All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun
I used to get really confused by all these verses about everything being meaningless. I mean, I don’t think everything’s meaningless. I find meaning in the things I do, and the relationships I have been blessed with. But as I was reading this, I started thinking that because there’s almost sensory overload these days that everything becomes devalued and because of that, things lose their meaning. There is so much to see, so much to hear, so much to experience, that we can become numb to these things.
What once was a beautiful sunrise becomes the same old sky that we hardly even take notice of as we drive to work.
What once was a wise saying becomes cliche and any wisdom or meaning becomes lost.
I want to go back to the way I was as a child, where everything seen, heard, said, tasted, felt and experienced is new; even if it has happened before. I want every experience everything that comes my way with a fresh perspective. Forget the tears and sadness of past circumstances. There’s a reason we start the day with a beautiful new sunrise and end it with a sunset. Fresh beginnings, a day of experiences and in the end, nothing is left unresolved. Everything we find ourselves taking part in has its place in our life, in the grand scheme of things.
That’s not to say that mistakes will happen, and that we won’t regret everything we do, because we will. That’s just how it is. But God in his grace is always close. He is always willing to hold us, give us a place where we can forget our faults and find ourselves, once again, in Him.
I’ve got the iTunes on shuffle, and this song, Needle and Thread, by Sleeping At Last came on. I feel obligated to post the lyrics as a continuation of my thoughts.
Be inspired to love.
Be inspired to live.
When the world welcomes us in,
We’re closer to Heaven than we’ll ever know.
They say this place has changed,
But strip away all of the technology
And you will see
That we all are hunters,
Hunting for something that will make us okay.
Here we lay alone in hospital beds,
Tracing life in our heads;
But all that is left
Is that this was our entrance and now it’s our exit,
As we find our way home.
All the blood and all the sweat
That we invested to be loved
Follows us into our end,
Where we begin to understand
That we are made of love,
And all the beauty stemming from it.
We are made of love,
And every fracture caused by the lack of it.
“You were a million years of work,”
Said God and His angels, with needle and thread.
They kissed your head and said,
“You’re a good kid and you make us proud.
So just give your best and the rest will come,
And we’ll see you soon.”
All the blood and all the sweat
That we invested to be loved
Follows us into our end,
Where we begin to understand
That maybe Hollywood was right:
When the credits have rolled and the tears have dried,
The answers that we have been dying to find
Are all pieced together and, somehow,
Made perfectly mine.
We are made of love,
And all the beauty stemming from it.
We are made of love,
And every fracture caused by the lack of it.
Peace and love.
Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
Matthew 8:23-27
Things happen, life happens, often without warning. Situations spring out of nowhere, catching us off guard, and sometimes swallowing us up, like the ocean waves. But with one rebuke, Jesus calmed the storm.
We have that authority to rebuke and take control over our situations, rather than letting them control us. But, like the disciples, our first reaction is often, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” That is by no means walking in the authority that we’ve been given.
I think the outcome of a “storm” in our lie is not necessarily determined by our rebuke, but simply by our attitude. When we are walking in our authority, we are walking in faith. Do we know that God could calm the storm, or do we know that he will? It’s that fine line between knowing God well enough to know what he’s capable of, and knowing him well enough to know that he will follow through with it. When we take action and rebuke the “wind and the waves” on the basis of our faith, we are overcomers.
I think that one of the reasons for Jesus’ coming to earth was for God to show us, through Jesus, that we have authority over sin. Jesus came to equip us with the wisdom and understanding we need to overcome that which burdens us and those around us.
We will overcome
By the blood of the lamb
And the word of our testimony
Everyone overcome.
What is the Kingdom of God?
What does it look like? How is it manifested?
I don’t think it’s something that can really be imagined. I think that, in order to see it, it must be lived out.
The beautiful thing about the kingdom of heaven is how it its stark contrast to every aspect of flawed humanity. I have heard it referred to in the past as the “upside-down” kingdom, because it values things that our culture despises, such as righteousness, poorness of Spirit, and self-sacrifice. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3, 10)
People with these characteristics inherit the kingdom of heaven because they don’t live for themselves, they live for a higher order, a heavenly calling. They have overcome selfishness with exemplory selflessness and seek to glorify their Creator in everything they do. And, in doing this, in living in the unbounded now with the prospect of eternity, their hearts become protected by the order of heaven. They no longer are corrupted by the twisted views of the world, but they are eternally rewarded for the acts of their faith.
This is the life that I desire to live: living each moment purposefully, knowing that I am living for a cause greater than myself, for a God who loves me and the rest of the world unconditionally. I want to be continuously putting my faith into action.
That is a purpose driven, purpose filled life.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21
Love can rise.
Above the cries
Of the breaking,
Above the pain that ensues.
Faith will fly,
Taking you high
Towards the sun,
Towards a place of glory.
Hope will shine,
Illuminate,
Reveal the light,
Reveal the beauty that surrounds.
“What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? May it never be! Rather, let God be found true though every man be found a liar.” Romans 3:3-4
God is righteous and faithful and true even though we, as humans are everything opposite. And God continues to be faithful despite our continual shortcomings. I know when I act stupidly or say things without thinking, I feel so unrighteous. When I do things I regret, I wonder why God is still faithful, why he still loves and holds in his hands a sinner such as myself. And yet, how great is his grace and mercy!
Despite our wavering human nature, which is constantly fluctuating between living for our spirit and living for our flesh, and never certain of anything, God provides an unwavering solidarity, a solid rock on which we can stand, a stronghold in which we will not be shaken. Though everything in this world is temporary and unreliable, we can have confidence in God’s steadfast love. Even when everything about our lives could be a lie, “let God be found true.” He alone is the one universal truth, for He is the source of everything, the source of life, the source of light.
