tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655599568530385562024-02-02T13:46:11.648-08:00LillyLilly Green--Everything Changes in the LightEverything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.comBlogger579125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265559956853038556.post-72220007301933603532024-01-30T09:29:00.000-08:002024-01-30T09:29:32.857-08:00Crazy, I Know!<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px;">Growing up, I didn’t have a lot to spend on luxuries of any sort. I certainly didn’t buy clothes since most of what I wore were hand-me-downs or bought new by my parents. I was trying to remember as a college student and young adult whether I bought clothes then. Hmm. I did buy those purple hot pants and leggings when I left college to sing full time, second billing to a hard rock band. (Never wore them on stage, though, since long hippy dresses were more the thing in Christian rock circles.)</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 30.345px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;">No, I didn’t shop a lot. My biggest expenditure other than food and rent was stationery and empty journals. There was just something about the blank page.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 30.345px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;">As a young mother busy raising kids, I didn’t buy much for myself. Part of it was thrift, part of it was busyness. I did sew some, but my needs weren’t great. When I got into quilting, I did spend money on fabric, but that is art, so it doesn’t count. Maybe.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 30.345px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;">When my husband and I retired, we allotted ourselves mad money accounts, and most of that has gone for photography equipment, which is indeed a luxury. But every expenditure came with a twinge of guilt–like this was unnecessary, and what about all those worthy causes out there, and what about all the needs and wants of my kids and grandkids.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 30.345px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;">A couple of weeks ago, I bought myself an air fryer. I don’t need an air fryer. I mean who needs another appliance to cook a better French fry? I have gone back and forth about its usefulness, my worthiness, my . . . who knows what! But I have decided it is just plain fun to have something new–something to experiment with. I went on Amazon and bought myself two 100% cotton nighties (not made in China!). And I am thinking that though I don’t need it at all, I may just go out and buy myself some expensive non-stick frying pans! And I may even buy the domain for this blog rather than just using the freebee.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 30.345px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;">It’s not that I am throwing caution to the wind, but I have decided I might deserve a little extravagance that goes beyond need. Crazy, I know.</p>Everything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265559956853038556.post-66893990680288891992024-01-29T20:18:00.000-08:002024-01-29T20:18:03.258-08:00Grey Moments of Life<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiL8L29F1udxR2JQrd2aouuQ3nnVQcTMwiHOEXgITUVN_tGfke0MWexTLN4pOSRnslr2cWUeEYIjcm5W5YZcf3_DuSErYgNVcCJb9X0mBCv5MwLcwS2JQEhtW5jYu5rHEGRO8EATvFlq6k6bersDeQO6oGJVGuT4T9fA8RWmrNSxnUaMf3PWVVLl0CF4Ok" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="604" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiL8L29F1udxR2JQrd2aouuQ3nnVQcTMwiHOEXgITUVN_tGfke0MWexTLN4pOSRnslr2cWUeEYIjcm5W5YZcf3_DuSErYgNVcCJb9X0mBCv5MwLcwS2JQEhtW5jYu5rHEGRO8EATvFlq6k6bersDeQO6oGJVGuT4T9fA8RWmrNSxnUaMf3PWVVLl0CF4Ok" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px;">The whup, whup of the medivac helicopter matched the beat of blood, pulsing in my ears. I couldn’t breathe. My hands were clenched in front of me. A position of prayer, I think. A blur. Help, Jesus.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 30.345px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;">They were talking to him in his shredded blue Grand “Was.” He was alive, but he looked dazed, moving in slow motion, or else I was seeing in slow motion.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 30.345px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;">The officer kept asking me stupid questions, keeping me from running to the car. I answered with one part of my brain as the rest of my soul and mind searched the accident scene for hope that my boy was going to be okay.</p><p class="has-text-align-center" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 30.345px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; text-align: center;">*********************</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 30.345px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;">It was a long journey, but he survived. That was one of those grey moments of life, though, when peace and ease are exchanged in a moment for panic and desperate prayers.</p>Everything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265559956853038556.post-40365824881687482872024-01-27T14:43:00.000-08:002024-01-27T14:43:56.572-08:00I Want to Return<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCg0FhEa6yLRKhiNKYF9FZZLX8Zkq8DItORjFyVwh78L31RyGnTYMUuFQNp2wghDG7fgtXWgEfpU_MGvN76i7b69hwc-XlFdKSbJeen2FM-l5b-fzP4rRCq1Yw-EgagIjA_0oDTPVQHzh81pZt8DvGA8aPGPFH2hxy-QjC87m-H14naDqPEpbzt7KbHgc/s595/7-91%20kids%20lane%20-%20Copy%20-%20Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="595" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCg0FhEa6yLRKhiNKYF9FZZLX8Zkq8DItORjFyVwh78L31RyGnTYMUuFQNp2wghDG7fgtXWgEfpU_MGvN76i7b69hwc-XlFdKSbJeen2FM-l5b-fzP4rRCq1Yw-EgagIjA_0oDTPVQHzh81pZt8DvGA8aPGPFH2hxy-QjC87m-H14naDqPEpbzt7KbHgc/s320/7-91%20kids%20lane%20-%20Copy%20-%20Copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">I want to return to that place—<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the comfort and ignorance of childhood, <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the rooftops, the trees, haylofts, and attics,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the fast river and railroad tracks that led nowhere and
everywhere,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">green fields and barbed wire fences, and salt licks for
sampling.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Free days. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I remember the scent of my father, the oil and hay, stale
manure, and Old Spice.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In church, I explored weathered hands with blackened nails, <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">sucking Lifesavers while adults thought about Jesus. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I remember mum in floral house dresses with sensible shoes,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">baking cookies, tender crusted pies, and fried bologna we
thought was a treat,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">berry picking and chauffeuring to Jeffrey’s Lake for a muddy
