24/04/2014
Faithful Progress Isn’t Pretty*
Watching from the outside as someone you love is being put through the paces of a “life changing” experience can be quite nerve wracking. My Dad used to say “There can be no reconstruction without there first being deconstruction”, or simply, “No one can rebuild a better life until they go through the process of breaking down their current life.”
Friends, family and others can offer simple support or short term guidance to loved ones in crisis, but unfortunately sometimes certain attempts to help may actually enable the unhealthy patterns to continue. Offering comfort and attempts to fix or stop the suffering can prevent them learning the very important lesson which only rock bottom can teach.
When someone truly seeks Him, God is the ultimate designer of both deconstruction and reconstruction. The strategy in place is that before we can accept His blessings and have a productive, fulfilling and contented life, we must allow Him to shake things up, to show us where the problem areas are. Then we must learn to distance ourselves from the old ways we have been living and determine our minds to be renewed, through His word and an honest relationship with Him.
As you may have guessed, this is not a simple one time action. It takes many steps to undo all the unhealthy beliefs, habits and influences on our decisions, to completely remove their power over us. Sure enough, these steps aren’t all forward, we may take ten steps backwards before one faithfully productive step forward is earned. It can feel like we aren’t getting very far at all, and it can appear that way to those around us as well.
It can be tempting to get drawn in by those going through the ugliness of this phase, out of concern for the destruction we are witnessing, or our desire to prevent our loved ones from suffering. However, we may want to remember that progress isn’t pretty, and be reminded of how many times we had to fall and become a complete mess before we saw any progress in our own lives. Pray for them, love them, give them into God’s trustworthy hands, and try not to allow fear to motivate our contributions to their issues. Don’t let it make you lose faith in the possibility of positive faithful progress, which may be just around the next corner they take. Remember and believe that we serve a LOVING, FAITHFUL & AMAZING GOD!
14/05/2012
A Grieving Heart**
Until the passing of my Dad from cancer a couple of years ago I had not previously suffered the loss of anyone who was extremely close to my heart. It was such a shock to my inner spirit, even though I consciously knew it was coming, I had no idea how I would handle the grief of such a loss.
He was the most spiritually-powerful person in my life who would fervently pray for me when I was too deep in my own weakness to pray for myself, which of course was when I needed it the most. He was my mentor, my confidant and my friend and the hole he left in my life is proving to be extremely hard to fill.
I guess I am lucky in the sense that he helped me to build such intensely strong beliefs, and somewhat of an understanding of the spiritual realm, I truly believe to my core that I will be with him for eternity when I too leave this physical realm. He has left reverberations throughout my spirit so that I can hear his voice from time to time, sometimes I dream vivid dreams where I am spending time with him, it’s almost like I get a nights holiday to visit him in that place where time and gravity does not exist. Sometimes I get a sign specifically relating to him and a memory which I believe he wants me to remember and to apply to a current situation, a bit like advice from beyond.
Yet I miss him dearly, it is strange that life just goes on without someone. I remember that first day when I woke up without feeling the weight of his death on my chest, when it wasn’t the first thing to float into my conscious mind from the distant sleep I was emerging from, it was scary, like I was forgetting that he was gone, and thinking he was just at his house waiting for me to visit. Then something would happen, I would hear a song, or see a picture, perhaps find a piece of paper with his unique handwriting on it, and it would hit me all over again like a punch to my stomach and a tear to my eye. He is really gone!
Recently I had a friend share with me her pain and confusion at the loss of her own father, quite simply the anger she feels at how unfair it was for him to be taken from her and in a way she could not fathom he deserved. It is so hard for our carnal human minds to comprehend all that is going on in the universe. I have had many experiences and interactions with the spiritual realm and yet my mind still has trouble grasping for the tangible reality of it. I feel a sense of duty to try and bring my friend some comfort and perhaps perspective in the midst of her pain. I am praying about it as I write this, asking for the Lord to give me the words to explain why these things are part of a plan we cannot yet see the final design of.
I believe this place is merely a stage for us to perform a role upon; a place to act out all mannerisms of human nature to develop our character and qualify for the position we will take up permanently in the next place. A temporary stepping stone in the midst of a more permanent yet spiritual world. If you can imagine a sphere similar to earth’s atmosphere, and picture it as a parallel universe where all the mysteries of life are no longer hidden from our human sight or understanding. Then take a paper thin layer and place it around the sphere, this layer represents the physical realm. It is connected to, but also separate from the spiritual realm. The physical realm is only a tiny element of the universe in its entirety, full of limitations yet vital to our personal journey. If you lay eternity out in a timeline form with no beginning and no end, imagine how tiny the blip of a human lifetime would be! A mere 70-80 years more or less is nothing compared to the infinite existence of the spiritual platform. So why does it feel like it goes on forever and then ends abruptly and somewhat finitely? As we grow older, we usually grow more distant and cynical in connection to the spiritual realm. This place is all we can see and touch,it can harden our minds and can prevent openness to unknown things. There are a chosen few who have a heightened sensitivity to all things spiritual, a bit like having a few extra radio stations than is widely available. (I believe this metaphor gives a basic way to shed some light on people such as psychics, mediums, paranormal investigators etc.) It is just as common as someone with an extra special gift for mathematical equations, science, or perhaps medicine, an extra level of awareness in a particular field is all.
We are not meant to stay here, this life is hard, full of aging disabilities, poor health, worries, disappointments, heartaches and unmet expectations. The sooner we are taken to the next place the sooner we must be needed in our next and permanent role. The butterfly effect from any life-force here is evident to some more than others; that those touched by a life, no matter how long or short that life may be, are caught up the universes unfolding design. The feelings and experiences brought about by connection to a life or the loss of it are essential to the development of the people they connected with.
