I enjoy watching people’s faces. Before you go and haul me before the local magistrate of common decency, hear me out. People watching, right? We all do it, we all enjoy it. Some more surreptitiously than others. And so when I’m out on a walk and seeing so many walk past me from the other direction…of course I let my glance brush their faces. I’m not prying into their innermost thoughts, though that is what fascinates me so. What are they thinking? What are they pondering? What images kaleidoscope within their minds? For just as my thoughts race to and fro in the frantic tossing of the neurons of my brain, all the people that pass surely have lives just as full and varied and yes even scary as my own. Hence I wonder…how many grocery lists tumble? How many blushing daydreams of crushes blossom? How many replays of cringe moments blare forth? I smile to myself as I think thus and then wonder – how will they interpret such? For yes, surely some of their glances touch me. I fear to live in a place where all fear to look at the face of another, to inhabit a society in which only a cold screen can truly receive our full blooded gaze. I wish to express just a bit of joy that we live in a moment where we all – me and that jogger over there and that mom and stroller ahead of me and that singing biker behind me – walk this small patch of vibrant growing singing earth. (Well perhaps the earth is paved over just here, but you get the point) I smile knowing that I walk with fellow men and women and little children that are souls as full formed and image bearing as myself. It is a wondrous thing to let myself ponder. So yes, next time you’re out and about and surrounded by people? Give it a whirl, watch some people. Don’t be creepy about it. Just be a person. And while you’re at it, say a prayer.
Tag: musings
the Table is quite Well Laid she Remarks quietly
What does one say on a Sunday afternoon when the light fades and it feels that all that can be said has been said? Surely that is untrue, yet sometimes imagination runs away and decides to play in a sandbox in a different place and I am left forlorn and abandoned, unsure of what is true. But perhaps the thought should simply make me dig in towards the center and look for this other place, that land for which my imagination yearns. If I am left alone, perhaps I am not in a position of authority to state that this land which I call my home is in fact the homely house for which my soul desires. But really, my thoughts spiral in on themselves and would collapse if it were not for the green and flowering arrow of reality that pulls my thoughts tight around it and points me towards that higher altar of light blessed truth. And so I turn once more my head and gaze upwards and slightly to the west.
Passion
So…baseball Opening Day was yesterday. Sadly – I did not go to any baseball games, but surprisingly(and probably for the last time this year), all three of my teams won! Rays had a comeback victory over Boston, Baltimore took out the Twins in the 11th with an Adam Jones homer…and the Astros just plain dominated with Verlander pitching like the Hall of Famer he is. So I am happy. Yay baseball! Spring is now officially here.
But…far more importantly…today is what is commonly called Good Friday, despite the fact that the event it commemorates is horrifyingly brutal in the extreme. The day man decided (once again!) that they knew better than God. The day humanity decided (once again!) that they were better off without God. The day we killed God.
And as shocking as that turn of events was…in the end it truly was a Good day. For it was the day that God sacrificed Himself. For us. For all of us who put our faith in Jesus. For all of us who give up our lives in submission to the only true God. For all of us who bow the knee to the One who saves.
In honour of the events of today, I much enjoyed reading Philippians this morning…many many verses kept striking me with their brilliant truths, but I shall only quote a few of my favourites this day. Despite the filth and lies we are surrounded by…remember:
But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ
Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish
so that I may gain Christ,
and may be found in Him,
not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through
faith in Christ,
the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,
that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings,
being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
and…
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ;
who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the
body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject
all things to Himself.
-Philippians 3:7-11,20-21
Let us remember these things. Let us pause this day in the midst of our frantic lives and ponder and meditate on the One who did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped – even though He is God – but instead emptied Himself and became a Man and lived and died and rose again. For us.
Amazing love, how can it be – that Thou my God shouldst die for me!?!
Lingering, my heart burns
Don’t have time to write long this sleepy Monday morning…but wanted to log my latest read:
8. The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. This is a book(and series!) that I haven’t read in a while…and by a while I mean probably at least three years? But oh is it a classic. One of my favourite(surely top five) fantasy series of all time and this is the book that kicks it all off. I forgot how quick-paced it was – just a rollicking fantasy adventure…but so rich in detail – truly a finely woven masterpiece of a novel that also manages to introduce myriads of interesting, real characters. And that’s probably part of the reason I love this series so much – as much as the world is a gorgeously coloured tour de force of imagination and the history is deeply layered and the prose is utterly delightful, the fact that the characters feel living and breathing is something that not many authors can manage to do, especially this many characters! So yes, reading TEotW was a fun, magnificent experience…and now time for Book 2. Will probably start that tonight! As I finished this book last night, I realised how perfectly the ending opened the door to a wider world and invited you in…a grand adventure is ahead.
Now, my friends, it is surely time for me to end this entry and begin(or at least attempt) my work this morn. While I could attempt to describe my weekend and the fun times with friends that were had…that is unnecessary to chronicle and my fingers are not quite up to the task.
And so just know that my favourite part of this past weekend was surely Friday night…drinking my tea and reading more of David Brainerd while basketball played on in the background(Syracuse v. TCU was not really that exciting to be honest…). As much as it is good and enjoyable to have entertaining nights with friends, sometimes it is better to sit with a mug of hot tea and a comforting book. Thus I declare. And the fact that this book is also convicting and awe-inspiring and magnificent in the description of a man who was known by God and used by God and loved by God…all the better. My heart is encouraged. Despite the ease at which we fall into complacency, may our souls long for that greater joy that comes from thinking on the things of our God.