swim with leeches.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Free days, happy days—at least for a child.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I want to return to that place before the angry shouts of
opposition parties,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the heated debates about border, fentanyl, and sex
trafficking, <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the hot tears and anger with mass shootings and invasion
robberies. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To the place with unlocked doors and no coded security
systems,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">to the place where every neighbor was a friend and helper
and <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">not suspected of being on some sex offender’s registry.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Free days, ignorant days.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But there is no going back, I guess; <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">there is no unknowing and unseeing what the world has become,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and we would desperately protect our own, <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">hold off the darkness as long as possible; but<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">somehow it seems we have dragged our little ones along to
this troubled place.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But I would return if I could.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>Everything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265559956853038556.post-53952311124955349072024-01-26T13:42:00.000-08:002024-01-26T13:42:11.351-08:00Color Me Winter<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJcSgXKwSAkYRYIENNNJRAD1w3kFlpf0KxQw_i09y9bRSWnxoAO6QNCx30uk9Rg-5EevHgAdAUL5a_zymuBBZSPnjOrz3PdjciFVIIzDIDYOxbHPhlJd8ZogYiyqwBuqme5v0bqxy9k8NxgNTlPUiCXJ4-X9pFccRTmGNLALa6qgqBUzN3lhoxPV-wLk/s600/IMG_3423ed-studio%20-%20Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJcSgXKwSAkYRYIENNNJRAD1w3kFlpf0KxQw_i09y9bRSWnxoAO6QNCx30uk9Rg-5EevHgAdAUL5a_zymuBBZSPnjOrz3PdjciFVIIzDIDYOxbHPhlJd8ZogYiyqwBuqme5v0bqxy9k8NxgNTlPUiCXJ4-X9pFccRTmGNLALa6qgqBUzN3lhoxPV-wLk/s320/IMG_3423ed-studio%20-%20Copy.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>Everything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265559956853038556.post-8365387313901701622024-01-26T13:38:00.000-08:002024-01-26T13:38:14.558-08:00Respect<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL5gEA2Na_Mx0wBL0wvjJQHJMMdt2uE5B93F3QkvagU-4_fkGJxebJspOKWkY5OVkd8CQFAeNCuoGzmbMF3GlaB8qYhnzokEqCLG5BmB77-mRoo8BlqieuDjFmA6blufmKGvAX_rgpHVByDyexCVwiPW4E-w5IyJheNz-FUXtotpJzwbVzwnJkbMnULw0/s450/IMG_3374ed%20-%20Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="450" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL5gEA2Na_Mx0wBL0wvjJQHJMMdt2uE5B93F3QkvagU-4_fkGJxebJspOKWkY5OVkd8CQFAeNCuoGzmbMF3GlaB8qYhnzokEqCLG5BmB77-mRoo8BlqieuDjFmA6blufmKGvAX_rgpHVByDyexCVwiPW4E-w5IyJheNz-FUXtotpJzwbVzwnJkbMnULw0/s320/IMG_3374ed%20-%20Copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">I have been thinking about respect lately—given and
received. I guess I often thought of it as shouldered up against love. The
admiration and thoughtful regard that had any meaning, any authenticity, would
be so close to love as to be almost indistinguishable. But I have changed my
mind about this. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Someone can love me and yet show disrespect in how s/he
treats my ideas, my feelings, my needs. I have felt the distinction, and I’m
sure have been guilty of doing the same. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is not easy, though. Not easy to disagree emphatically
without showing a disregard for a person’s feelings and particular point of
view. The tricky thing is that when disrespect is consistently practiced, love
diminishes. It becomes a word used in meetings and greetings, but a word that
weakens with use because the soul food that nourishes love is poisoned by the
criticisms and insensitive barbs. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Respect is the doorway to real relationship—the foundation
of genuine love. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Everything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265559956853038556.post-46587045749078092182024-01-26T13:31:00.000-08:002024-01-26T13:31:21.238-08:00Poets in a Blender<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhri_Tbdhasvm_SwcEob60r3zW-KHMpnvpXLlnMD-MuSbnckI6FE1o3eDosxAiNWJrkAEtx5VIRFLcc3Ob58NqM_UZMyNjKjJktDx-gc884oia2Bgib258HPzXdzaV1mRo4FYMydWTwlEPm6ZlwMcnfohU24luRIXksSdUbAi7USHvCOy5-KtL4FOofKKc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="425" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhri_Tbdhasvm_SwcEob60r3zW-KHMpnvpXLlnMD-MuSbnckI6FE1o3eDosxAiNWJrkAEtx5VIRFLcc3Ob58NqM_UZMyNjKjJktDx-gc884oia2Bgib258HPzXdzaV1mRo4FYMydWTwlEPm6ZlwMcnfohU24luRIXksSdUbAi7USHvCOy5-KtL4FOofKKc" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px;">I think my barbaric yawp can sound</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 30.345px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;">not only on Walden’s Pond,</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 30.345px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;">in a metro, or</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 30.345px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;">beside a red wheelbarrow, but can also sound by a mended wall,</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 30.345px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;">near a road less travelled, and even in front of Herbert’s altar.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 30.345px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;">Nameless here and evermore one of Emily’s grand nobodies.</p>Everything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265559956853038556.post-50879026836567737972023-01-03T09:34:00.004-08:002023-01-03T09:34:49.182-08:00Roseate Spoonbill in Motion<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQUvA7SGmZyIHC4NPuqmupG4K2ssC5p6qoJyFukMyOmyYlHnABGlumoKxfdaR4jeSOeujaB5y1AgB_f13mjn_86oXml5TeBWSMuKn3hV3Flv5wtbPfDd3BQbw0iSSYpbL8NIL4M4FK4iDms7V4hvbjH1SWcBBVzKD6VIsjwOVR-2rfEae5OrEgSgF8" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2407" data-original-width="3168" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQUvA7SGmZyIHC4NPuqmupG4K2ssC5p6qoJyFukMyOmyYlHnABGlumoKxfdaR4jeSOeujaB5y1AgB_f13mjn_86oXml5TeBWSMuKn3hV3Flv5wtbPfDd3BQbw0iSSYpbL8NIL4M4FK4iDms7V4hvbjH1SWcBBVzKD6VIsjwOVR-2rfEae5OrEgSgF8" width="316" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Everything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265559956853038556.post-44579861456848737952021-12-07T10:00:00.000-08:002021-12-07T10:00:04.926-08:00Winter Wonder<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTdm9VB3dumMSxzMCbZ9wtFjENbyFH1Wu_egMOE1RR6WYcZOPefwwl8zSqIRG47mSP-NH9-p0ENJlmNd8_TaolcJPiOtIktEsmp4EpM6iQI1pDT-4JlDxs4-KJznsn1wtqNw7Gp6DZZi4/s593/creepy+forest+duo+1+nature+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="593" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTdm9VB3dumMSxzMCbZ9wtFjENbyFH1Wu_egMOE1RR6WYcZOPefwwl8zSqIRG47mSP-NH9-p0ENJlmNd8_TaolcJPiOtIktEsmp4EpM6iQI1pDT-4JlDxs4-KJznsn1wtqNw7Gp6DZZi4/s320/creepy+forest+duo+1+nature+-+Copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Everything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265559956853038556.post-52859517908887334242019-03-20T12:02:00.000-07:002019-03-20T12:02:48.962-07:00The Limping Church Triumphant<br />
