I most often read at night in bed. When I find a quote that stops me, I copy, paste to my own email and continue. Often, I forget to add where I read the quote. Usually it is months later when I decide to copy and paste the quotes to a document. So many of the quotes I want to share will be without credit given to the author. I will try to search on line to find the appropriate source. If I can’t then please just take courage form the quote itself and forgive me if you happen to be the author. yikes.
Jan 2019 I read a quote from Rumi, “But listen to me: for one moment, quit being sad. Hear blessings dropping their blossoms around you. God.” I can get caught up in all the dire news of death counts doubling and tripling, ventilators not being available for those who need them, etc., or I can try Rumi’s message from God.
What if the splendor of spring was allowed to sweep me into it’s arms for half an hour? The daffodils on our hill are bursting. Alongside them there are trout lilies with larger blossoms than we have ever seen in our decade of living here. The hyacinths in my garden are bursting with color and fragrance. My bathroom is redolent with that sweet perfume as the two blossom stems bless me. Forsythia looks better this year than in last. Yesterday morning Bob spotted a PAIR of Rufous Sided Towhees in the grass below the feeder.
They only pass through our area. Harbingers of spring and fall we get excited to see them.
If I stay glued to the tv and radio news I will miss these. “Hear blessings dropping their blossoms around you.” What can you spot today?
March 6 our small group formed at the Crossing church, Batavia met for what we did not know was the last time for the foreseeable future. I shared with them some of what I had written in my journal while dealing with depression regarding a family member.
“I did not realize that depression had gotten her drivers license! Depression drove me to Dairy Queen; next day depression drove me to the donut store. Depression is driving me to places that I do not usually want to go. They say depression is anger turned inward, but this depression is more like feelings of hopelessness and helplessness. … Donuts and ice cream will not help. I know that is true. The girl-child within me is seeking comfort. The sweets of this world will never bring deliverance from troubles.”
And then the next news was corona virus. At the grocery store hand sanitizer was long since gone. I wanted the Hawaiian buns that were on sale in the ad. I could not find them! As I approached the checkout lines I saw a man with a really full cart. On top were the Hawaiian buns. I asked where he found them. I retraced my steps and there they were. I walked away thinking, “Well, if there is chance of quarantine we can at least have a Hawaiian bun!” then as I strolled down the frozen food aisle, I grabbed the Pepperidge Farm frozen Coconut cake that Bob said I should have bought earlier. And, of course, I spotted the Klondike chocolate ice cream chocolate covered bars that I had a craving for a week or two earlier. Suddenly, I realized, “Oh great! Now fear is pushing and filling my shopping cart!”
We have finished that cake, but would not refuse another one! There are one or two Klondike bars left. We have sat, like the rest of the country watching this horror unfold. I have been too numb to write until today.
Sunday, our church had an online service. It was great encouragement. I cut a few daffodils to take a neighbor whom I have never felt an affinity towards. As we hollered across the yards Saturday she mentioned how much she loves our flowers. Today I cut her a bouquet. Like a child of years past, I rang her doorbell, knocked, and left the vase on her porch. She was thrilled. I went for a walk in the sunshine afterwards. There was a bluebird at the end of one cul-de-sac. I was enchanted.
I am reminded again that we can choose our attitude in this and every other crisis. There is SO MUCH we cannot control and never had control over in the first place. So I am returning to the book by Tara Brach entitled “Radical Acceptance.” I will be quoting her the next few days and trying to bring cheer to you from this corner of Ohio.
Recently I read the quote below and was blessed. We all know the many ways life can surge and churn about us. And then there is Christ, our Rock.
Trust God’s Word and His power more than you trust your own feelings and experiences. Remember, your Rock is Christ, and it is the sea that ebbs and flows with the tides, not Him.
Samuel Rutherford
The sea ebbs and flows with the tides.
“Rock of my salvation” includes the Hebrew word tsur. Tsur is the most common Hebrew word used in the names of God that describe Him as a rock. Tsur speaks of a rock that is massive, very safe, and virtually impenetrable”, says https://namesforgod.net/rock-of-my-salvation
In the quote there is that word, TRUST, again. I need to practice it and understand it more each time it comes up!
