Time

Two weeks have shot by and already it is the end of February in this year of 2016.  Time - the hours, minutes and seconds that tick by in our daily lives,  leave us breathless and often bewildered.  Breathless, since there doesn't seem enough time in the cycle of keeping up.  Bewildered, as to where did time go in the passage of years that flew by.  I have written in the past about the seasons of life and many of us find ourselves in the winter season, wondering... what happened!  It was just yesterday, that a younger face stared back at me from the mirror.  It was just yesterday, a young Marine and a Canadian girl became man and wife.  It was just yesterday, two beautiful daughters were toddlers exploring the new world around them.  It was just yesterday, so many happenings defining our world in this rhythm of time that ebbs and flows around us.  Changes are constant - some can be subtle and not immediately obvious and some can scream for immediate attention in this engagement called a lifetime.  

This is a hillside view of the mountains we are privileged to see where we live.  If you look closely,  the scenery really isn't black and white but edited in an infrared filter.   The infrared made the ordinary into extraordinary using the accents of black and white - of dark and light.  The field you see below the mountains are being prepared for spring and the hills themselves are showing zebra stripes of  bare ground and snow.  These same hills and fields will soon be changed into shades of green and brown heralding spring.  These are familiar changes to us and to be expected in the season of time.  And so it goes with our lives.

A quote from N. Maria Kwami..."But time soon passes.  Even the deepest pain eventually loses its edge in the more vivid reality of the present; then, what once was unbearable becomes strangely familiar.  And after much familiarity, it assumes the insignificance of just another milestone, ever marking the journey to higher ground."

A popular Bible quote on time out of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8  "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing..."

In closing, click on this link and listen to "Clocks".  It is one of my favorite tunes - less on words and more of an instrumental in this particular arrangement.  Clocks was originally composed in music and lyrics by a group called Coldplay.  This rendition was performed by "The Red Hot Chili Peppers", a band from Scotland and those bagpipes do a great job with Clocks...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGYh4g_ekiQ 

Until we meet again at The Turn-Up Patch on Monday, March 14....

   

The Valentine of Agape

As the year 2016 moves along, we presently just celebrated Valentine's Day - a day set apart to honor love and romance, typically celebrated on February 14th and named after a Christian martyr, Valentinus.

There is a quote by Lao Tzu that says, "Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."  This brings to mind how 1st Corinthians in chapter 13 describes love - being patient, kind, not jealous nor brags.  It is not proud, rude or selfish.  It does not get upset with others nor hold grudges.  It takes no pleasure in wrong doings but rejoices over truth.  Love accepts, hopes, trusts and endures and never ends.

It does give you strength to know that you are loved by such a Divine wholeness having these qualities interwoven into His character of Love.  Agape, a Greek word that describes the highest form of Love that wipes away guilt, condemnation, fear.  When such a reality happens, a veil is removed to catch a glimpse of this Agape that wraps and raptures you into God's holy presence.  You taste heaven and this taste propels you to fall in love with the Divine.  Such a deep love is exhibited in courage as we continue our journey in this life, carrying the eternal within... our perfect Valentine!

There is an amount of love,

An amount of grace,

beyond all meaning,

beyond all measure.

If we could even grasp it

there would be more pleasure.

There is no greater love than

laying your life down for a friend

if we loved God to a teaspoon

Of His overflowing cup.

What would this world then see?

Our land of sorrow and turmoil,

would swirl to a community of joy.

What would the world then see?

Open our eyes to glisten!

Open our hearts to receive!

And open your mouth to resist

the smile that no one can fathom!

(For Today Agape Lyrics)

Join me at The Turn-Up Patch where we will meet again on Monday, February 29....

 

Color of Gray

Today's post begins with a quote that I used in one of my recent messages on The Turn-Up Patch written by Steve Maraboli... "There is beauty laced within this day... be courageous enough to find it, be kind enough to share it, and at the end of the day, be wise enough to let it go."

This quote resonated with some of my readers who contacted me to let me know how much they liked it.  Truly, some days are less than glorious and contain the ups and downs of life ranging from happiness to despair.  A day can be colored within a spectrum of circumstances and emotions and some days have no color at all.... the gray days.  But there can be beauty laced into a gray day as well - we just need to look for it.  

To illustrate this point, I used these photographs that can represent a gray day.  Photography is a wonderful tool to express a thought.  The other day, we took a drive over a mountain pass in the middle of a snow storm.  I managed to take a few shots through the window as my husband maneuvered the pickup truck through the snowy road.  The first two photos are edited through the infrared filter, which made a more interesting contrast in dark and light of snow and trees.  Infrared, shortly defined, is an invisible light that exists in the spectrum of color.  How often does our great God use His infrared Light to cast a beauty to the sometimes gray of our day.  

Occasionally, a splash of color will appear bringing a touch of brightness to an otherwise dull day.  It can come in the form of a friend's phone call or email; a cat's purr or a dog's lick on your hand; a fragrant smell or a cherished memory.  It can be a smile or a hug or the smell of fresh rain or the crunch of snow beneath your feet.  It can be a lifting of heart in knowing that God is present and cares.  Sometimes, a splash of color will hold direction and caution in finding your way.....

Usually during a winter storm, there is a quietness that settles down along with the multitude of snowflakes blanketing the ground.  A silence is heard and peace is found.  If we would take time to quiet our minds and hearts and listen during times of gray, peace is found beyond the shadows.  A popular scripture and one that is used many times never loses it's power in its simplicity.... "Be still and know that I am God"  - Psalm 46:10

Look for the beauty in your day.  Yes, sometimes it takes courage to find it - to rise up out of your bed of gray and reach beyond into the experience of discovery to take and to share and to move on.

Check out the attached link and listen to the beautiful words in this song "Be Still And Know" by Steve Chapman....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcX5106rJLY
There is another wonderful song by Steve Chapman, "You Are My Hiding Place", which directly follows the above song on the same You Tube link.  Listen to both and be blessed!

See you next time, same place at The Turn-Up Patch on Monday, February 15....