life: acoustic & amplified
poetry, quotes & thoughts about life
Archive for the category “Blessing”
God is in the darkness with us, but not of the darkness
When darkness descends on you,
the unknown enfolds you,
the unseen holds you close,
when you look about for light
but see only shadow,
a way that can’t be found:
know that you have entered
the Holy of Holies,
the presence of God.
In the darkest regions,
the shady neighborhoods,
places under a pall if gloom
where mercy and justice are hidden:
God is not absent, but cloaked,
and holds her beloved even closer.
Bright mystery, holy darkness,
strip us of knowing too much.
Glory so thick you absorb all light,
bless us, who cannot see.
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
http://www.unfoldinglight.net
Creator of the Universe,
Loving Mystery, Womb of Silence,
you have brought me out of the narrows
into a broad and spacious place.
I will not return to confinement,
but remain here in your generous freedom.
I guard the silence at the center;
I hold the moment empty and open.
I breathe in,
and make sanctuary in my body for you.
I make room in my thoughts
for you to enter and be at peace.
I offer openings in my day,
where you may rest.
I create space in my living
for you alone.
I enter the holy of holies
where you make of this moment
the void of Creation,
the gift of Sabbath.
Amen.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Got any rivers you think are uncrossable?
Got any mountains you can’t tunnel through?
God specializes in things thought impossible.
And He can do what no other can do.
– Unknown
Looking at them, Jesus said,
“With people it is impossible, but not with God;
for all things are possible with God.”
Mark 10:27
Maritta Terrell
Thoughts are also posted at:
http://thoughtsaday.blogspot.com/
We don’t deny the negative, we just put it in the proper context as being miracles for our own growth. – Mastin Kipp
Everything you take for granted is a blessing. Everything you fear is a friend in disguise. Everything you want is a part of you. Everything you hate you hate about yourself. Everything you own does not define you. Everything you feel is the only Truth there is to know.
Everything you wish for is already on its way to you. Everything you think creates your life. Everything you seek for you will find. Everything you resist will stick around. Everything you let go of stays if it’s supposed to. Everything you need is right where you are.
Every time you bless another your bless yourself. Every time you blame another you lose your power. Every time you think you can, you can. Every time you fall you must get up and try again. Every time you cry you’re one tear closer to joy. Every time you ask for forgiveness, all you have to do is forgive yourself.
Everyone you see is your reflection. Everyone you know mirrors you. Everyone wants to be happy. Everyone wants to live in joy. Everyone seeks a higher purpose. Everyone breathes the same breath. Everyone needs love to survive. Everyone has a purpose to fulfill.
Everyone’s the same as everyone else. We just get caught up in labels, names, skin color and religion. Everyone’s the same as everyone else. No one wants to feel the pain. Everyone’s the same as everyone else. Everyone is dying for love to remain.
– Jackson Kiddard
Via The Daily Love
www.thedailylove.com
beauty is everywhere you look for it
keep your eyes open everywhere for amazing blessings like this street art!
Jesus never looked down on others by Jon Walker
Think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. (1 Corinthians 1:26 NIV)
Jesus never looked down on others, and that gave him the ability to see them as people. They weren’t users, consumers, or customers. They were people in need of a relationship with him, not a dos-and-don’ts religion.
Once we understand our identity in Christ, we will begin to see people in a similar way. We will see that they are eternal beings, created in the image of God. We will no longer use their circumstances or sins to define who they are; we will see who they are through the eyes of Jesus.
This perspective, so different from our natural tendencies, brought out the best in the people Jesus met. He saw their true value, and, as a result, they came to know their true value.
Consider:
- Jesus saw a woman who would sin no more when others saw a woman caught in adultery.
- Jesus saw a man who was able to see when others saw a blind man.
- Jesus saw a man picking up his mat to walk when others saw a cripple.
- Jesus saw a huge yet hurting heart when others saw a wee little man named Zacchaeus.
- Jesus saw an articulate disciple when others saw a tax collector named Matthew.
- Jesus saw a woman of willing sacrifice when others saw wasted perfume.
- Jesus saw a stable rock for building the Church when others saw an impulsive, impetuous disciple named Peter.
- Jesus saw men who did not know what they were doing when others saw evil men pounding nails into a cross.
Our objective is to stop seeing others from our limited perspective and to start seeing them in the way God sees them, encouraging the best of others, bringing them to the one who wants more than all the world what is best for them — Christ the Lord (Luke 2:8-10).
a poem on poems
A simple line of black words
On a white background
Like stars hung in white space
I catch myself
Breathless
from the beauty.
That so few words
can carry this much content
A complete story told
Within a few well-placed letters
Feeding my soul
(My cup runneth over)
Line by line
Condensed
Full
Sharp
Brilliant
Precise
Dripping
Creating images in my mind –
Inspiring me to try it for myself
The people so different –
Hayden Carruth
Ann Voskamp
Kathy Galloway
Steve Garness-Holmes
The Psalmist
Wendell Barry
Rumi
Robert Frost
Emily Dickenson
– My list is ever growing
The search for beauty will never be completed in this lifetime
There are infinite possibilities –
Just like the the people and the words
they are infinite and unique
They fill me
saturating me with
so much more than I can express
Some old
Some new
All calling me
Inspiring me
Challenging me
To find my own voice
To add my own lovely word-jewelry to the mix
Inviting me
To change the world
No comparisons needed
each one stands alone
joy
these words
Put together by brave people
speaking simply from their own place of being
Humble and grand
experiences
Blend in harmony –
It is humanity
Such different voices
Yet each so clear
connected
Graciously allowing me to find my own place among them
In this jewelry box of words
Beginning with a thought
Poured on blank pages
To feed the hungry souls
Searching
The ones
In need on new thoughts and
Ideas
Inspiration and
learning
In this ever-always, wide-open, universe of the unending
Yes, all connected
Here, there and everywhere
From beginning to end
The Word (and we) endure
For ever and ever
Amen AL 8/1/12
as much as we want
I don’t want you to get all A’s in life. I want you to get life. I want you to get God. A.W. Tozer said that you can have as much of God as you want.
It’s wild to think about that: How much of God do you really want? How happy do you really want to be? Why would you avoid Him and all your joy — when you could hunger for Him and have as much happiness as you want?
Ann Voskamp/July 10, 12
http://www.aholyexperience.com
——————————————————————————————
The sun rose this morning
with more light than you know what to do with.
More beautiful green living things
reach out to you
than you’ll ever have time to consider.
More birds sing to you than you’ll ever listen to.
Immeasurable grace
is poured out upon you,
splashing,
most of it rivering down your legs
and into the floorboards.
More of what you need to carry on
is secreted into your heart than you believe.
There is hope enough folded into this world.
Of forgiveness and tender delight
you are given more
than you can ever use or comprehend.
Of the darkest mystery,
dense with love
like the billioning stars,
you are given so much more,
even in your bleakest droughts,
your dustiest griefs and desolations,
than you can know.
And of you yourself,
given with confidence to this effulgent universe,
there is so much more than you can see,
so much more.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
life: acoustic & amplified 