Archive for April, 2008

Sometimes

{ April 20, 2008 @ 6:43 pm } · { Musings, Poetry }
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 Sometimes the most beautiful poetry is prose.

Sometimes the most beautiful people are overlooked.

Sometimes the strongest position seems the weakest.

Sometimes the wisest advice comes from the “foolish”.

Sometimes it takes more faith to disbelieve than to believe.

Sometimes what makes a man a hero is his belief that he is “nothing special”.

Sometimes what makes a girl a princess is her belief that she is “only a girl”.

Sometimes the best way to fight something is by stepping away.

Sometimes the most beautiful music does not hold to conventional theory.

Sometimes the ones who are revered are the ones who should be revering
Someone Else.

Sometimes the richest ones have no money.

Sometimes the winners finish last.

Sometimes the ones who are right suffer.

Sometimes the wisest one is “just a kid”.

Sometimes the last thing you try, works.

Sometimes the ones with the brightest futures have the darkest pasts.

Sometimes the best toy is the box.

Sometimes the remedy for the most complex problem is simple.

Welcome to the Kingdom.

Here, the last are first, the first are last, and the great ones serve others.

Here, we love each other, encourage each other and look out for one another.

Here, there is grace, forgiveness, peace, and joy.

Are you ready?

Then let’s go.

Affection

{ April 19, 2008 @ 6:20 pm } · { Musings }
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What is affection?

Is it a couple holding hands in public, each showing the world that they belong together? Is it newlyweds sharing a kiss at the altar? Is it a gentle pat on the shoulder or a hug from a friend? Is it only ever the mushy stuff that makes little boys turn away in disgust?

Can affection take other forms, too? Is affection really much broader than we think?

Is affection maybe sometimes expressed in contrary ways? Might repeated pokes, elbows to the ribs, sarcastic jokes, and light slaps or punches be affection?

Affection is a demonstration to another that you care about them. Who says that can’t take many forms? It could be as varied as the people involved!

What about indirect affection? How very sneaky. All of a sudden you feel good about yourself and don’t necessarily know why. Who’s to say affection can’t be as subtle as cleaning up after someone, letting them have their way, or performing little acts of service? Sometimes it seems that this is the only kind of affection yo can show. Maybe you fear being seen as forward, or you fear rejection. So you do something indirect, easily duplicated and explained away as nothing, just what you do for everyone. But it’s there, and it happened, regardless of whether it was received well or even noticed.

A lot of people are uncomfortable with shows of affection, especially in public. These can be overdone, but remember: affection isa display, not only to the other person, but also to the rest of the world, that you care about this person. Obvious or subtle, a message is being sent to anyone who will listen. And that’s ok.

What about verbal affection? This can be one of the most beautiful expressions of affection: we say things to each other to show we care. With verbal affection, the words spoken by that special one become poetry of the most beautiful kind, and their voice the most beautiful of music.

Perhaps the most powerful, obvious form of affection, though, is the physical. It is truly beautiful: shoulder rubs, ruffling or stroking the hair, hugs, holding hands, all of these show you care-beyond a shadow of a doubt. Since it’s so powerful, physical affection is something that you need to use carefully. Too much, and you could easily send the message that you are more interested than you really are. And then if you suddenly stop, you can very easily break the other person’s heart, leaving them hurt and confused, wondering if they’ve done something wrong.

Affection is beautiful. It can give a person the feeling of being wrapped up in a warm sweatshirt, or of being perfectly safe and sheltered. It can give you the feeling that you can fly. Seize this beautiful gift from God!

Strength

{ April 17, 2008 @ 4:17 pm } · { Musings }
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When are we strongest?

Is it when no one else can see any problems in our lives and we seem invincible? Or is it really when we are able to overcome our pride enough to go to someone and say, “Hey…I need help. I can’t go through this alone”? Are we stronger then?

I once heard a story. In it, a wise man told a young boy that he could fight his fear and win, because he was bigger than his fear. Fear he pointed out, was inside the boy, and surely the boy was bigger than anything inside him. The same could be said of pride. Surely we can be bigger and stronger than our pride. It’s inside us. Surely we can fight it and win.

Sometimes asking for help isn’t what you may think. Sometimes, a person may scream for help in many little ways, not necessarily with their mouth:

  • They seek extra attention
  • They get quiet
  • They act out
  • They leave things undone
  • They deliberately offend others

All to get someone to realise that they need help to go through their situation. But all too often, it’s not realised and the person continues to walk alone.

