Again we begin a New Year. Life is a series of new beginnings really. That is a comforting thought to me. There have been many times in my life I have messed up, or something has happened somewhat beyond my control, but which nevertheless severely affected me. At many such moments of difficulty I wanted to give up. The moment was too overwhelming and I discovered myself trapped, stuck in that moment in time like it was some prison. The prison of course was my own creation. No moment can hold us, but we allow the circumstances of moments to haunt us, to grab onto our thoughts and our dreams and steal them from us. In those quiet moments of desperation when peace seems fleeting at best, or nowhere at worst, we exist fearing how life will play out, how life will continue, how we will ever make it.
Yet each of us has made it through such valleys before and will make it through them again, it is the nature of life. Sometimes life is miraculous, pregnant with promise and potential. We might call such moments our mountaintops of glory. We have all experienced them, and God willing we shall all experience them again. A graduation, a birth, a chance encounter with God, only you know your mountaintop experiences, oh and what experiences they must have been. I have found myself high atop such mountains and in my jubilation I have seldom seen the valleys down below. Nevertheless there are always valleys down below because the truth is life is a journey and not a destination. Below each mountain is another valley, and beyond each valley is another mountain, and we keep walking because that is what we do.
So the New Year arrives and I am reminded that I keep on walking, because that is what I do. Somehow God walks with me, pushing me along when I would rather collapse in despair, pushing me along when I would cement myself in joy, pushing me along because there is so much still to experience. Not every day will be easy, but as the pressures of life are overcome, like a piece of coal that becomes a diamond only under severe pressure so shall we one day discover that we have become a jewel of infinite worth. Life is a series of new beginnings, and while the journey we have already travelled has helped create who we are, it is the journey we have yet to travel that will eventually make us complete. Each of us is a work in progress, and God would not have it any other way, and should we be truly honest neither would we. Something about the pains have allowed the joys to be so much better, and something about the joys have allowed the pains to contain some amount of meaning, even if words cannot express what that meaning may be.
However there is only one way to keep on going, and that is to humbly walk with God. Without that ever-vigilant and ever-present partner we would be lost. So let us say with the psalmist, “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise!” I have seen many scenes in movies where a frightened character is told by the protagonist something like, “Keep looking at me, keep looking at me.” The goal of course is that the fear might stop overwhelming the poor character who cannot handle the situation. In our difficulties it is God who says, “Keep looking at me, keep looking at me!” If we look then we will be able to sing and give praise in the pain because our hearts will be fixed on God, and then at some moment we will notice the valley is over and again we are climbing up a mountain, a new mountain, a new beginning, as a new person. When we get to the top of the next mountain we still must sing that same psalm and God will still say, “Keep looking at me, keep looking at me!” because that moment no matter how glorious will be better with a friend.
I hope and pray that this year is full of new beginnings for each of us, and from whatever befalls us in the course of this year we emerge on the other side a more precious jewel than we entered it.
Riding the Wave of the Holy Spirit,
Garrett
Showing posts with label Glory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Glory. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
The Grace and Truth Within
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. – John 1:14 (NRSV)
What does it mean to you that the Word became flesh? How have you witnessed Jesus live among you? Where have you seen his glory? Where is his grace and truth still on full display? How do you celebrate this event?
I once heard a story of a woman in her early 30s who went to a soup kitchen with some friends to serve the needy. It was Christmas time and they all felt the spirit of the season and knew they needed to do something to help others. The group of them arrived and began to help cook, and set up the coats that were to be given away, and prepare the tables for the people who were about to arrive.
The woman had taken off her coat and set it on a chair as she helped set things up. Eventually the needy people arrived and they were served a hot meal prepared with love, they were able to look through coats and take what they needed, it all went off well. As the afternoon kept going on, one of the woman’s friends came up to her and said, “I just saw someone go off with your coat! She must have thought it was being given away.” “Oh no that is my best coat, and it goes so well with my scarf.” “Well you should go run after her and get it back.”
