The Miracle Within - Part 2

We have just celebrated Easter - Jesus!  the Resurrection and the Life.  What does this all mean?  Far from the Cross, we are quite familiar with the traditional easter bunny, decorated eggs and baskets of sweets that awaits on Easter morning.   Easter became a merging of legend and spring equinox with the Christian celebration of a new era heralding the resurrection of Christ.  

Out of the dark violence on Golgotha with the torture of the cross and death, came an explosion of Light that has resonated for over 2000 years.  In the Christian faith, the cross became a symbol of victory - the Risen Savior, the Christ.  His arms were outstretched on the Cross, nailed to beams in constrained pain.  These same arms in the power of Resurrection, seeks to hold us - for us to know His embrace of Love that revives and restores to new life.

There is another dictionary definition of easter, which means a wind from the east.  This is significant as the root of the physical life of Jesus is located in the middle east of this world.  His death and resurrection occurred in the east and by the power of His Rising, there came a spiritual mighty wind from the East.  You cannot see wind but you can see the effects of wind upon the elements of earth and feel its presence.  This mighty wind is symbolic of the Holy Spirit - as a sixth Sense referred to in my last post, "The Miracle Within".  The force of the Spirit - pulsating in power to move and shake and yet can be as a gentle breeze upon our spiritual landscape.  If we take our arms and with hands held upon our chest - the miracle lies beneath the tissue of skin, marrow of bone and muscle of heart.  Our hands rest upon a union with the Spirit of God.  He is not a far off God!  We need not look to the heavens or to a church building to find Him but look within to touch Eternal Life, our Source to whom we belong, where we live and move and have our being.

 
I end today's post with another quote from Helen Keller.  It is short and simple and yet, profound... "What I am looking for is not out there, it is within me."


Until we meet again at The Turn-Up Patch on Monday, April 11.

The Miracle Within

Everyday miracles in beauty are all around us and we are exposed to them through our human senses in sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste.  Who can argue how the scent of fresh rain or the fragrance of a flower or even food cooking in the kitchen, can be a miracle in smell.  With food, there comes the miracle of taste as flavors abound that passes through our palate.  There is the miracle of touch in wonder of softness and texture in the created world around us, from the feel of velvet to soft kitten's fur.

I often think of Helen Keller, a great woman who overcame her inability to hear or to see and go on to live a productive live in her contributions to society.  How could you ever phantom God's palette of colors from a glorious sunrise to a bouquet of flowers without sight.  How could you envision the blush in a baby's cheek to a majestic mountain towering into the sky or to ocean waves that crash upon the shore, leaving a puddle of foam.  In the absence of hearing, how can you conceive that same sound of the wave as it reaches shore and of the ebb and flow of the tide.   How can you conceive the sound of laughter, of music, of the noise of nature all around us.  

I propose, using Helen Keller as an example, that she tapped into a sixth sense that not only compensated for her disabilities but enabled her to see and to hear in a richer dimension beyond the five outward senses.  It is available to us all but few of us are aware since we are cognizant only of  the physical.  It is the miracle within.

Mark Batterson in his book, Primal, gives an excellent analogy.... "The Holy Spirit compensates for our sensory limits by enabling us to conceive of things we cannot perceive with our five senses.  Think of him as a sixth sense.  The revelation of the Spirit gives us extrasensory perception.  He helps us to see the invisible and hear the inaudible.  But that sixth sense has to be cultivated much like our five senses.

Before our spiritual eyes are opened, the world is only 13 inches in diameter.  It's like we live in a low-definition, two-dimensional world.  Then the Holy Spirit gives us depth perception.  He opens our eyes to see the ordinary miracles that surround us, the ordinary miracles that are us.  It's like spiritual cataracts are removed to reveal a reality that was always there.  Slowly yet sovereignly, the soul takes on width and breadth and depth as it is filled with wonder.  It expands to the size of our God-given imagination and beyond."
 

