Then Sings My Soul…
Beautiful music is the art of the prophets that can calm the agitations of the soul;
it is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us.
– Martin Luther
life: acoustic & amplified
poetry, quotes & thoughts about life
Archive for the category “Hope”
Carpe Diem
Finally, what I really want is to be happy in this moment,
where the magic and miracles happen. Stay in the moment and all gifts are added as you breathe and take inspired action.
~Joe Vitale
For me 2012 is: the year of tenderness and vulnerability
Anne Voskamp (www.onethousandgifts.com) ‘names’ her years. My son, Brandon, and I used to have a rhyming theme for each year…ie: 2009 – will be fine; 2010 – time to win, etc. We would chant it and have fun, but overall it really didn’t have much meaning. 
I didn’t ‘name’ 2011, but, as I look back on it, it was truly a year of Transformation in many ways (check out the full Songs from the Valley Newsletter at www.songsfromthevalley.com).
Ann has chosen a greek word for ‘communion/community’ for her year 2012 – http://www.aholyexperience.com/2012/01/what-the-new-year-needs-most/. I like it. I even considered adopting it and taking the path with her this year, but as I sat down to write it, I realized that over this past year I have become more and more aware of the lack of tenderness and vulnerability in our lives and in our relationships – and how important it is! I must tell you it is one of my hardest and most challenging battles for me to continue to open my heart and offer tenderness and vulnerability to people who don’t even understand the principle. Yet, that is the heart of God to me, how could I not allow God to use me to show that heart to others?
I believe this so strongly, and continue to try to live it. I know this can only be from God – not me. It is my biggest miracle. I am not naturally tender. I can be very hard, I can set my mind and do very hard things – I have had to do very hard things. I am stubborn and I love fairness – I don’t naturally like to fight, but unfairness makes me want to fight to win! Yet, my belief system continues to challenge my heart. I have experienced much unfairness in my life, and God has used it to break me open and show me the importance of tenderness and vulnerability. ‘Love your enemies’ has kicked my proverbial butt many time! In 46 years, I only have one friend who has ever allowed me to glimpse a return of this principle in action. That friend has made a huge impact on my life, even though the friendship is, in some ways, very distant.
It is one of the most challenging things in my life for me to continue to practice what I believe on this issue, and yet I know it must be done, I want to get so much better at it, but I have a feeling this will always be something I will find difficult – if it was easy everyone would do it, right? All I know for sure is – without it there is no true, unconditional love in the world.
I understand why so many people are hurting and why they have shut down, and I know how important it is to show them they have a choice, and that making those choices are an all important, vital part of love and of living a happy and full life! And so my 2012 is dedicated to this theme of tenderness and vulnerability. It feels right.
This TED talk (I love TED!!!!! www.ted.com) is on vulnerability and it is so good! I want everyone to listen to it! This is a very, very, very, important talk. http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html
Vulnerable, Like a Bird
Henri Nouwen http://www.henrinouwen.org/
Life is precious. Not because it is unchangeable, like a diamond, but because it is vulnerable, like a little bird. To love life means to love its vulnerability, asking for care, attention, guidance, and support. Life and death are connected by vulnerability. The newborn child and the dying elder both remind us of the preciousness of our lives. Let’s not forget the preciousness and vulnerability of life during the times we are powerful, successful, and popular. 
Beautiful truth to start the year!
In the new year I do not wish for you
that God will bless you,
since God already intends
only the deepest blessings for you.
I don’t wish that good things will happen to you,
since I don’t know
what will most beautifully shape your soul—
in what losses you will receive grace,
in what challenges you will gain wisdom,
in what struggles you will become more truly yourself.
Instead I hope for you this blessing:
that your heart be at peace,
that your mind be open
and your will be lovingly present;
that you live each day this year with love, courage and beauty,
with gentleness, trust and gratitude.
that you speak and be the truth,
that you find joy and wonder in your life,
that you be deeply mindful
of God’s indwelling presence,
God’s deep delight in accompanying you
in every breath.