What hope that brings! When I find myself at a loss in the middle of uncertain circumstances, the love of God is an ever-present strength and certainty that I can rely on, even if it is the only thing I can rely on. And oh, how uncertain things seem all the time.
Trust in God’s unfailing love and faithfulness. And obey the Law of God, which is the manifestation of God’s righteousness on earth. Together, never forgetting, of course, the foundation of love, from which all life springs, we will be able to stand firmly and never be shaken, even in the midst of the world’s winds of uncertainty.
It seems there has been a theme of railroads and bridges in my life as of late. On my way to Saskatchewan with Jaimee, we stopped at the side of the highway to take some pictures on the railroad tracks as the sun was continuing its journey beyond the horizon of the endless Saskatchewan landscape.
The following day, Kaitie took me to the train bridge in downtown Saskatoon. It’s quite the bridge. Obviously, there are train tracks, but there is also a narrow walkway beside the tracks. The bridge is still in use, and Kaitie said it’s pretty scary when the trains come whizzing past.
I was thinking about train tracks and bridges and whether there’s something significant about them that would pertain to my life right now.
I’m probably just over analyzing, but sometimes it’s good to look at things a little deeper.
Standing on railroad tracks or on a bridge, standing in between two places, two destinations.
In suspension.
It’s a waiting time, waiting and anticipating the arrival of something marvelous. But along the way, there are beautiful landscapes and sunrises and sunsets.
It’s tempting to get so excited about the destination in front of us, or even distracted by where we came from, that we miss the seemingly insignificant moments of the journey we are on. In those moments where we pause to appreciate the little things, we grow and become even more prepared for the destination awaiting us.
At one point on the drive home, the sun was starting to set. It was still relatively high in the sky, but it got that golden glow that it does around 4:00 in the afternoon. I remember driving down this straight, flat road, looking across a field scattered with hay bales. There was the most beautiful foggy glow reflecting the entire field.
It was one of those moments that will always be in my mind. One of those moments on the journey, in between two places of significance, but entirely significant in itself.
It was a glorious moment.
What is destiny? Are we, am I, destined for something I have no say in, something decided before I even came into this world? Or is a person’s future based on the combination of their past experiences, passions, aspirations and the environment they live in?
Does God have a specific plan for what I’m to do with my life, or should I just follow my heart and embrace my own passions and desires?
From growing up in the church, I’ve been socialized to believe that God has every moment of my life, and every other person’s life, planned out. But I’ve also grown to believe that it’s not God’s desire for people to go to hell. In saying that every moment of one’s life is predestined, then it would be inevitable for some people to escape hell.
Maybe destiny is not just what we do with our lives, but the experience and passion that we feel in our spirits. Then, these (maybe?) predestined characteristics determine the roads we take in our life and the circumstances we find ourselves in. If that is the case, it would make sense with what I have grown to believe in – God having a plan for our lives and cementing the foundations in us – foundations of character – and then giving us the free will to, as the expression goes, “choose our own destiny.”
But are we really choosing our own destiny? Because if our “destiny” is based on our character, personality, passions and aspirations, they are founded in us by God, and developed through the environment in which we find ourselves in.
So, when we are in relationship with God, we recognize that He is our source and he has given us these things that our hearts desire. And when we live in accordance with God’s Word, loving God with all our heart, soul and mind, and loving our neighbors as ourselves, the desires of our hearts should naturally fall in line with God’s Word, and I think that is what he would destine us for.
When we are living our lives in love, God can use us wherever we are, in any circumstance, all for his glory!
The leaves are falling, falling from afar
as though from distant gardens in the heavens.
They fall reluctantly and loathe to leave.
So, too, the Earth is falling through the night
far from all stars down into solitude.
We are all falling. See this hand? It falls
as all things do respond to heaven’s laws.
Yet there is One, our Lord, who holds this falling
in His so infinitely tender hands.
–Rainer Maria Rilke
I’m reading a book called Reflections On The Psalms by C.S. Lewis. He is a very intellectual writer, but not in a way that is hard to understand. He relates things to real life. The reflections that he write are very enlightening. In the fourth chapter, he talks about “Death in the Psalms.” I learned that the Jews in the Old Testament weren’t concerned very much at all with the afterlife. I had assumed they believed in heaven and hell, simply because of the emphasis on that belief in the New Testament. Even though the neighbouring Egyptians believed in an afterlife, worth much more to them than life on earth, the Jews simply believed in God. It seems like it would take much more effort to believe in a God who doesn’t offer hope for eternity spent with Him, but I suppose that since this was all they knew, it wouldn’t be as big a deal.
C.S. Lewis writes, “Is it possible for men to be too much concerned with their eternal destiny?” He thinks so. He follows this statement by suggesting that “happiness or misery beyond death simply in themselves, are not even religious subjects at all…God is not the centre. He is still important only for the sake of something else.”
When I first read this, it caught me off guard, and slightly baffled me. I’ve read so much this year about “forever,” and focusing on eternity. But I think Lewis is referring to hoping for the feel-good forever, focusing on the idea of no pain, no suffering, etc. I’ve been trying to focus on living my life as a preparation for eternity and basing my life on what will last forever, not just the trivial things of life that are here today and gone tomorrow.
That being said, I wonder how different my life, and the way I live my life would be if I didn’t have the motivation and hope of eternity, if all I had was God. It would take a great deal more love and devotion to follow the ways of One with whom I was separated from through sin. At the time of the ancient Jews, Jesus had not yet died on the cross, restoring our access to God. I want to have the same dedication in my life, now. I want to learn to love God as if I wasn’t spending eternity with Him, as if this life was my only opportunity to experience His love and faithfulness.
The Psalmists had this reverence and devotion for their God, and some of the most beautiful poems and creative expressions came as a result of that.