Of course there are many, many wonderful and joyful things to experience here as well, I am not a pessimist by any means, I believe there are elements of both heaven and hell on earth to help us discern the path we choose and give us a taste of what is to come. We are not meant to understand everything yet, that is why it is called faith. Faith – meaning trust, confidence, and reliance.
WOW! Praise the LORD! As I sit editing this, I’m hoping it will be easy to follow and comprehend, hoping it will help, suddenly a Christian lady whom I work with walks in and hands me a book. She has no idea of what I am writing about, yet I sense the spirit world using her to give me the nudge I need to trust my words.
The book is a true story titled – “Heaven is for Real” by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent …… Here is a link to see an interview with Colton Burpo now 11years old – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhT36Dizo2s&feature=related
The back cover reads: “Do you remember the hospital Colton?” Sonja said. “Yes, Mommy, I remember,” He said “That’s where the angels sang to me.” When Colton Burpo made it through an emergency appendectomy, his family was overjoyed at his miraculous survival. What they weren’t expecting, though, was the story that emerged in the months that followed – a story as beautiful as it was extraordinary, detailing their little boy’s trip to heaven and back. Colton, not yet four years old, told his parents he left his body during the surgery – and authenticated that claim by describing exactly what his parents were doing in another part of the hospital while he was being operated on. He talked of visiting heaven and relayed stories told to him by people he met there whom he had never met in life, sharing events that happened even before he was born. He also astonished his parents with descriptions and obscure details about heaven that matched the Bible exactly, though he had not yet learned to read. With disarming innocence and the plainspoken boldness of a child, Colton tells of meeting long-departed family members. He describes Jesus, the angels, how ‘really, really big‘ God is, and how much God loves us. Retold by his father, but using Colton’s uniquely simple words, Heaven is for Real offers a glimpse of the world that awaits us, where as Colton says, “Nobody is old and nobody wears glasses.” Heaven is for real will forever change the way you think of eternity, offering the chance to see, and believe, like a child. “A beautifully written glimpse into heaven that will encourage those who doubt and thrill those who believe.” – Ron Hall, co-author of Same kind of difference as me.
I have not yet read this book, however what I have shared here gave me chills over my entire body as I read it. I thanked my work friend with a hug and a tear in my eye, I’m not sure if she knows how much I appreciate that she was used by angels to confirm to me all that I have written here. I feel I had no choice but to tack it onto the bottom of this blog, and I can’t wait to get reading this book!
The adventures of a social butterfly*
One of my pet peeves is wasted time, we are here but a blink and sitting around twiddling my thumbs is just not an option for me. If I have an hour between responsibilities I try to drop in on a friend for a quick cuppa and catch up. I love my friends dearly, and looking into their eyes, sharing in their lives for a few moments is what I like the most. Don’t get me wrong I don’t mind getting on the phone and having a good chin wag as well, but in the rush of life we are becoming more and more prone to keep in touch via social networking and mobile phones, and this lacks the personal touch which I crave. I want to hug people!! I want to allow my intuition to tell me how they really are, I can do that pretty easily most of the time, even on the phone, but face-to-face is a much easier platform to engage with them about what I’m sensing.
If I have made plans to fill my day and the opportunity to get a visit or an invite from a friend arises I will do my best to fit them in. This is getting more and more difficult as life gets busier, but I figure I can run errands and do housework any time, while a chance encounter with a friend may not be so easily rearranged.
I am truly a people-person, I am at my happiest when I have a room full of people whose brains I want to pick and whose lives I want to engage with. People are my teachers, their lives, thoughts, experiences and beliefs are the foundation of my research, and therefore my writing. Your lives and struggles inspire me, please comment in the section available on a blog if you feel you have something to share about the topics I write about. It encourages me deeply to know how others feel and it teaches me more and more. I am educated by the lives of others, not only my own experiences.
While reading a fellow bloggers post this week I stumbled across a fabulous poem, its insight, its humour and the way it was presented were clever and entertaining. It relates to the digital trap of technology that distances us from the touch of others. Enjoy the link below…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GAx845QaOck
24/04/2012
Somedays*
I have been tossing a few blogs around trying feel the compulsion to post one of them, I have a few in the pipeline but didn’t feel any of them set the scene quite right.
While folding some washing, listening to my favourite Aussie folk band The Waifs, their fabulous new album aptly named – Temptation, I was pulled into the lyrics of the song titled “Somedays”. I believe that it sums up the feeling of Inner Angels & Enemies perfectly. And while I have not personally entered into an actual 12 step program so far in my life, I can relate to addiction and therapy. The lyrics struck chords in my heart so immensely that I felt I needed to share them. I dedicate this song and blog to my Daddy, who I still miss everyday.
Some days, are just like this
Some days I can’t get my arse out of bed
Some days just drag on and on and on
And one day can feel like a whole lifetime;
Some days I feel like God himself is smiling down upon me
Some days I swear to God the devils got my soul
Some days I fall to that darkness
Some days I crawl from that hole;
Some days I just want to ditch my responsibilities
Leave behind dirty dishes, dirty floors
I got friends and family who love me well, still
Some days I gotta ask what the hell’s it all for;
Some days I just want to walk into the wilderness
The solitude puts my mind at ease
I figure God lives out there somewhere
Some days I need something to believe;
Some days I’m leaning on my twelve step program
Meetings and testimony get me through
Most days I’ve got a drink in my hand, because
Most days I can’t stop thinking about you;
Some days are like this
I’m dragging my feet on the ground
Some days feel like lost time
These are the days
I wish you were still around;
Click below to listen to a live version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UriP4_wOMXs&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLF9609C929DC11AF8
Inner Angels & Enemies 