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L-ife is to be lived with love as our mandate; but too often,</div>
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I-maginations are soiled with the cares and constraints of bolstering
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M-ansion here, rather than the one</div>
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P-prepared for us. Wishing to stay and wishing to go </div>
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I-s for those closest to heaven’s door and</div>
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N-ot for those distracted with position and purpose,</div>
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G-rounded, it seems, in earthly things. And we wound each other with</div>
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C-areless words; and we</div>
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H-arm the weak and disarm the strong, without </div>
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U-nderstanding we are servants one of another, chosen not by destiny
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R-edeemed and uniquely </div>
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C-hosen by Christ. He is the One we serve—not ourselves—with grace and</div>
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H-umility, forgiving one another, seeking each one’s best. </div>
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T-herefore, as God’s people, let us clothe ourselves with compassion;
let peace</div>
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R-ule our hearts, forgiving all grievances, responding</div>
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I-n love as Christ has loved us,</div>
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U-nfettered by ambition and pride and blind passion.</div>
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M-aster of all, Lord of Your church, it would seem our faith</div>
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P-aralysis is not a reflection of You but our</div>
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H-alf-hearted devotion, our crippling sins. </div>
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A-rise in our hearts; revive your chosen ones that we might </div>
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N-ot be so earthbound, but set our hearts on</div>
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T-hings above. This is my broken prayer.</div>
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<br /></div>
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***</div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">Colossians 3<br />
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above,
where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">on things above, not on earthly
things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When
Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt;"></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">5 Put to death, therefore,
whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust,
evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God
is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But
now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage,
malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">9 Do not lie to each other, since
you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new
self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here
there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian,
slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">12 Therefore, as God’s chosen
people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness,
humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one
another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord
forgave you.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">14 And over all these virtues put
on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">15 Let the peace of Christ rule
in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be
thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and
admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the
Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do,
whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks
to God the Father through him.</span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Everything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265559956853038556.post-88014676129635529462018-06-10T09:42:00.001-07:002018-06-10T09:42:25.701-07:00Seeing with New Eyes<h2 class="entry-title" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position-x: 0%; background-position-y: 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: black; font-family: &quot; font-size: 21px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 27.3px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC13tl_c-auzwbKoEsceLBiOtCnKaOjgvav2jdUEUJ-L567PMdYs7YElRLgjMAW0gV_NElchbuClIsDKhaUxZpPRuXLyeCLDbvHDrSp2RmVSvOoO1Qi2obk-V4S4tyT8IQxofI8lj6p1Y/s1600/IMG_1999+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="638" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC13tl_c-auzwbKoEsceLBiOtCnKaOjgvav2jdUEUJ-L567PMdYs7YElRLgjMAW0gV_NElchbuClIsDKhaUxZpPRuXLyeCLDbvHDrSp2RmVSvOoO1Qi2obk-V4S4tyT8IQxofI8lj6p1Y/s320/IMG_1999+-+Copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
</h2>
<div class="entry-meta" style="-ms-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position-x: 0%; background-position-y: 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border-bottom-color: rgb(119, 119, 119); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(119, 119, 119); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(119, 119, 119); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(119, 119, 119); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; color: #777777; font-family: &quot; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
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</span><br />
<div class="entry-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position-x: 0%; background-position-y: 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,&quot; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 12px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
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I had cataract surgery done a week and a half ago. I chickened out last year–something about a knife near the eyes bit! But I was getting desperate, so I did not read any contraindications and just went for it. I had not been able to drive at night for over 2 years, and even daily activities were becoming a strain. I probably should have asked more questions, though, because rather than a piece of cake, this “routine” surgery was more like liver and onions–more uncomfortable than I thought it would be.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position-x: 0%; background-position-y: 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position-x: 0%; background-position-y: 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />
I am very chemically sensitive, so having gotten through the procedure with fairly minor and endurable hiccups, the worst part became the reaction to the steroid drops which are needed for speedy healing. This is a five-week process, and I have quite some time to go, but I hope the worst is over.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position-x: 0%; background-position-y: 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position-x: 0%; background-position-y: 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />
That was the bad and the ugly. The good part is that somebody turned on the lights! Whites are whiter and colors are brighter, not to mention that everything has distinct edges and not fuzzy, ever-changing ones. The green in the traffic light is . . . well, green green! It is almost like a different color. It is not preferred by me to undergo any surgery, but given the positive change in my sight, I think it was worth it!</div>
<div style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position-x: 0%; background-position-y: 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position-x: 0%; background-position-y: 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />
My eyes are blue blue again. Haven’t been like this since forever! You don’t think about it because the discoloration and hardening happens slowly over time. Even my own photographic work is brighter and more colorful. And I have discovered I am a much better photographer than I thought. 🙂</div>
<div style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position-x: 0%; background-position-y: 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position-x: 0%; background-position-y: 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />
We don’t become aware of the hardening process that alters so much of what we see because it happens bit by bit, year by year. And only when it cannot be ignored any longer do we even recognize it is something to be dealt with. I am thinking that is kind of like what happens with our hearts. If betrayals and loss, disappointments and disillusionment build up, then over time the hardening becomes something to radically deal with. It interferes with our ability to prosper and see life and mission clearly. But it starts small, and it builds layer upon layer. I am not sure how to prevent that from destroying my joy, but my desire is that I would become aware of the hurts that bind and settle down into my spirit.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position-x: 0%; background-position-y: 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position-x: 0%; background-position-y: 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />
May I hold lightly to pain and hold tightly to renewal is my prayer.</div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Everything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265559956853038556.post-49521608701871606222018-03-27T16:46:00.000-07:002018-03-27T16:47:00.880-07:00Upside-down World<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">When what <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">was</i>
and now <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is not</i> happens in a wisp of a
moment,</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">when friends become foes, exchanging their trust for
biting and isolating words,</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">then it is plain to see that we are living in an
upside-down world. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">When conversations meant to break down barriers
instead erect the worst kind of walls,</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">when what I see and what you see suddenly are </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">oddly at odds </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">to the vision once shared,</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">then it is pain to see that we are as much a part of
this upside-down world as everyone we have observed from afar. Tut, tut, what a
shame it was. And is. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">We are in it, of it, and yearning for all to be made
right. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">What makes it worse is that the reflection is somewhat
like what we hope for; but </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">in its rippling distortion and everchanging color,
what’s hoped for seems like some cruel illusion. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Far off, unattainable, yet present enough to hunger
the soul. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">======================</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Proverbs 13:12 (NLT)</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 18pt; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Hope deferred makes the heart sick,<br />
but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 18pt; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">3-24-18</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<br /></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Everything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265559956853038556.post-33140723327176394122018-03-27T16:43:00.000-07:002018-03-27T16:43:20.169-07:00Have Mercy<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpWBPPd0MjgTv9T0hTDbw1pdqu8wgMssaKJFPH6LsuiyF9gb3JXQU9-OSuQeGRl_fmYE3mDpOKwmF_f03rIC6c-Bt3qHEZxjmZD4YklgZTPla9hFwP5n4tlZ4KW7yqGIvvY-ZiL6Jcl0g/s1600/IMG_5412.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1047" data-original-width="1600" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpWBPPd0MjgTv9T0hTDbw1pdqu8wgMssaKJFPH6LsuiyF9gb3JXQU9-OSuQeGRl_fmYE3mDpOKwmF_f03rIC6c-Bt3qHEZxjmZD4YklgZTPla9hFwP5n4tlZ4KW7yqGIvvY-ZiL6Jcl0g/s320/IMG_5412.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Oh, Lord of the broken and heartsick,</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">of the world weary and tumult tossed,</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">have mercy.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Oh, Lord of the fractured and failing,</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">of the wounded and flailing,</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">have mercy on us.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">May our beliefs align with Your truths, </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">and may our weakness not hinder Your kingdom work</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">here in this battleground</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">between earth and heaven,</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">between the cross and the crown.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Oh, Lord of the blind and beleaguered, </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">the willing but wanting, </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">have mercy on us here below.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">May our hearts break for the living lost</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">and our hands be quick to holy tasks </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">here on this hallowed ground</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">between world and wonder,</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">between sacrifice and song.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Oh, Lord, have mercy on us here below we pray.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span>Everything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265559956853038556.post-14308582804529526382018-03-27T16:40:00.000-07:002018-03-27T16:40:32.893-07:00Once Again