A double rainbow at the arena outbuilding

The end of the Rainbow

Recently, my camera and I were witness to a miracle in "catching a double rainbow" as shown in the above photos.  It was prevalent in strength and beauty, which hit at the roof of the arena building and ended in the opposite pasture behind the house.  Sorry! No gold at the end of rainbow; just an old ranch truck and a few pieces of farm equipment.  The rainbow was so close, I was caught in its aura, which I still can't quite define.  If you can imagine walking through a rainbow, gripped in its hues that clouded the immediate scenery in an unworldly color.  It was an awesome moment - a blessing in sight and in heart. 

A Helen Keller quote defines a rainbow moment and the miracle within.... "I believe that God is in me as the sun is in the color and fragrance of the flower - the Light in my darkness and the Voice in my silence."


Until we meet again at The Turn-Up Patch on Monday, March 28....

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.... 

Identity

Identity!... One small word with a powerful meaning.  The dictionary has several descriptions for it but this particular one stood out - "oneness, unity, quality of being united into one".  We are part of the human race - that much we can identify with.  Within the human race lies a multitude of variables within the realm of identity.  This can range from a country origin, family, race, religion, vocation, politics, to name a few.  This identification can unify within that particular entity.  However, it also has the power to destroy when it comes in conflict when identity is not the same.  

Tolerance  is the capacity for recognizing and respecting the beliefs and practices of others.  Within tolerance lies charity and has the ability in understanding  the diverseness of human nature. There are many opposites of tolerance that cause not only disunity but destruction, among them discrimination and bigotry.  An extreme example is annihilation, which seeks to obliterate those who are not "like them in their ideology".  We have present world fanaticism that illustrates this point.  Obviously,  lessons have not been learned from world history in annihilation attempts.

If we turn our eyes to a higher realm, we also find out that we are spiritual beings, made in the image of God and having free will.  We are imprinted with God-like characteristics.... we create - we make things according to our gifts and abilities from the provision of the earth.  We are spirit as God is spirit - we are more than our physical nature.    We are relational beings because our God is relational built for intimacy between the Divine and the human spirit.  As we become awakened to the Presence of God, the scripture John 17:20-26, shows identity in the most ultimate form.  Captioned, Jesus prayed that we would all be one in the identity of Agape Love.

As we are fashioned to be part of a whole in oneness, we are also fashioned to be individual in identity.  As it is with a snowflake, there are no duplicates; you are the only you there ever has been or will be.  Psalm 139:1-3 says  "Lord, you have searched me and known me.  You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar.  You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways"......

Join  me at The Turn-Up Patch on Monday, February 1.   Until then, here is a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson to ponder on....  "What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you."

 

"Today is the First Day...."

"Today is the first day of the rest of our lives!"  What a true statement this is as we roll into 2016.  January 1st brings the usual resolutions that are either set up for success or failure in any given situation.  I like to think that each day we wake up to is the beginning of a fresh start.  Here in eastern Oregon, we are privileged to witness some beautiful sunrises and sunsets; each can give off different hues of colored treasures.  What transpires in between accounts for our day and night of 24 hours in living experience -  moment by moment, hour by hour, each in its own hue of color. 

Recently I found the following poem entitled "Today is the Very First Day of the Rest of My Life".  

                                                      This is the Beginning of a New Day.
                                                       I Can Waste It... or Use It For Good.
                                                       But What I Do Today is Important,
                                                       Because I am Exchanging a Day of My Life For It.
                                                       When Tomorrow Comes, This Day Will be Gone Forever,
                                                       Leaving in It's Place Something That I have Traded For It.
                                                       I Want It to Be Gain and Not Loss, Good and Not Evil,
                                                       Success and Not Failure, in Order That I Not Regret the Price
                                                       I Have Paid For It.
                                                       I Will Give 100% of Myself Just For Today, For You Never Fail
                                                       Unless You Stop Trying.
                                                       I Will Be the Kind of Person I have Always Wanted To Be...
                                                       I Have Been Given This Day to Use as I Will.  - Author Unknown
     

This is a great song by Matt Maher called  "Hold Us Together".  The song compliments the above reflection in the reminder of the Invisible Lover who is ever present with us in each new day.  I hope you will take time out to listen....  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2PJBoN2VLE

Join me in two weeks on Monday, January 18th at The Turn-Up Patch.  Until then, here is a meaningful quote 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."