Coffee and the Tea
Good morning friends, and happy Thursday!! A brief few words…
I’ve much enjoyed this morning – sub-fifty temperatures for (maybe?) the last time this year. Oh how I love a good cold morning!! Now sitting here at my desk with a nice cup of black coffee(honey-sweetened, of course) and since my heart is full, I suppose I thought it was a good idea to write at least a little bit, before my day heats up drastically.
This morning as I was slowly waking up, I had the half-conscious thought/prayer, “Lord I am trying so hard”. Don’t ask me what it was in relation to – in total honesty, I can’t quite remember – only I know that it’s a sigh of the heart that I often have – do you not sometimes pray and not even know what you’re praying? Anyways immediately some words came to mind that much encouraged me – “It is not the man who wills or the man who runs, but the Lord who has mercy.” That stunned me – because again I was sorta half asleep at the time – and I felt much blessed that God should grant me these words from my past reading of the Word. I couldn’t quite remember the reference at first(first I thought it was Isaiah…then Romans. Had to be somewhere in my recent reading, right?), but eventually(i.e., right now) I looked this up and found it is indeed Romans 9:16, which I read sometime in the past week or so. Anyways – I say all this not to prop myself up, for surely that goes against the very spirit and words of that verse, but just to remark upon the graciousness of God and to encourage you all to make reading the Word a priority. How much of a blessing was it for my self-centered, erroneous words of prayer to be immediately corrected and for myself to be much uplifted by these words of Scripture. Truly a work of the Holy Spirit. All praise be to God!! My human effort and vain attempts at justifying myself are as nothing. Dust in the wind. Yet the grace and merciful lovingkindness of the Lord is sufficient for me. For me! Think on the wondrous mercy and love of our Lord. Behold our God!
And a few brief more verses that are some of my very favourites that I do not think on often enough:
When my heart was embittered and I was pierced within,
then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like a beast before You.
Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You have taken hold of my right hand.
With Your counsel You will guide me,
and afterward receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but You?
And beside You, I desire nothing on earth.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
For, behold, those who are far from You will perish;
You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You.
But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
that I may tell of all Your works.
-Psalm 73:21-28
Wind roars Over the Highlands now
Hey all – happy Friday! I realise this is an odd time for me to post an update. But you won’t be surprised when I say where I’m writing this from…Starbucks! I’m meeting someone in about half an hour and this Starbucks is a very convenient place to wait at…so I simply couldn’t resist. Something else I just couldn’t resist was a hot chocolate. Even though it is approximately 90 degrees outside. I don’t care. It is creamy and chocolaty and delicious. And now it is mine.
In other news…I have been thinking about how I really am not a fan of the proliferation and prominence of social media these days. There are definitely some positive uses of online social spaces, but as I gaze into the void that is social networks(whether it be the facebook, the twitter, the tumblr, the instagram, the snapchat, the etc, etc, etc….), it seems the main goal and purpose is to project yourself into that void and indeed, to promote the idealized image of yourself. Of course I can understand the allure of presenting yourself in the most flattering of surreal light…indeed, I’m not always happy with my “real” self either, nay – may it never be! But too often, these online forums are used as mechanisms for propping oneself up atop the bones of all others. Our arrogance and pride is such that every action we take in the hyper-glare of the net is taken with the end goal of self love above all. And that self love comes in so many different forms…depending on the user’s preferred image to project to the audience…world-weary ideologue, earth-loving naturalist, quirky free-loving spirit, hyper attention-seeking adventurer, sarcastic filter-shunning individualist. There is a space for all and for all there is space. And each user feels self-righteously good about who they are…except for those who don’t. For there are those that drown in the maelstrom of lies and deceit, yet they too long to achieve a modicum of normalcy and so they too strive to be known – even if it is only as a depressed soul. And my time is quickly spinning away. I will write more at a later day. But for now, it is fascinating and not at all surprising – we all long to be known. And so these new media? That is what we use them for – to project the song of ourselves to the world. And we consume the songs of all others and out of these songs we revel and we despair and we are desperately, exceedingly envious. Are we now entertained? Oh so superficial. Oh humanity. We dance and sing in the marketplace, fearing to look to the sky.
Meditating
There is a peace and quiet relaxation that comes with trusting God in all things. Too often we rush through life frantically scrabbling for control of our own destinies and fearing for our own future, but we need not do this! Just as Abraham was able to believe God in the promises God had made to Him, so should we. Seek the heavenly Father in all things, be continuously meditating on the glories of Christ and be reliant on the power given us through the Spirit and so live as a child of God. For such we are. Trust in the Lord and seek His face – long for Him above all else, and all will be well. For truly, we have a hope that is above all this world has to offer. Raise your eyes to the heavens and recall this higher hope we have. Let your mind feast upon the thought of living with God forever. Let your soul be blessed by the grace poured out to us by the Spirit through the ministry of the Word given to us. Ne’er be so distracted by this world that you forget the love of God. We are children of God. We are loved.
I am now chilling on my bed, feeling in the mood to write, but not sure what to write. Should I write a poem? Or a short story? Or a random musing? (Oh wait, that’s what I always write here) Or…what? Give me a prompt, someone! I need creativity, but it has fled from me. Oh muse, heed my call and return! Return on the wings of the moonrise and in the chariot of the sun…or else I will die from sporadic poetical random outbursts! Like this one.
..oh, I’m doomed.