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCZfdSdUSOEex7FmNIb74Yy9Lksus-EpReZ69YiIfqoTKuhX9F-9rpEEPqKpfgy5X0vJ3XxoKEv5-GgU_uOBsboEnem0cDQ0ei022DM62-UgMtR7RMGgnJ1egnI6biixru9MColeFyFRs/s1600/IMG_5484+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCZfdSdUSOEex7FmNIb74Yy9Lksus-EpReZ69YiIfqoTKuhX9F-9rpEEPqKpfgy5X0vJ3XxoKEv5-GgU_uOBsboEnem0cDQ0ei022DM62-UgMtR7RMGgnJ1egnI6biixru9MColeFyFRs/s320/IMG_5484+-+Copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">These witchy trees, bare and lifeless, cold and leafless:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">One might wonder where life has gone and if all hope is gone,
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">receded into the dark earth. But </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">in one moment, that gifted second,</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">a nub of green sprouts, a speck of promise appears, and the
sleeper rises, </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">stretches to the sky. Renewal happens once again—</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">from death to life.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">That these dormant praises in me would rise again,
unchained.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">That these sleeping sermons once more would reach my mouth
that I may speak of Your wonder, </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">once again.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<br /></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span>Everything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265559956853038556.post-47666468874891190972018-03-09T15:53:00.000-08:002018-03-09T15:53:24.261-08:00These Carnal Threads
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikjCfQ3nnkx5CD3wFwAafht-2sEK9jh7d0VVCUdYvG9oJz9rihg6CvZvgCJYLnhy0ZlqDkqhLfL73vVs-hvblKwdSc3vV4spSedMHC2Wpd0RPMt7c1TtHFUGWJUldi3tDbCw9bu3o8l04/s1600/From+AB+and+MJ+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="354" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikjCfQ3nnkx5CD3wFwAafht-2sEK9jh7d0VVCUdYvG9oJz9rihg6CvZvgCJYLnhy0ZlqDkqhLfL73vVs-hvblKwdSc3vV4spSedMHC2Wpd0RPMt7c1TtHFUGWJUldi3tDbCw9bu3o8l04/s320/From+AB+and+MJ+-+Copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">I look down at my hands and know that within those tissues
and cells, blood is coursing, </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">coming from, </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">going to, </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">minute after minute, circuit upon circuit. But where is my
soul in this pink, freckled flesh? Where is my spirit in this troubled,
pondering life?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">Is the soul hitching a ride on red blood cells as they
careen by the white?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">Is my spirit holed up in one of my vital organs? My brain,
maybe? Concentrated in a command center, overseeing all my worldly
cognition.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">Perhaps soul and spirit share space, intertwined in the four
chambers of my pulsing heart.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">But when the soul is gone, the hands are still there, and even
the blood; but what stops really when we say life is gone? As the flesh cools,
lying motionless, is the me-part that is really me immediately absent, </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">or hovering, waiting for further instructions?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">It is said to be absent from the body is to be present with
the Lord, but I am wondering when the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">absent</i>
happens. What changes in that one fragile second to another when what was
thought alive is now </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">dead</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">and these carnal threads release their hold?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">3-9-18</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<br /></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: calibri;"></span>Everything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265559956853038556.post-58255454105605281672017-08-22T11:01:00.001-07:002017-08-22T11:01:05.058-07:00Surrender
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFr7B6PSWv3n6zzBqGT8uvGdyS8vM60bRUoKy4TM036C8asu8S8CPW-n_ap88zMpZ7jei5nmUs291Cb0e4-sTJoaHHo_tzb2EqKJYFy_S0rN8LHgHJE_dyhzXZdYCDNr5xup24AD-c_T4/s1600/IMG_4816+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="598" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFr7B6PSWv3n6zzBqGT8uvGdyS8vM60bRUoKy4TM036C8asu8S8CPW-n_ap88zMpZ7jei5nmUs291Cb0e4-sTJoaHHo_tzb2EqKJYFy_S0rN8LHgHJE_dyhzXZdYCDNr5xup24AD-c_T4/s320/IMG_4816+-+Copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">Surrender feels like failure. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">It feels depressing, like giving up. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">There is a darkness to it, a weight to it—the unwilling
outmanned, outmaneuvered, surrounded, and pressed to defeat.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">Surrender feels like exhaustion. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">It feels compressing, like yielding up the last breathless bits
of me.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">And yet You call me to this laying down of arms jazz</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">in exchange for Your loving arms. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">And I find that surrender to You is not as much giving up as
over—not as much failing as falling into a tender pull,</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">deference to one more wise and able, after all my best ideas
have faltered and failed,</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">after all my excuses have dried in my mouth,</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">after all my tears have washed away nothing.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">It is the unclenching of a fist, the unmasking of a façade.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">It is the baring of a war-torn will, the stripping of all that