Jesus is my steady, unwavering, unchangeable rock. God’s Word and power are higher than anything I can know or understand. I choose to trust. I will be still in His Presence. If I understand correctly, the pronunciation for Tsur is like Sir. That will help me. As a soldier refers to it’s commander as “sir”, so I will refer to my Lord as “Sir, Tsur.”
He will call out to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the Rock, my Savior.’
Finding it hard to get yourself willing to be quiet before the Lord? I have had that experience, too. I have used and written many images to talk myself into getting quiet. Here is one after my trip to the St. Lawrence Seaway to stay with a friend.
Here at Siesta Drive I have my island of responsibility.
Even here I find it difficult
to push off the dock
into the quiet river of Living Water
for the renewal of my soul
stilling of my heart, quieting of my mind
floating in Your love
awaiting Your instructions and anointing for this day.
I want to power up the boat
or maybe stay on the island
ordering about the mundane
resisting the holy and eternal.
Forgive me, again, my desiring
to be in charge and capable.
Take me to a quiet lagoon
with jumping fish
elusive Great Blue Herons
tree branches trialing their leaves at the water’s edge.
Anchor me in Your incredible center-down silence
wash over me with righteousness
grant me the kiss of peace
Your faithfulness and steadfast love
meeting me in holy embrace
of relinquishment to solitude.
Only then
can I meet the mundane
with correct vision
Your holy Kingdom first and foremost
no matter what my activity might be.
So here at Siesta Drive if I will allow it
energy and solace I was hoping for at “The River”
may ebb and flow, around me, within, overflowing
washing glaring, gaudy colors of importance
off the mundane,
letting those things fall back
into their proper place as incidental
like spoons tossed into the silverware drawer.
Center in His quiet and find yourself renewed once more.
In 1975 we were expecting our first child. The photo below is from our first vacation to the Smoky Mountains. In 1982 we were learning about the Full Armor of God (Ephesians 6) and starting to teach Bible study together at our local church.
Oh I loved you in that creek bed
Full of gallantry and suave
My flashing debonair knight.
You didn’t even know
What holy armor was then.
And now my love for you
Far surpasses and encompasses
The emotions at that creek bed.
Father, show us how to flow together
To the glory of Your name.
You split the rocks with
A blade of grass and
A finger of ice.
Split our shells that we might
Merge in Your kingdom work.
1978 Before Kids
Now in 2020, our children are adults with children of their own. We are still learning more about how to walk together in the Spirit. As we celebrate our 50th year of being married by knight continues to court me, woo and win me with his humor and grace.
One day when walking down the street, On business bent, while thinking hard About the “hundred cares” which seemed Like thunder clouds about to break In torrents, Self-pity said to me: “You poor, poor thing, you have too much To do. Your life is far too hard. This heavy load will crush you soon.” A swift response of sympathy Welled up within. The burning sun Seemed more intense. The dust and noise Of puffing motors flying past With rasping blast of blowing horn Incensed still more the whining nerves, The fabled last back-breaking straw To weary, troubled, fretting mind. “Ah, yes, ’twill break and crush my life; I cannot bear this constant strain Of endless, aggravating cares; They are too great for such as I.” So thus my heart condoled itself, “Enjoying misery,” when lo! A “still small voice” distinctly said, “Twas sent to lift you—not to crush.” I saw at once my great mistake. My place was not beneath the load But on the top! God meant it not That I should carry it. He sent It here to carry me. Full well He knew my incapacity Before the plan was made. He saw A child of His in need of grace And power to serve; a puny twig Requiring sun and rain to grow; An undeveloped chrysalis; A weak soul lacking faith in God. He could not help but see all this And more. And then, with tender thought He placed it where it had to grow— Or die. To lie and cringe beneath One’s load means death, but life and power Await all those who dare to rise above. Our burdens are our wings; on them We soar to higher realms of grace;
Without them we must roam for aye On planes of undeveloped faith, For faith grows but by exercise in circumstance impossible.