So are we stronger when we overcome our pride and ask for help? Admit that we can’t face every obstacle alone?

I think that sometimes strength is misunderstood. If you’re strong, we figure you don’t have to fight any more. All foes should be scared off. But that’s not what it means. Sometimes strength is getting up…again. It’s saying “no” one more time. It’s opening your eyes in the morning, looking yourself in the mirror and deciding that, just for today, you will work your hardest to reach your dreams, no matter the obstacles. It’s being real enough to cry, yet determined enough to keep walking through those tears. It’s looking around you, seeing the world crash in, and being survivor enough to start looking for usable pieces of rubble to rebuild.

Strength isn’t proved by the absence of challenge. It’s proved by how you handle it.

You have two choices: you beat it, or it beats you. So which is it?

Unsafe safety

{ April 15, 2008 @ 4:10 pm } · { Musings }
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Is it really “safe”-to be “safe”?

That doesn’t seem to make any sense at all. Of course it’s “safe” to be “safe”; they wouldn’t call it “safe” if it wasn’t. But might it not be better to take a few risks, if it means avoiding a bigger danger? Should we risk being unsafe in order to be truly safe?

Suppose you are in a building, and it catches fire. There are flames across the door; the room you are in will go up next. The only way out: a third story window overlooking the backyard. So…jump? Or roast?

Of course you’d jump. You’ve got to escape that fire! But under normal circumstances, jumping out of a third story window is not going to enter your mind as a “safe” or “normal” thing to do. In fact, try that, and they’ll probably send you to play with the men in the white coats. But with a wall of flame behind you, suddenly the whole circumstance changes. Now the only “safe” action is to risk your life by jumping out of the window.

How about some less obvious stuff. Is it “safe” to trust that little feeling or prompting about which school you should go to? What about your future? What about the little voice that says to go ahead and major in something that seems crazy, or to go ahead and take a job that seems way off your career path? Is it really “safe” to do something “crazy”, like get married and move to a place you know nothing about?

What if risking the unsafe is best thing for you? What if staying would really endanger you in the long run? Could you do it? Can you trust that God knows what’s best for you?

What if everything you do that makes people shake their heads and think you’re completely crazy is really just another step on the road to something awesome? What if every struggle you go through that all your friends and family think you could’ve avoided just by doing XYZ or not doing XYZ is really planned out to equip you to deal with something down the road? Maybe it’s something you don’t see now, but when it comes you realise: you couldn’t have dealt with this event now without knowledge gained from that event in your past. Maybe it’s not even you. What if, one day, your son or daughter comes to you and says, “Hey, I don’t know how to deal with this”…and you’ve been right where they are?

The future is unknown. I can’t tell you what’s going to happen in the next five minutes, let alone the rest of my life. What if the rough stuff I’m going through now is really just another mile marker on the “broken road that lead me straight to you”? What if I look back on all this stuff now and say “I know better how to live, love, and give because of all that stuff that happened when I was 20″? Shouldn’t I take these risks now, then?

Take the risks now. You may need them later.

The Greatest Risk

{ April 14, 2008 @ 3:56 pm } · { Musings }
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The greatest risk isn’t jumping out of a plane.

It isn’t an adrenaline rush. It’s not risking physical pain or death. It’s something far less obvious.

The greatest risk is love.

When you love someone, you take the greatest risk imaginable. You risk hurt, betrayal, and mistreatment, intentional or not. You risk what may be the greatest pain of all: ignorance.

For the one you love to ignore you, even unintentionally-this can be worse than outright hostility. It leaves you in a cold, lonely place:

  • Stealing glances as they pass by
  • Waving to their back
  • Sitting next to a conspicuously empty seat, praying they’ll sit down
  • Trying to start a conversation
  • Tripping over yourself and being struck dumb in their presence
  • Wishing you had been struck dumb in their presence
  • Crossing their path “accidentally”

…and still they don’t realise. And as they walk by, talking with their friends, leafing through their planner, talking on their phone, or holding hands with their special one, you’re left where you sit: cold, tired, and lonely, with tears in your eyes.

You risk all that the second you love someone. “Why bother?” you ask. “Why love at all?”

Because they’re worth it! Jesus died for them, too. He risked every bit of that and more for you and for them, too. So why shouldn’t you risk it, too? If you love them, aren’t they worth that? Go ahead, take that risk-they’re worth it!

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