chokes and hinders.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">And I find that surrender to You is not as much like crying
“uncle,”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">but more like a hallelujah. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: calibri;"></span>Everything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265559956853038556.post-29846386914352102142017-07-28T11:13:00.000-07:002017-07-28T11:14:16.866-07:00Willing To Be Defeated<br />
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px 0px 11px; text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTjIoR0Q6yJ3RdBxZ4cn6s4Pm0AQYZqfewxP0ZE-f4FyVqDuy_b85S3FWw_IXCoOb2yhXVJm55IWwmpHsUmmgGYsd3tvKlsvi994_WS-qC7RatUXwcmcQfwrkZDW4rzwjaV_SUal2Usnc/s1600/IMG_3371+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="450" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTjIoR0Q6yJ3RdBxZ4cn6s4Pm0AQYZqfewxP0ZE-f4FyVqDuy_b85S3FWw_IXCoOb2yhXVJm55IWwmpHsUmmgGYsd3tvKlsvi994_WS-qC7RatUXwcmcQfwrkZDW4rzwjaV_SUal2Usnc/s320/IMG_3371+-+Copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I used to be
cocksure, </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">willing to
trample fragile souls for the sake of being right. And </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">it hurts to
think I was so unlike Your sacrificial kindness, so unlike Your bleeding,
selfless truth. </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">May I be
willing to be defeated to win one. May I grow accustomed to embarrassment to at
least appear humble as the pride prickles are chiseled away—one by one, by
weary one.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">My kingdom
looks ever dim in the bright hues of Your shining presence—and may all see You </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">in spite of
me.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">If I would feed
on Your words more than I feed on my need, I would be so much more nourished </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">with life to
give.</span></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span>Everything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265559956853038556.post-58102533338303447302017-04-09T10:46:00.000-07:002017-04-09T10:47:49.531-07:00A Limping Life<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3J-yEnSwDmWdCcEMpWwvDxEcjrrXG2C-O3Vxxx7WtBm8VmsUO_sYd2pen61-KHEyvRiq2tY8KO-ZGl0yxNcPvwhv0mRFD0fghqQxk4sSAnNsHtueGRTeqvOSJF1-3I-KDVoCbihqILUc/s1600/IMG_2810+-+Copy+%25282%2529+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3J-yEnSwDmWdCcEMpWwvDxEcjrrXG2C-O3Vxxx7WtBm8VmsUO_sYd2pen61-KHEyvRiq2tY8KO-ZGl0yxNcPvwhv0mRFD0fghqQxk4sSAnNsHtueGRTeqvOSJF1-3I-KDVoCbihqILUc/s400/IMG_2810+-+Copy+%25282%2529+-+Copy.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px 0px 11px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I heard your whisper in the wind, and </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I leaned to listen; but </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">my lisping voice rose rough and rasping, replaying all the
shame moments, </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">the named moments—over and over, </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">owning their bite. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I glimpsed your face in the green breeze of spring, and </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I opened my eyes wide to see and be seen, but </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">the haze of doubt drifted down like a curtain, so I was
unsure of what was there; and </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">blinking long and hard only tired my eyes, </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">my heart, </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">my will. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I put my knee to ground in weakness, </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">convinced that my limping life would never be anything more
than this, </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">that tears would ever flow; but </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">you met me there </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">where </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">words are soft and </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">light is clear and </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">belief is birthed from unbelief.</span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px 0px 11px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">*****************</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Be still and know that
I am God. ~Psalm 46:10a</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Lord, I believe; help
thou mine unbelief. ~Mark 9:24b</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<br /></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Everything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265559956853038556.post-82937152786952539322016-12-29T12:02:00.000-08:002016-12-29T12:02:17.025-08:00Renewal
<br />
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; margin: 0px;">Renewal
always sounds bright and shiny, like a beautifully restored vintage car or a
vibrant blossom in the spring bursting from what had looked like a lifeless
branch. But the problem with renewal is that something has decayed in order for
it to require a new life. So restoration is a good thing. Right?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; margin: 0px;">But
renewal comes with a hitch. What is new is chained to what is old. When I walk
in fresh ways, my past self is not dismissed like a cast-off piece of clothing.
My past is the chain tied around my ankle, reminding me that whatever lies
ahead, whatever bright, polished penny-of-life has brought new life and vision,
I am only separated from what has gone before by my willingness to step intentionally
onto a new path. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; margin: 0px;">Sure
there are helps in people and programs. There is spiritual renewal that comes
from the supernatural. But as long as I walk in this skin and bone, my whole
story is part of me. Deaths, accidents, betrayals, and sufferings, both
physical and mental, do not suddenly and totally disappear in the presence of
some mysterious regeneration of self or circumstance. Glass-half-empty does not
of its own accord morph into glass-half-full. Renewal is the gritty process of
intentionally looking to what is ahead. It is the planting of one foot in front
of the other, heading toward a brighter prospect. It is the recognition that
what is really real will become actually real when faith becomes sight. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; margin: 0px;">In
faith, I may be a new creature and all things may become new in some spiritual
sense; but in truth, renewal here requires the commitment to press on in
weakness, not forgetting the other chapters of my story, but putting them in
the grander perspective of the whole story. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11.5pt; margin: 0px;">“Now
I know in part; then I shall fully know, even as I am fully known.” ~I Cor.