Oh, paradox of Heaven. The load We think will crush was sent to lift us Up to God! Then, soul of mine, Climb up! for naught can e’er be crushed Save what is underneath the weight. How may we climb! By what ascent Shall we surmount the carping cares Of life! Within His word is found The key which opes His secret stairs; Alone with Christ, secluded there, We mount our loads, and rest in Him. —Miss Mary Butterfield
Trying to figure out how to express the recent struggles within my brain and emotions I came across this poem in Streams in the Desert. Could not discover anything about the author, but I do like her ideas!
“Alone with Christ, secluded there, we mount our loads and rest in Him.” That is the answer repeatedly in my journey. Go to Him. Rest and regain perspective for the next phase of the journey. Recently I read a book by Charles Martin about football. His character was living near a junkyard. He made it is his practice to run to the top of a pile of tires and other automobile debris as part of his conditioning. Make this our journey. To run to the top of the debris in our life. Make it the conditioning track that we need for victory in our hearts, minds and souls. When I am reminded to love the Lord my God with all my heart, mind, soul and strength I often fail to realize that will take conditioning and practice. I must determine to do that – daily, hourly!
When Self-pity speaks to you I hope you will get up and get moving. Let those warped thoughts drop to the ground and travel on with His empowerment. You ARE able to do many things you never thought possible through Christ Who strengthens you.
Much of our suffering occurs between our ears. Was it Mark Twain who said “I’ve known many troubles in my life. And most of them never came to pass.” Stay on top!
The Beethoven Akademie 1808 presentation by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Sunday, March 1 was listed as occurring from 2:30-8:30 PM with a dinner break from 5-7 PM. What a surprise when we got tickets and decided to try this Beethoven marathon! The first performance during the first half is one of my favorite pieces, The Pastoral Symphony #6 in F Major. The Awakening (which I always think of as the awakening of Spring), the brook, Jolly Country Folk, THE THUNDERSTORM and the Shepherd’s Hymn are all in my memory bank. I promised my husband and the stranger sitting next to me that I would try to refrain from whistling the tunes!
The original production was the last public performance by Beethoven. One patron from 1808, Johann Reichardt, was quoted in the program as saying that he “found by experience that one might have too much even of a good thing.”
We were not certain we could last through all those hours of music. Thought we would try and agree not to shame each other if one of us wanted to leave. Each selection listed details including approximate duration. I was amazed the Pastoral was only listed for 39 minutes. It transports me in a way that I lose all track of time!
AH! Perfido borders on opera and I have no experience or interest in that. It was 15 minutes of interesting performance, but not as thrilling as my decades long friend, The Pastoral.
Then some sacred music. The Gloria interested me. Though sung in Latin, I am familiar with the words through my attendance at the Episcopal church. The Latin and the English were printed in the booklet side by side. The 11 minutes sent me scurrying to remember the prayer I had read by Ignatius, the concept of suscipe me….
Take Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess. Thou hast given all to me. To Thee, O Lord, I return it. All is Thine, dispose of it wholly according to Thy will. Give me Thy love and Thy grace, for this is sufficient for me.
Ignatius of Loyola
After the Concerto #4 featuring Inon Barnatan, who seemed to play effortlessly, we were ready to walk around and enjoy the dinner break. It was a lovely spring-like evening though the wind was a bit chilly. Back at the car we relished our homemade supper of favorite foods. After only a tiny discussion decided to return to Music Hall to find out how much more music we could endure in one day! We strolled the new park opposite Music Hall. Watched the city dwellers release their dogs in the dog park while they shared the latest with each other. It was such a delight to see sun in Cincinnati!
The #5 began with the lovely chords of duh duh duh duh https://youtu.be/_4IRMYuE1hI duh duh duh duh! Timed at 31 minutes. We decided we could stay for the Improvised Fantasia and then Fantasia for Piano Chorus and Orchestra (May Festival Chorus was terrific as were soloists!) The stranger next to me told me he would walk 5 miles to hear the last number. That was saying something since he also confided he was 80 years old!
