|
| I'm blogging again, but no longer using Xanga.
If you're interested you can find and follow my blog over at Word Press: http://tiel.wordpress.com/
| | |
| I'm currently reading "No Man Is An Island" by Thomas Merton.
Here's an expert from chapter 7...
We are warmed by fire, not by the smoke of the fire. We are carried over the sea by a ship, not by the wake of a ship. So too, what we are is to be sought in the invisible depths of our own being, not in our outward reflection in our own acts. We must find our real selves not in the froth stirred up by the impact of our being upon the beings around us, but in our own soul which is the principle of all our acts.
But my soul is hidden and invisible. I cannot see it directly, for it is hidden even from myself. Nor can I see my own eyes. They are too close to me for me to see them. They are not meant to see themselves. I know I have eyes when I see other things with them.
I can see my eyes in a mirror. My soul can also reflect itself in the mirror of its own activity. But what is seen in the mirror is only the reflection of who I am, not my true being. The mirror of words and actions only partly manifests my being.
The words and acts that proceed from myself and are accomplished outside myself are dead things compared with the hidden life from which they spring. These acts are transient and superficial. They are quickly gone, even though their effects may persist for a little while. But the soul itself remains. Much depends on how the soul sees itself in the mirror of its own activity.
It's easy to allow the opinions of others, good and bad, to determine our our sense of worth, thus affecting the way we act, or 'perform' for those around us. It's easy to fall into the trap of moving from the high of one compliment to another, however, it is a trap, and an unrelenting one that can dominate our true beings and before long, we find, that we don't know who we really are without the cues of those around us.
The only real cure is in the understanding of our heavenly Father's unrelenting love for us and finding our security in Him, rather than the voices around us that, let's face it, are also looking to be affirmed. We can't redeem one-another, because in this area, we're all broken.
Learning to be rather than do-to-be is one of the greatest lessons I've ever learnt.
Jesus is teaching me how to live loved and to love freely those around me. | | |
| Here's my answer to my friend Sarah's invitation to do a top 5 list for 2008...
ben & zo's wedding - it was absolutely a complete joy to see two of my friends marry, and the bonus was that the whole thing was a lot of fun! Once again (and continually, many blessings upon you both)!
the great trip of '08 - May this year saw me and 2 friends take off for a trip to Europe and the States. I'm going to cheat a bit on this one do a top 6 moments of the trip.
- Revisiting Dublin, Ireland & catching up with friends in Northern Ireland.
- Paris - absolutely lovely!
- England, reconnecting with family and friends and getting to revisit some much loved locations.
- New York - a big surprise for me, I wasn't particularly all that excited about the prospect of visiting NY, but I completely and utterly fell in love with the City and will definitely return, one day.
- Seattle - This was special! I had the privilege of meeting up with some very special friends and it was wonderful.
Thanks again to Barb & Doug and family for making room for us, and thanks to Sarah, Caz & Dwayne and family, and Gina for making the trip to Seattle.
- Los Angeles - and in particular meeting up with my friend Holly and her family. Thanks again Holls, for having us stay!
... and of course Disneyland, a place built for kids that definitely brought the little kid out in me!
turning 40 - which wasn't any where near as bad as I expected it to be, I'm actually really loving being 40! Thanks to a bunch of family and friends who helped me celebrate the occasion with a bit of a party.
bike riding - I've had an absolute blast this year getting out and bike riding in and around Melbourne, and really enjoyed a weekend away with my friends Zo & Rach. I even bought myself a new bike for my 40th, and it's been so much fun!
getting to know Jesus - this has been an ongoing relational discovery over many years of course, but I think this year has been particularly exciting as I've been more deliberate about getting to know the Way Jesus did life with the people around him, and learning that who I am means more to him than what I do and relaxing in that. It's been lovely.
Of course there's no photo that could accurately depict what this is about, although each of the above 'highlights' for me have definitely been blessings from my heavenly Father, and so fit this quite nicely!
| | |
| Life together under the Word will remain sound and healthy only where it does not form itself into a movement, an order, a society... but rather where it understands itself as being a part of the one, holy, catholic, Christian Church, where it shares actively and passively in the sufferings and struggles of the whole Church. Every principle of selection, every separation connected with it that is not necessitated quite objectively by common work, local conditions, or family connections is of the greatest danger to a Christian community. When the way of intellectual or spiritual selection is taken, the human element always insinuates itself and robs the fellowship of its spiritual power and its effectiveness for the Church, and drives it into sectarianism.
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer | | |
| I've just finished reading the Gospels again and I've been thinking about what God did in the incarnation...
hmn... lost my train of thought there for a moment, there's a Colin Firth movie on telly (now there's a fine specimen of humanity that needs saving)... *cough*
Right, the incarnation, Christmas.... God becoming man
It's struck me over again just what an amazing thing God did in "becoming flesh" and living as one of us. But more than that, he came as a friend of man, not an angry Lord. He drew people to him. They weren't terrified of him like the Israelites back with the whole burning mountain thing where they backed away and told ol' Moses to go talk to him for them.
Of course for the most part his friends didn't really know who he was, I mean, they suspected he was the Messiah, but there was no expectation that the Messiah would be God himself, but rather a man maybe like Moses or David, who acted with God's favour upon them.
There were moments when some did catch on to his true identity, like Peter, in the boat after the "miraculous catch", with his declaration of "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!", but then Jesus' response was "Don't be afraid".... lovely.
There was nothing for Pete to fear.
God had become man for a reason, to draw man back into loving relationship with his Creator.
Jesus presented himself as the most lovely person. He cared deeply about the people around him. He understood the human condition. He looked out for the broken and beaten and those who had been ostracised by society. He wept with his friends and he didn't harbour grudges when they let him down.
And this Jesus, this man, "is the image of the invisible God".
Just as there was nothing for Pete to fear from Jesus, there is absolutely nothing for us to fear from our God. Nothing. Jesus showed us that. He told us that if there was something worth fearing, it would be God, but God loves us so completely that there's absolutely no reason to fear even Him!!
Anyhoo, I guess where this has taken me once again is to the place where I'm reminded that the Creator of all things calls me his friend, and went to amazing lengths to prove it! | | |
|