The woman grabbed her scarf and ran off after the lady who had mistakenly taken her coat. A couple of minutes later she returned. Her friend asked, “Where is your coat? Was she unwilling to give it back?” “No, no, I didn’t ask for it back.” “Why not?” “I was running after her and then realized I can get a new coat. So I decided to give her the scarf too, because it goes so well with the coat.”
Jesus still lives among us. Jesus lives in every kind act, in every loving heart, in every joy filled laugh, and in every moment that is full of grace and truth. That woman was full of grace and truth when she made it back to the soup kitchen. Christmas is approaching. Let us pray that this Christmas is the one where we accept Jesus into our hearts so that he lives in us not just at this time of year, but all year every year. Then people might see his glory through us!
With hope and joy,
Garrett
What does it mean to you that the Word became flesh? How have you witnessed Jesus live among you? Where have you seen his glory? Where is his grace and truth still on full display? How do you celebrate this event?
I once heard a story of a woman in her early 30s who went to a soup kitchen with some friends to serve the needy. It was Christmas time and they all felt the spirit of the season and knew they needed to do something to help others. The group of them arrived and began to help cook, and set up the coats that were to be given away, and prepare the tables for the people who were about to arrive.
The woman had taken off her coat and set it on a chair as she helped set things up. Eventually the needy people arrived and they were served a hot meal prepared with love, they were able to look through coats and take what they needed, it all went off well. As the afternoon kept going on, one of the woman’s friends came up to her and said, “I just saw someone go off with your coat! She must have thought it was being given away.” “Oh no that is my best coat, and it goes so well with my scarf.” “Well you should go run after her and get it back.”
The woman grabbed her scarf and ran off after the lady who had mistakenly taken her coat. A couple of minutes later she returned. Her friend asked, “Where is your coat? Was she unwilling to give it back?” “No, no, I didn’t ask for it back.” “Why not?” “I was running after her and then realized I can get a new coat. So I decided to give her the scarf too, because it goes so well with the coat.”
Jesus still lives among us. Jesus lives in every kind act, in every loving heart, in every joy filled laugh, and in every moment that is full of grace and truth. That woman was full of grace and truth when she made it back to the soup kitchen. Christmas is approaching. Let us pray that this Christmas is the one where we accept Jesus into our hearts so that he lives in us not just at this time of year, but all year every year. Then people might see his glory through us!
With hope and joy,
Garrett
Monday, July 20, 2009
Missing The Glory of God
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the skies announce what his hands have made. Day after day they tell the story; night after night they tell it again. – Psalm 19:1-2 (NCV)
How have you seen the glory of the God? What declares this glory? Can you see it before day after day? Do you hear the proclamation night after night? Have you met anyone who lives into this story? What are they like?
The following story was e-mailed to me:
It's the Washington DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After three minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.
Four minutes later:
the violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the till and, without stopping, continued to walk.
Six minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
10 minutes:
A three-year-old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly, as the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced them to move on.
45 minutes:
The musician played. Only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32.
1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. No one knew that the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.
This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities. The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments .....
How many other things are we missing?
Everywhere the glory of God is declared! Thomas Carlyle said, “The tragedy of life is not so much what men suffer, but rather what they miss.” God created a world where not only does beauty abound, but also more beauty is to be discovered everyday! Let us with eyes of wonder discover the beauty of God’s glory in all areas of life, otherwise we may never know what we miss.
With hope and joy,
Garrett
How have you seen the glory of the God? What declares this glory? Can you see it before day after day? Do you hear the proclamation night after night? Have you met anyone who lives into this story? What are they like?
The following story was e-mailed to me:
It's the Washington DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After three minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.
Four minutes later:
the violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the till and, without stopping, continued to walk.
Six minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
10 minutes:
A three-year-old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly, as the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced them to move on.
45 minutes:
The musician played. Only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32.
1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. No one knew that the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.
This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities. The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments .....
How many other things are we missing?
Everywhere the glory of God is declared! Thomas Carlyle said, “The tragedy of life is not so much what men suffer, but rather what they miss.” God created a world where not only does beauty abound, but also more beauty is to be discovered everyday! Let us with eyes of wonder discover the beauty of God’s glory in all areas of life, otherwise we may never know what we miss.
With hope and joy,
Garrett
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