To me, it was a once in a lifetime concert. No, I was not over immersed in Beethoven. Am still playing the 6th on my computer speakers as I write this!
I pray the Lord will Suscipe me into His arms one day with the melody of the Gloria or The Pastoral!
Life is too short to experience everything, but the human heart is big enough to resonate with everything that any other human heart has experienced.
BROTHER DAVID STEINDL-RAST
Seeing an old friend face-to-face was fun. We knew we only had a very short time to share, so we both cut to the chase and told what was most important to us. I was surprised when the first thing she shared was about my blog.
She is so inspired by what I write. She said it uplifts her and gives her a new point of view.
I was amazed. This gal is eleven years older than me. I have always thought of her as a better, stronger Christian. Yet she felt my writing was useful to her walk. Who knew?
Some folks never comment. I see only how many people looked at it, but not who.
One fellow at church asked me recently if I was still writing. I could not remember his name or even having spoken with him before. He did look vaguely familiar. Our church has grown to about 800 people with opportunities to worship three times a week. No wonder I lost track of him. Yikes!
We just never know the impact we will have upon others. These comments help inspire me to keep on publishing this blog.
Please keep reading! Comment when you can. I love the encouragement to continue sharing my journey with the mostly unknown folks out there. May you be blessed with a renewed sense of His Presence with us in every circumstance.
I love the fact that someone finally wrote a song about one of my favorite Scripture verses! I needed to hear that recently when I reviewed my scatteredness and sought to recollect my various members around my roots in Christ.
And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you.
Romans 8:11 NIV
Reviewing my activities on a recent Saturday morning I realized again why I needed to draw from that “Same Power.” That week I had interaction with someone who had possibly had a TIA and was having brain scans, one who was failing in his job, one had stitches in her back after a freak accident, one suffering from Parkinson’s disease, one recovering from surgery, one serving with many hats in the community and feeling the weight, one who had a bladder scoped (ouch), one having staffing troubles, one broke his finger, one worried about aging and drug injection to build bone density, one getting a divorce, one recovering from knee surgery, one struggling with mental illness, one worried about another person, seemingly crowds of folks in my purview with troubles after troubles!
How to stay compassionate, not burn out, and keep caring for each of them? Left to myself, I do not have that sort of strength within me to sort out where to serve and where to just pray. The Word of God assures me in Romans 8:8-9 NIV “Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.”
In my flesh, I would tend to worry and fret and try to find ways in my own strength to comfort, heal, encourage and come alongside all those folks. I have burned myself out more than once in my life trying to do just that. I hopefully have learned better now. Now I release each one to God as soon as I possibly can, giving the Holy Spirit free access to use me if He wishes in their comfort. Otherwise, I leave those persons at the altar of God and return myself to a position of listening for His voice., walking in the Spirit.
Ann Voskamp wrote, “There’s a lot of happiness in this world that depends on being brave enough to keep working when it’d be easier to quit. Nothing good gets started without getting to work – and nothing great gets finished without staying at the work. It’s not about growing tough enough to take what life throws at you; it’s about staying open enough to all of life to simply receive it.”
Yield a compassionate ear to those around you. Know when to release them to the Spirit of God. Then keep serving as you are shown how and where to serve.
Another new-to-me worship song I can’t stop singing is Hallelujah Here Below by Elevation Music.
We are an altar of broken stones But You delight in the offering You have the heavens to call Your home But You abide in the song we sing
Ten thousand angels surround Your throne To bring You praise that will never cease But hallelujah from here below Is still Your favourite melody We sing Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah We sing Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah And should the fire that once burned bright Become an ember my eyes can’t see I will remember Your sacrifice I will abide in Your love for meOh, we sing Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah We sing Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah We sing Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah We sing Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah!Jesus Christ our King enthroned All the praise is Yours forevermore Hallelujah here below All the praise is Yours… Oh, what a wonderful day to come When every knee bows before Your name But we will not wait until it does For here and now shall Your Kingdom reign We sing Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah We sing Hallelujah Hallelujah Oh! Oh, the broken people sing We sing Hallelujah Let the Church sing We sing Hallelujah
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 