May your work be fruitful,
your hope vibrant,
your voice clear,
and your friends faithful.
Whether you feel it or not,
deep blessing will be yours this year.
May you know it, and rejoice,
and live n harmony with God’s grace.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
We are set to Soar into the impossible. – Ann Voskamp
God is looking for people through whom He can do the impossible.
What a pity when we plan only the things we can do by ourselves.” – A.W. Tozer
Set jaw, set times, set sights, set back to the wind…and unfold arms, like wings extending.
A New Year blows in.
I feel that Spirit wind catch, lift.
We are set to Soar into the impossible.
– Ann Voskamp
http://www.aholyexperience.com/
Happy New Year!!!
Life is Beautiful! – Motto of Marc’s Bagels, Blue Ash, Ohio
“I don’t really want more time;
I just want enough time.
Time to breathe deep & time to see real & time to laugh long, time to give You glory & rest deep & sing joy…
I just want time to do my one life well.
Life at its fullest is this sensitive, detonating sphere —
and it can be carried only in the hands of the unhurried and reverential—
a bubble held in awe.”
~ One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are
2012: Time to remove shady people from your life – Paulo Coelho
A new year is upon us.
It’s time to take down the old calendar, and if it has nice pictures, save it—you can use it again in 2022— and put up the new one, or the 1984 one that you’ve saved for 2012.
As you do, ponder the old calendar. Look at all those days. God was with you on every one of them. Think of all you’ve done, and give thanks for your endeavors. Give thanks for all the people you met, the folks who did things for you, the souls you touched, the companions you had on the way. Give thanks for all you’ve seen, and marvel at how the things that you’ve experienced, and the ways you chose to receive them, have become a part of who you are. Give thanks for the challenges, the terrible days, the long hauls, for they, too, are part of the journey that has brought you to this day, and part of who you are.
And of course remember all your mistakes, and even more important, what you learned from them. And know that as you leave behind the old year, all those mistakes are forgiven. The little goofs and the profound betrayals, the odd slips and the unbreakable habits, all are forgiven. They are as past as that old year, gone. All that remains is wisdom, what you learned from them.
You have changed and grown. That’s the good news as you stand at the threshold of a new year: we can change. In the new year we can become new people. Of course we resist change, but the truth is that it’s really not change that we dislike so much as loss. It’s our resistance to change that’s hard. Change, and the loss of the familiar, puts us in a vulnerable, powerless position, a place where we’re not in control, and we don’t “know” enough. That’s what we don’t like.
And that— that place of powerlessness, dependence and not knowing— is the gospel place, the place where our only hope, and our only power, is God. It’s the place Jesus invites us to be. It’s all about dying first and then rising. Did you notice last Sunday what Simeon in the temple said about the baby Jesus? “This child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel” (Lk. 2.34). Not the rise and fall, like coming and going. But the falling (first) and then the rising. So 2012 is the year you will die.
And rise. You will surrender everything to God’s infinite love, and let God re-create you. Enter the new year ready to die and rise in the Spirit of the Eternal One who gives you life as a gift.
As you put up the new calendar, even if it says 1984, be mindful that you are about to become someone new. This re-creation will involve loss, and you will be tempted to resist it. But God will be with you every single one of those 366 days. Be ready to accept the changes that will come, to rely on God’s merciful presence, and to be re-created in this new time. The whole year will come at you one moment at a time; you can enter into each present moment, willing and lovingly present, for you will be in the Loving Presence.
May God deeply bless your new year. It will be good.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Inspiration for writing a plan!
If you intend to take goal setting seriously, you must up the ante by writing 
down your goals and revising them continuously. By choosing your goal and writing it down, you gain an edge. Most people simply respond to conditions rather than create conditions for a better life. While there is no magic pill or equation for success, one thing is sure: Those who fail to plan by not writing down their goals, by default, plan to fail.
~ Gary Ryan Blair
Goals
life: acoustic & amplified 