13:12b <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<br /></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Everything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265559956853038556.post-81566011997133287592016-07-19T20:04:00.000-07:002016-07-19T20:04:43.699-07:00Preface to My Profound Political Speech (Keeping It Real!!!!)<div style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25.5px; margin-bottom: 24px;">
First, thank you to all my fans and the planted vocal support placed throughout the crowd to give the illusion that I have more going for me than I do. </div>
<div style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25.5px; margin-bottom: 24px;">
I would like to thank my speech writers for the rousing, articulate diatribe I am about to recite. As politicians from the last century and this can testify, without you, the world would know that my handlers think I am incapable of presenting cogent arguments on this stage, let alone present truths that are worthy of electing me to the power and position I so earnestly crave. Of course, if they plagiarize the content, I have plausible deniability since I only saw the speech last night, and my views are so fluid they assume I will need to include material that has already had a favorable hearing. </div>
<div style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25.5px; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Thank you also to my handlers who coached me as to when I should raise my voice, sweep my hand, and shed a tear. The subtle pinch I give myself at various points is a very effective way to generate a tear without feeling that much emotion. (Pulling out nose hairs works, as well, but is harder to do in public.)The tight knot in the tie at my throat enables me to get very red-faced and sweaty at moments of righteous indignation. The "pause for effect or laughter" notes on the teleprompter are also a great help in reminding me to give space for my "plants" to insert the proper response, and by imitation and inspiration, influence the innocents around them into brainlessly jumping on this popular bandwagon.</div>
<div style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25.5px; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Please know that if I had to write my own material, I would not have become this successful, so join me in giving credit where credit is due--as long as they do not get my substantial paycheck and as long as they also take all the blame for any errors in construction and content. And now to begin . . .</div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25.5px; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;">
******************</div>
<div style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25.5px; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<em>It is with great humility and transparency that I accept your rallying support, adulation, and finances on this historic day! . . .</em></div>
<div style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25.5px; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<br data-mce-bogus="1" /></div>
Everything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265559956853038556.post-71782870194735770132016-07-02T16:22:00.003-07:002016-07-02T16:22:50.742-07:00It Doesn't Take Much<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjboqBhD3xnIfV5uXPgIO4mrDGt3S2tKMAItnbjkKRS-mBPXX8knKMT5XGM8z_zQEU4YToQOkLAu1h_EaCqQbAG1tQiw2Bide_gDIdfZ8jRKSl5xkpDG7Mimmy9bo5bW__wyIQYuit_Jhw/s1600/100_7687+-+Copy+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjboqBhD3xnIfV5uXPgIO4mrDGt3S2tKMAItnbjkKRS-mBPXX8knKMT5XGM8z_zQEU4YToQOkLAu1h_EaCqQbAG1tQiw2Bide_gDIdfZ8jRKSl5xkpDG7Mimmy9bo5bW__wyIQYuit_Jhw/s320/100_7687+-+Copy+-+Copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
It doesn’t take much to shake confidence.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Brick by brick, you structure a world with truths and practices you
trust are best—</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
sure—</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
guaranteed with positive outcomes. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
And then the slight shift,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
the murmur of doubt.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
It doesn’t take a crushing blow—only the soft winds of uncertainty,</div>
the weighted air of disappointment. And collapse threatens.Everything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265559956853038556.post-27246830877780342292016-06-23T11:00:00.003-07:002016-06-23T11:00:30.228-07:00I Wonder<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyXp454FmHJ7OqOSNCT_rf_lzEELzuEclumh5lAspXuBM0oiJ2CBsJGTyq5KAveGUeFFJZPKY6G3yAf_h4nd_LXPNLsvubAfnB2BZzMwHIOguKznai_6w-p0ZukIGwPz2IKcb0t_ZwHMM/s1600/119+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyXp454FmHJ7OqOSNCT_rf_lzEELzuEclumh5lAspXuBM0oiJ2CBsJGTyq5KAveGUeFFJZPKY6G3yAf_h4nd_LXPNLsvubAfnB2BZzMwHIOguKznai_6w-p0ZukIGwPz2IKcb0t_ZwHMM/s320/119+-+Copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Do you ever wonder about all these people you have crossed
paths with, crossed wills with, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and do you ever wonder what it will be like to spend
eternity with them—those who pressed all your wrong buttons and abused your
good nature? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They believe the same as you—except for all the details of
doctrine where you are right and they are wrong.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But that should not keep them out of heaven, right?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s easy to segregate from the unfaithful, of course; that <i>us-</i>t<i>hem</i>
thing works much more efficiently there. But it’s the faulty faithful I have
trouble seeing alongside me as I walk on blissful shores. It is much more
comfortable to see them in my mind’s eye punished for all the insensitivities,
the lies, and . . . I think they were lies.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But then again . . .</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Do you ever wonder when you accidentally meet up in a shop
or accidentally stalk their Facebook page whether or not they have
changed—whether they are sorry for the wrongs and whether they are properly
chagrined at how they refused to value your wisdom and gentle spirit?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Do you wonder how God could love them the same as He loves
you when their diminished character kind of makes you ashamed to call them
brother and sister?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I wonder as I blunder. </div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
********************</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="background: rgb(243, 246, 249);">“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with
one another in love.” Ephesians 4:2<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="background: rgb(243, 246, 249); font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="background: rgb(243, 246, 249); font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">“He has shown
you, O mortal, what is good.</span></i><i><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<span style="background: #F3F6F9;">And what does the Lord require of you?</span><br />
<span style="background: #F3F6F9;">To act justly and to love mercy</span><br />
<span style="background: #F3F6F9;">and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8</span></span><o:p></o:p></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Everything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265559956853038556.post-42899056231383621242016-05-31T11:25:00.000-07:002016-05-31T11:32:54.323-07:00The You That's Me<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<img alt="182 - Copy" src="https://apronheadlilly.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/182-copy.jpg?w=640" /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
There is a grieving for opportunities past, opportunities lost. It’s
like the world moved on when you just stepped off momentarily to take a quick
look—and it’s gone. Not the world, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
but the world you thought you knew. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
There is a grieving for the identity you had carefully (or maybe not so
carefully) nurtured—okay, it kind of just happened, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
but the happening seemed real and sure until one day you woke, and you
realized you are not important anymore. Well, maybe you weren’t before, but at
least you thought you were. Didn’t the world somehow revolve around you? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
You are patronized that you can do some things well—and at your age! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
When you are young, those things you do well are fuel for an ever expanding
future—the first step to a waiting, dazzling world, begging for your grand
entrance with its greatest hits. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
But those same skills and gifts at 60-something are quaint, anomalies
in a fading body and aching mind. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
You have had to step aside for all the young, pushing from the rear—</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
because the utilitarian you is now seen as an impediment to the
dreamers closing in. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
