Familys are being torn because of tragedy in the world. Fights, riots, and muttered statements are blooming from this seed of pain.
This world needs love. Peace. Understanding. Compassion. Care. Patience. Hope. Faith in human kind.
Please, let us work to make this world a little better. Let us look into our hearts and dig out the jaded, ripped up and mangled pieces and find ways to heal them. Let us search for peace. Let us strive to share goodness.
The only way to save the world is to start sharing love with those around you. And as they spread that love to others it will reach very far. The only way to have love to give is to be given love. Give, share, hope, love.
3 comments:
O Becca, you are so right. You are so wise. I just read your last 3 posts, full of pain and hope. I remember telling a young girl who was watching her family fall apart for the second time, to seek discernment for the things that never change, the things that always change, the things she can change, and the things she can't change. So many times in life the only thing that never changes is God, and the only thing we can change is what is inside of us. We want to have an impact on the world, especially on the ones we care about. Sometimes we can. Often we cannot. It is painful to watch people self destruct in front of our eyes. But people make their own decisions. The best we can do is choose to be safe. Choose to be strong. And, love unconditionally. That way when others are ready, we will be able to be there for them. The candle does not pursue those who choose darkness, but always stands ready for those who seek the light.
My dear, dear Becca,
You are a woman whose spirit runs deep with her Creator. And so you feel the joy and gladness as well as the pain and sorrow of others that many do not. And you know, instinctively, that the only way to find oneself is in the One who resides in His creation. You cry out in pain for others and yourself because you know the real answers can only be found by recognizing His presence within. I am proud of you as you seek not only His answer but also as you desire, in your deepest self, to follow what you find. I am grateful that you never stop dipping into your soul for the refreshment to all of life. As we all seek him in that way, we can reflect Love that is God to a dark world.
(Google won’t let me post the whole thing in one comment block. So part two is in the next comment☺
okay, here’s part two:
The following are excerpted quotes that I read over Advent. I actually couldn’t say specifically why or when they brought you to mind but they did. Are they related to the agony expressed in your recent blog posts? Perhaps; the reality is simply that I share them because it seems a good thing to do.
“Under God’s rule, conversion and obedience do not mean the loss of identity but the discovery of our true identity as one in Christ.”
“Our fall was, has always been, and always will be, that we aren’t satisfied in God and what he gives. We hunger for something more, something other.
The only thing that will satisfy our hunger for more is to hunger for the One who comes down to Bethlehem, house of Bread, the One who comes after us and offers himself as Bread for our starved souls.
And for all the wondering, this is the first question of the New Testament, when the wise men come asking, Where is he? We only find out where we are when we find out where he is. We only find ourselves
when we find him. We lost ourselves at one tree. And only find ourselves at another. ..you only come to yourself when you come to him
In all humanity’s religions, man reaches after God. But in all his relationships, God reaches for man. Reaches for you who have fallen and scraped your heart raw, for you who feel the shame of words that have snaked off your tongue and poisoned corners of your life, for you who keep trying to cover up pain with perfectionism.
Three words come through the dense thicket of failure: Where are you? Your God refuses to give up on you. Your God looks for you when you’re feeling lost, and your God seeks you out when you’re down, and your God calls for you when you feel cast aside. He doesn’t run down the rebel. He doesn’t strike down the sinner. He doesn’t flog the failure.”
“What a wearisome struggle it is to maintain our imagined autonomy! When we choose Christ instead of the endless demands of our own small selves as the path to life, we might imagine we are choosing a burdensome road, but instead we do indeed find rest for our souls! In Advent, we pray to be delivered from the heavy tyranny of our own desires and to be renewed in strength through Christ.”
A final prayer that seems especially sweet as we see the suffering of a world gone mad all around us:
“Lord Jesus, as I kneel before your manger in adoration, let my first Christmas word be: thank you. Thank you, Gift of the Father, for coming to save me from my sin.
Without you I do not know even how to be human. In that wondrous expression (of the divine Person of God’s Son) you reveal me to myself.
You come as a baby because babies are irresistible and adorable. You come as a baby because you want our fist impression of God Incarnate to be that of one who does not judge.
May the tenderness, the dependency, and the mercy that you reveal in your infancy become the hallmarks of my life.
Newborn Savior, the very silence of your Incarnation proclaims that the answer to the misery, the strife, and the meaninglessness we often experience in life cannot be found within us. You alone are the Answer.
Empty me of my willfulness, my petulance, my hardness, my cynicism, my contemptuousness. Fill me with your truth, your strength, your fortitude, your purity, your gentleness, your generosity, your wisdom, your heart, and your grace…O Emmanuel, may the assurance of your unfailing Presence be for me the source of unending peace.
The beauty of your holy face bears the promise that your Father will provide for us in all things. This Christmas I renew my trust in God’s goodness, compassion, and providence.
Loving Jesus, you are the only real joy of every human heart. I place my trust in you.”
I love you, Rebecca. Very much.
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