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| Photo by V. L. Cox 3-20-11 |
The moon has been absolutely stunning the last few nites. Of course, everyone has been talking about the "super" moon ... whatever that means. I really haven't paid much attention to the scientific hoopla ... just have been enjoying the beauty of the full moon ... rising ... setting ... & just sittin' there for hours outside of my bedroom window.
They say ... you know, whoever the "they" is that is always "saying" stuff ... that a full moon has a lot of impact on people and their actions. So I guess the "super" moon has been stirring up chaos in a LARGER way ... somehow ...
Certainly has been ... in my circle of friends ...
There has been some pretty extra special stuff going on ... over here in my world ... & the lives of people I care about ... and some that has been more intense & dramatic than special ...
Not sure what to make of it all ... except to know that it's all a part of a bunch of different stories ... unfolding ...
A friend said this morning, "God sure is having a good time with us lately" ... so I said 'You mean like you & me ... us or just us in a more general sense?"
She said, "You & me ... us."
I was puzzled by that. I am a constant source of humor to God ... nothing new or different there. She is struggling with changes ... and choices ... and I strive to be the consistent thing in her world ... providing her a sense of balance ... as she navigates her way across the wire ...
Still at times I am the catalyst ... as well as the constant ... somedays it's not easy to be me ...
A few weeks ago, Del shared any interesting concept in one of his Sunday morning messages. It had to do with "safety" from your enemies.
Biblically, your enemy loses all power over you .... you are safe from ALL harm ... as soon as you find a friend ... and touch a friend's tent. Once you enter your friend's tent, there is sanctuary ... and no one can touch you or harm you there.
Sanctuary. In a friend's tent. Which in biblical days was your friend's home, most often than not. Interesting concept. I'm thinking it is still relevant today.
Everyone has enemies. And enemies aren't just people. An enemy is anything that pursues you to bring you harm. Sometimes we are own enemy. You know, like THEY say ... you are your own WORST enemy.
And ... everyone needs a place of safety .... where enemies can't harm you. That's why God gave us friends. It is in the presence of friends that we can find shelter, hope, compassion, forgiveness ... whatever it is that we are in need of to restore and refresh our hearts ...
Healing is found in the the tent of a friend.
All of us are looking for ways to justify our behavior. Most of the time, when we do something troublesome or that has unexpected, unpleasant consequences ... it's because we simply aren't thinking.
That's right. We do something. It blows up ... or doesn't turn out quite like we planned ... and we say, "Gosh! What was I thinking?!?" Truth is ... we weren't.
We keep on going down those roads ... where we have been beat up ... or harmed ... in the past ... it's like we know better ... but we don't know any OTHER way ... to go ...
So we go down the familar road ... by our own choosing ... and then we wonder why we get what we get ...
Or we say we don't really care ... that the outcomes are the outcomes ... or that we don't care what anyone else says ...
Yeah. Right. We really DO care.
Change. It's just so dang hard. Wouldn't it be cool if it was truly as simple as saying "I will take a different road this time" ?!?
Instead we just wander around ... on familiar roads that lead to nowhere ... frying up a bunch of fish from time-to-time ... thinking things will never be different ... because we failed so miserably ... and nothing can ever fix that.
That's what Moses said ... because he failed so miserably ... he was just going to tend sheep for the rest of his life. Sounded like a good plan at the time. But God had other plans for Moses.
God has other plans for us, too.
It's not just our enemies that pursue us, you know ... God pursues us as well. He pursues us with love & grace.
It's the truth. The Almighty God --- Creator of the Universe -- has decided that He loves YOU ... and He's coming after you. He knows your heart ... where you are ... right this minute ... and He's not going to turn you loose ... once He has your attention.
Ponder that.
So there you are ... hanging out in your friend's tent ... with your enemies in hot pursuit ... encircling the camp ... just waiting for you to take a step outside.
And God's pursuing you, too. Difference is, He's got back-up ... on the inside ... of the tent. You're there with your friend, after all.
A friend will tell you ... you don't have to feel bad about who you are ... not anymore ... you're safe here ... stay as long as it takes.
Most of the "bad" stuff we do is because we see ourselves "bad" in someway ... quite simply ... we don't love & respect ourselves ... and we don't believe we are worthy of anyone else's love & respect either.
That's where a friend steps in ... to remind you of what's real & true about you ... a friend will help you discard all the junk you drug along into the tent with you ... a friend will help you to re-discover the things that make you special & valued ...
There's nothing more important in our lives ... than being real.
So how do you get there ... to being real ?
You drop some of the stuff that you've been hanging on to ... that isn't really as important as you have made it out to be. You decide you want to be free to live YOUR life. You quit allowing others to control you ... or pull your puppet strings.
Most of us really dislike ourselves .... living day-after-day-after day with our same ole stuff. And we really-&-truly-honest-to-God want to change ... ourselves ... to change our lives.
So how do we make those important changes ... without changing the core of who we are? That's what my friend asked rhetorically ... this morning ...
There's nothing easy about change. In John 7: 66-69, the story is related of how many of the followers of Jesus ... left ... after He had explained how difficult it was going to be ... and how deep inside of their hearts they were going to have to go ... to change ... to live in a new way.
This morning, Del's message was about that story. Opening his message, he said, "Step out ... take a chance ... do someting different ..." Jessi responded from her seat, "Amen!"
Jessi always makes me smile.
Change comes when we get tired of sitting in the same place ... when we are ready for an adventure ... when we are ready to try mercy ... when we live constantly ready to be surprised. ... when we finally move from a selfish life to a giving life ...
I really liked the part about the surprises. I love surprises! You can't be surprised as long as your life is all planned out ... with timelines ... deadlines ... this has to happen ... and that has to happen ...
... then maybe in June, MaryJane ... yeah, right ... a lot can happen between now & June ... what if I can't wait?!? It's impossible to enjoy the surprises ... in every breath ... when you are so busy focusing on down-the-road that you miss the possibilities of here-and-now ...
Change comes when you want something different ... so badly ... that you have nothing left to loose. That's what Janis Joplin said ... "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to loose ..."
Reminds me of someting I read this morning about communication ... just because something's said outloud doesn't mean it was communicated well ... a good communicator is a story teller ... who shares in a way that is easily understood by his audience ... last week it was Lady Antebellum ... this week it's Janis Joplin ... gotta love Del for keeping it real ...
Sanctuary. My friends are always welcome ... in my tent. It's a safe place for them ... to heal & change.
"Be slow in choosing a friend slower in changing." That's what Benjamin Frankin had to say about it. Change is personal ... afterall ... it has to come from within oneself ... not through someone else ..
So I think that means I don't have to be there ... inside my tent ... physically ... with them ... the entire time.
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| Photo by Wilton C. Wescott 3-20-11 |
Do you want to try something new, MJ? Would you like to do something different? Those questions keep popping up. And my answer is always the same ... Yes, indeed I do!
As for me ... right now ... today ... I am ready for adventure ... I am open to the unexpected ... willing to take a chance ... to grab a hold of the good things when they come my way ... choosing happy ...
... cuz I'm leaping & hopping on a moonSHADOW ...
Moon SHADOW ... moon SHINE ... it's all good.
Life is good. Very, very good.
http://www.lifelessons-mj.blogspot.com/
(c) March 2011
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