And you are known more for your aches than your art—</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
more for your halting step than your racing mind.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Wisdom is underrated by the young; but </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
for all you have lost, that you have indeed gained, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
but there is something muddled in this system when you finally have a
substantive message but have lost your audience. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
**********************</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 11.35pt; margin-bottom: 4.75pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span class="text"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">II Corinthians 4:
7-8, 16-18: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 11.35pt; margin-bottom: 4.75pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span class="text"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">We now have this
light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars
containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is
from God, not from ourselves.</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 11.35pt; margin: 0in 0in 4.75pt;">
<span id="en-NLT-28828" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="text"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are
not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 11.35pt; margin-bottom: 4.75pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span class="text"><b><sup><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></sup></b></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">That
is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are<sup data-fn="#fen-NLT-28836e" data-link="[<a href="#fen-NLT-28836e" title="See footnote e">e</a>]" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </sup>being renewed every day.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 11.35pt; margin-bottom: 4.75pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span class="text"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">For
our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for
us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="text"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">So
we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things
that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the
things we cannot see will last forever.</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span id="en-NLT-28838" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">
</span></span><br />
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<br /></div>
Everything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265559956853038556.post-1482397004879996782016-05-02T09:47:00.000-07:002016-05-02T09:47:10.659-07:00Of the Desperate<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="551 - Copy" src="https://apronheadlilly.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/551-copy.jpg?w=640" /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Brushing the robe, halting hesitant, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
two fingers barely touched the hem— </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
desperation </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
bleeding pain and disappointment for years and tears.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was a desperate touch, a face-to-ground, weighted-down
touch.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And in the moment He knew, and I knew.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the jostle of swarming feet, flying dust and flailing
pleas, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
insignificant me, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
me on the fringe, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
gripped the fringe of his garment; and in one moment, the
tiny thread that held me tethered to life and hope became sacred bonds of the everlasting,
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and I was healed. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Everything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265559956853038556.post-31032332588959493282016-04-19T15:33:00.000-07:002016-04-19T15:33:20.071-07:00Contemplation is Preparation<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<img alt="056 - Copy" src="https://apronheadlilly.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/056-copy.jpg?w=640" /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
What people
see are externals; physical attributes, profiles and position, passions and
power—</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
or lack
thereof. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
People see
actions and assume motivation; </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
people see
doubt and assume weakness. What people see is not me. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I am more
than my package, more than my history, more than my gifts, and </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I need to be
listened to. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I shouldn’t
need validation, but how do I know I really exist if I don’t hear back from the
universe I walk in? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Reading
alone in a window seat, viewing nature from my perch, writing poetry and
capturing all I see in drawings and photos, words that rhyme—I used to think
that would be enough. It would be like playing cello on a deck in a wild, ethereal
Alaskan wood—no one listening except the trees and sky and creatures hidden
from view. Mystic communion with the world.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Romantic
nonsense. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Contemplation
is preparation—not enough just as is.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
If it does
not prepare me to worship or serve or commune with others, meditation and
creation are empty romantic drivel. And if there is no one to hear, then</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
the ribbon
of music drifts on the air and is just as lost to the cosmos as if it had never
been played.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
So I need to
create, but I also need you. </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Are you
listening to me?</div>
Everything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265559956853038556.post-90981706229313893342016-04-01T20:06:00.000-07:002016-04-01T20:06:30.037-07:00For Something More<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<img alt="024 - Copy" src="https://apronheadlilly.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/024-copy1.jpg?w=640" /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
I woke early in the dark and cold with only red numbers projected on
the ceiling, confirming that yes, it is early, and yes, it is still dark 04
hundred. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
I lie here awake. The pain has been my alarm, and I am so tired,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
tired of tired, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
tired of it. And I long for heaven.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
When you are strong, heaven is an ever-after long time ahead—a warm,
fuzzy promise for after I have collected all my joys </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
and toys </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
and am done with them, ready to move on. But as time wanes and the body
fails, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
what I have played with seems much more shallow; </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
what I thought would last forever is fading fast, and </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
my perspective is turned to what is ahead rather than what is behind </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
. . . or now. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
And the nice ever after becomes a longing, and the firmly held hope
becomes a thing of desperation because if there is nothing more—nothing beyond </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
this, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
weakness,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
betrayal,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
the emptiness of Solomon days,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
then there is no hope at all. It—</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
life—energies spent—</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
will have been the unproductive works of fools. And we will know that
as we drift toward annihilation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Hope makes sense of it. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
God makes sense of it all.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Why would violence unsettle us?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Why would unfaithfulness feed bitterness in our hearts?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
We might as well cry as laugh—just as well harm as help. Nothing would
matter—</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
and yet it does. </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Even those who profess a no-god know we are made for something more. </div>
Everything Changeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01235695098951091561noreply@blogger.com0