life: acoustic & amplified

poetry, quotes & thoughts about life

Archive for the month “August, 2012”

Give our leader your justice, O God,

and your righteousness to those in power.

May they judge your people with righteousness,

and your poor with justice.

May the mountains yield prosperity for the people,

and the hills, in righteousness.

May they defend the cause of the poor of the people,

give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor.

Psalm 72.1-4

 

God of eternal justice and mighty grace,

may your gentle healing and fierce compassion

overthrow those in power, and fill them with your love.

May your care for your littlest ones

invade our desires, sweep up our leaders,

overtake all greed, and transform the power in our hands.

May justice be our passion and love our courage.

May our leaders guide us in generosity

with gentleness, humility and truth.

By the self-giving of your grace,

may we overthrow all greed and oppression,

that none, in using power, may cause another’s suffering.

We give ourselves to the healing of the earth,

that we may be tender with even the mountains and hills.

God of mercy, may justice prevail:

not that we decide one another’s deserving,

but that we defend one another’s needs,

that all may have life, and have it abundantly,

in the spirit of your almighty tenderness and grace.

Amen.

_________________    

Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Unfolding Light

www.unfoldinglight.net

live brave and free

Be fearless. Have the courage to take risks. Go where there
are no guarantees. Get out of your comfort zone even if it
means being uncomfortable. The road less traveled is sometimes
fraught with barricades bumps and uncharted terrain. But it is
on that road where your character is truly tested. And have the
courage to accept that you’re not perfect, nothing is and no
one is — and that’s OK.
– Katie Couric

the ‘pour-out-your’ bucket list

The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone,
but the things you do for others remain as your legacy.
– Kalu Kalu

Ann Voskamp’s writes on her blog yesterday over at A Holy Experience was her thoughts on Bucket Lists –

I’ve never had a bucket list, and I’m thinking that I don’t want a bucket list as much as I want a poured bucket list. I’m thinking:

The best lives don’t have Bucket Lists as much as they have Empty Bucket lists.

Because the thing is when I kick the bucket, I don’t want there to be anything left in my bucket. When I kick the bucket, I want the bucket right empty.

I don’t want my life to be how I took experiences — but that I gave exceedingly.

That I gave every last drop, that I poured it all out, that I held nothing back. Because the way to really live is not to try to fill your life up — but to spill your life out.

“Where do you want to go?” the editor urges.

“What do you want to see — and, most important, with whom? Then just do it! Figure out a way to make it happen, and 20 years from now, you will not be disappointed. As we have the opportunity to check items off the list, not only are we given fantastic stories to share, but we also gain memories that will last a lifetime.”

This is what has changed me: writing thanks down on the list — and who can hoard their life when they see the abundance of His grace?

I hold the magazine in both hands and it’s unexpected — how wild I feel to rewrite this whole thing:

The question is really is not what you want to see — but who do you want to serve — and yes, most importantly, for Whom. Then do that!


read the full post at http://www.aholyexperience.com/2012/08/best-bucket-list/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HolyExperience+%28Holy+Experience%29

I concur!

The secret to life is to begin living with thankfulness for a glimpse of grace – and then finding that EVERYTHING is grace!

How then can we not pour out our lives for this gift, this love beyond our human comprehension, we have been so richly and freely given?

I want to live to be 100!

This is actually a surprise to me. I have been so busy surviving over the past 47 years, I haven’t really faced the truth of how long I want to live. In fact, I don’t think I meant to, but in the back of somewhere, I don’t think I believed I was going to live a long and happy life.

I have just tried to live thankfully in each moment, but I haven’t looked ahead.

Last night, reading Love, Medicine & Miracles, by Dr. Bernie S. Siegel, I faced that surprising fact, and made the decision! Yes! I want to live to be 100!

I want the next 53 good and happy years to connect with community and live all the lessons I have learned through these hard years. I want to love my children and (coming sometime) grandchildren! I want life!!! haha It makes me giddy just to write it and read it back to myself! Lalala! I want to

So, once again, I think about how I need to do that! I know I need to eat healthier, drink more water and EXERCISE!!!! I must take care of my body and treat it with respect and honor if it is going to be my home for the next 53 years! It is interesting how differently I am already thinking this morning, having realized this choice! So exciting!

http://him.uk.msn.com/health-and-fitness/surprising-tips-for-living-to-100

http://pinterest.com/opheliasroom/all-things-anti-aging/

new every morning

Renew, release, let go. Yesterday’s gone. There’s nothing you
can do to bring it back. You can’t ‘should’ve’ done something.
You can only DO something. Renew yourself. Release that
attachment. Today is a new day!
– Steve Maraboli

an amazing day

This is my living faith, an active faith, a faith of verbs:

To questions, explore, experiment, experience, walk, run,

dance, play, eat, love, learn, dare, taste, touch, smell,

listen, speak, write, read, draw, provoke, emote, scream, sin,

repent, cry, kneel, pray, bow, rise, stand, look, laugh,

cajole, create, confront, confound, walk back, walk forward, circle, hide and seek.
– Terry Tempest Williams

Thank you to
A Small Group Community

Peter Block, Ward Mailliard & every participant!

A Small Group Intensive Learning Opportunity

http://asmallgroup.ning.com/

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.  It is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead

To John and Dara

It’s not just that you found me
at the foot of the cross
But that you reached out and
joined me there
with Christ

All one

It’s not just that you met my real physical need
You left me with so much more than dollars
You bound my wounds with your prayers
and You became my neighbor

All One

It’s not just that you took the time to ask why I cried
You made my heart glad and dried my tears
with the balm of your truth
You bound us together
with your understanding and your vulnerabilities

All one

It’s not that we spoke
but that you spoke to me first
You took the initiative
to reach out
to dare
to ask
to enter into community
to live dangerously
to get messy and personal
with me

All one

It’s so much more than
just a few moments of time that you have given me
You have given me a most precious gift
Yourselves
Our spirits
poured out
connected
together

All one
at the foot of the cross

how we change the way we look at life

New newsletter over at Songs from the Valley about Perceptions. I believe it is possible to change the way we look at ourselves, others and even the world around us, but it takes learning how!

Great article by my friend, and amazing author, Ocean Palmer http://oceanpalmer.com/ featured artwork by Daniel Brooks Grove http://danielbrooksgrove.com

www.songsfromthevalley.com then click on the picture!

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy

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to do list

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