River Flow

make my heart a quiet river,

flowing deep

springs rise up to water the earth

God's green earth

where seeds are planted

and grow

by water and the spirit

they will grow

they will grow

water, spirit, and the blood,

which opens hearts to flow again

broken hearts to flow anew

make my heart a quiet river,

flowing deep

Summer...

Life goes by so quickly... but it is so full.

No posts in June... but that's okay. I'm not a "blogger", really. ;) I just want to record parts of my journey, and hopefully encourage some in theirs. I've been spending a lot less time on the computer this summer, as I'm not taking any courses right now, and it's so nice.

After a cold and rainy June, we're finally getting some summer weather. It's been sunny and around 30 degrees celcius for the past several weeks, and the forecast predicts it to last until the end of the month! I'm loving it - the garden is finally growing, flowers are blooming, and we've been doing lots of barbequing and making smoothies. It's wonderful! :)

I've been doing a lot of reading, more housework, working on different projects, and working at Staples - I just got a job there in May. A very nice change from school. :)

I'm off to deal with some mint I harvested from my chocolate mint plant today... I'm going to experiment with drying and freezing some, as well as keeping some fresh for tea and garnishes. It smells delicious!

I'll be putting up a few more spontaneous, shorter posts as I have opportunity. May God bless each of you, and draw you more fully into abandonment to Him!

Perspective

Mexico 2008

Perspective...

How can we see, how can we understand the way we should?

Everything becomes relative... the horrific becomes history, rendering it commonplace. The deaths of 6 soldiers who died fighting in Afghanistan have a greater impact on us than the deaths of 6 million Jews during the holocaust or the 53 million victims of Roe v. Wade - but soon even last week's casualties grow old, and we become jaded to the sorrow others face. We can't afford to dwell on it, to let ourselves take on the cares of the world, can we? How would we be able to enjoy life?

Waiting 20 minutes at a restaurant for our food to arrive makes us more upset than the fact that 20,000 children died that day of malnutrition.

You say, "I had a horrible day," because the rain ruined your hair or you didn't pass a test. Not because your father was thrown in prison for being a Christian, or because you lost your home in a tsunami.

Is it all relative? No, it's not like the pain we face should be ignored or belittled because someone else is experiencing a greater pain. But maybe, just maybe, we are becoming so fixated on the petty trials of the North American middle class that we are closed off to the greatest needs. Are we just doing what's easy? Only what will ease our consciences?

Are we becoming dull to real needs? We need to look outward. The gospel must be central, but if we say we love God, 1 John says we WILL love those who are made in God's image, not only those who help boost our image.

Jesus preached a message of repentance. His first concern was for spiritual things. But this was the miracle of the incarnation - that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He carried our afflictions, healed our diseases, fed the hungry, gave sight to the blind, and brought the dead back to life. Shouldn't we also care about those kinds of needs? In Matthew 9:36, it says Jesus felt compassion for the people who were like sheep without a Shepherd. These were people to whom He offered the "gospel of the kingdom," and whom He also healed and fed physically. Jesus said, "Whatever you do to the least of these, you did it to me." That isn't just a positive statement, because He also said,  

"Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:41-46)

What is our perspective?