who sees,
I breathe out His name,
whisper thanks,
the name given to show that He is not far off,
not a distant God,
but one who gives us His personal name.
To breathe.
In all circumstances.
What grace is this?

Who are we?

A people of unclean lips.
Formed of dust of the earth,
to return to the dust of the earth,
but for love.

All is grace.
We are loved.

Echo the Name, friends.

Love:)

R

07 July 2013

psalm 34:1-18

I will bless the LORD at all times;
   his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
 My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
   let the humble hear and be glad.
 Oh, magnify the LORD with me,
   and let us exalt his name together!
 I sought the LORD, and he answered me
   and delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant,
   and their faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him
   and saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the LORD encamps
   around those who fear him, and delivers them.
  Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!
   Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
 Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints,
   for those who fear him have no lack!
 The young lions suffer want and hunger;
   but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
 Come, O children, listen to me;
   I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
What man is there who desires life
   and loves many days, that he may see good?
Keep your tongue from evil
   and your lips from speaking deceit.
Turn away from evil and do good;
   seek peace and pursue it.
 The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous
   and his ears toward their cry.
The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
   to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears
   and delivers them out of all their troubles.
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
   and saves the crushed in spirit.

05 July 2013

exodus 34:5-7a

Then the Lord came down in a cloud and stood there with him; and he called out his own name,
Yahweh. 
The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out,
“Yahweh!The Lord!
    The God of compassion and mercy!
I am slow to anger
    and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations.
    I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin.

03 July 2013

lots to write

I have a lot to write about my trip,
but the words haven't been easy since I got back.
They'll come... sooner than later.

Love:)

R