"Faith is walking face-first and full-speed into the dark. If we truly knew all the answers in advance as to the meaning of life and the nature of God and the destiny of our souls, our belief would not be a leap of faith and it would not be a courageous act of humanity; it would just be... a prudent insurance policy."
"I want God to play in my bloodstream the way sunlight amuses itself on the water."
"There’s a crack (or cracks) in everyone…that’s how the light of God gets in."
"When I get lonely these days, I think: So BE lonely, Liz. Learn your way around loneliness. Make a map of it. Sit with it, for once in your life. Welcome to the human experience. But never again use another person's body or emotions as a scratching post for your own yearnings."
"A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then leave."
"People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life."
"There is so much about my fate that I cannot control, but other things do fall under the jurisdiction. I can decide how I spend my time, whom I interact with, whom I share my body and life and money and energy with. I can select what I can read and eat and study. I can choose how I'm going to regard unfortunate circumstances in my life-whether I will see them as curses or opportunities. I can choose my words and the tone of voice in which I speak to others. And most of all, I can choose my thoughts."
"You need to learn how to select your thoughts just the same way you select your clothes every day. This is a power you can cultivate. If you want to control things in your life so bad, work on the mind. That's the only thing you should be trying to control."
"When the karma of a relationship is done, only love remains. It's safe. Let go."
"Look for God. Look for God like a man with his head on fire looks for water."
I liked the book ... the movie, not as much. These quotes, pulled from the book out of context, stand alone well. The author has done an admirable job of thinking about her stuff I think. I like how intentional she was about the bit of her journey that she chronicled ... I like the courage she expressed with her willingness to expose her layers. I like that she went in after her oowies ... she put her self out there for healing.
Some one sent a story from this site to me and after reading the story I subscribed to the blog ... I am not promoting the blog ... just noting it here to say, it is hard work to tell your story. It is hard work to live one's own true story because we seem to get swept along sometimes by the stories of others.
A Deeper Story ... Tales of Christ and Culture
What if? What if we could actually toss aside the brutal blunt force of our cemented opinion and engage the senses instead… painted pictures with words and ignited imagination?
What if story became the vehicle?
It’s easy to tell someone your opinion. It’s hard work telling them your story.
And this place, where we put stories to issues close to the heart of God, was birthed out of the darkness.
http://deeperstory.com/
I know it's true that our stories overlap ... and especially with those people with whom we love and live our lives ... . It seems true to me also that eventually we may see our story through God's eyes. I like stories. It fascinates me to see a well written movie (few and far between) ... or read a beautifully written account of one's life experiences (read a lovely account of a 96 year old mother just yesterday ... the author/son made the story precious with its telling ... or Captain Dave's weariness expressed by mustard stains right before he was able to cut through some crap with the help of his road razor) ... my favorite stories are the stories I get to see unfolding right in front of my eyes ... right here in my own little life. The real value of this blog for me is that I sit with myself and discover my story. Recently, I have wandered in front of a mirror where I saw a slightly different me then then person I thought myself to be. And ... I was given an opportunity to step out of that old, too tight, restrictive "skin" in to a stronger ... more compassionate/forgiving ... next gen version of myself. I do not dread birthdays ... I like the patina of maturity ... I will gladly trade the physical agility that drives me to bungee jump from one adrenaline rush to the next ... for the sitting still enough to wander into the adventures of my soul.
"You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body." ~C.S.Lewis
"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable."~C.S. Lewis
I am not saying that I am great at loving either God or people,but my soul doeswant toreach towards that ... love ... what love really is. I am able to love at least just a little ... before my wants ... my ego ... self looking for a rush ... begins to intrude. It's that dichotomy thing ... I really really want to do good ... to do right ... every once in a while though, naughty looks pretty appealing.
"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself." ~CSL
I am a canvas tent ... There is a lot of work to be done here yet ... This is the adventure ... . Under construction ... 'cuse the mess!
"We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be."CSL
I remember ... I recently specifically implored God to show up and do His best ... . And I am truly humbled and amazed ... .
"Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person's ultimate good as far as it can be obtained." ~CSL
Love ... protect, trust, hope, persevere ... love. Maybe we were created to love ... I know I'm off trackwith that vision most of the time! Selfishness so twists love into something unrecognizable as love. There is a lot to it ... seems simple, but selfishness laces through love distorting it ... I say distorting, really I mean ruining it ... it'snot love when it becomes self-serving.
"It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." ~CSL
Now we are talking! I think this is spot on ... and of course the whole holiday at the sea resonates ... lol.
"Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed."
~CSL
God, He knows that and everything else about me ... and He still likes me ... I cannot comprehend why He cherishes me, but just recently, I have come to see that He does. I am blown away by that. He can even use my stupid days (and even the stupid days of my buddies who I get to do little bits and big bits of life with) to do His stuff in me. Amazing! Wow! I am delighted and amazed and if it's not too irreverant I will admit that I am amused by how cool ... clever ... man, I don't have the right word ... God is doing some of His best work in me recently/lately/nowish with some "material" that I just woulda never seen being useful as part of a restoration process ... I mean, God is beyond genius! I am unable to describe the process ... I thought I had a basket of broken pieces and it turned out that nothing was broken at all ... any energy spent pushing those pieces around was ... I quess ignorant is the word, because I am starting to see that God really does know what He's doing. I know. That sounds goofy. If I believe that God is God it would seem that I would automatically believe that His Godness is Godlike. But, I have actually been thinking He was busy being God elsewhere ... . It is probably shameful to admit it, but the truth is, I have actually asked, "God,are you looking at this shit here? ... ."
It's good. It's a little bit painful somedays, but it is freaking amazing too.
"Perhaps it is good to have a beautiful mind, but an even greater gift is to discover a beautiful heart."~Nash/ABeautifulMind
thoughts/feelings ... desires ... choices ... actions
Souls are being built here in this thing we call life.
I'm liking it ... it's hard work getting fit for eternal life ...
http://bible.cc/1_john/2-17.htm
1 comment:
Rohit,
I'm thinking of reading it again. There are two copies in my home, but I think they are both out to loan right now!
~D
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