Never Borrow Sorrow

Never Borrow Sorrow From Tomorrow
by Helen Steiner Rice

Deal only with the present,
Never step into tomorrow,
For God asks us just to trust Him
And to never borrow sorrow

For the future is not ours to know
And it my never be,
So let us live and give our best
And give it lavishly -

For to meet tomorrow's troubles
Before they are even ours
Is to anticipate the Savior
And to doubt His all-wise powers -

So let us be content to solve
Our problems one by one,
Asking nothing of tomorrow
Except "Thy Will Be Done."

"God would much rather that we learn to be faithful in a few humble commitments than we continually despair over our failures because we take on too much.

...

We will choose spiritual disciplines only if we have a strong desire to grow. If our desire to develop spirtually is not deep enough to overcome our resistances. we will find ourselves unable to maintain any discipline, however good our intentions. If this is our current state, there is no reason to berate ourselves. Desire cannot be forced or manufactured; it can only be discovered in freedom. Yet even a little desire can be encouraged to grow stronger through the practice of discipline, like a spark fanned into full flame or a seedling cultivated into full growth.

...

Disciplines like prayer, scriptural reflection, and hospitality have the character of garden tools. They help keep the soil of our love clear of obstruction. They keep us open to the mysterious work of grace in our heart and our world. They enable us not only to receive but to respond to God's love, which in turn yeilds the fruits of the Spirit in our lives."

~Marjorie J. Thompson

Soul Feast

mystery

this is also from:
Story
by Steven James


"
~
mystery of mysteries
truth of all truths
finder of the lost,

here i am.
unriddle me.
~

*

'Christ is God's ultimate miracle and wisdom all wrapped up in one.'
~Paul's description of the mysterious man who transformed his life~
(1 Corinthians 1:24 *Message*)

I used to think I knew Jesus because I knew about him. But knowing someone's resume and being someone's brother are two completely different things. I found that out after I met Jesus for myself.
If you can make sense of Jesus, explain him, define him, or make him sound reasonable, my guess is you've never actually met him. After all, his closest friends didn't understand him, the religious rulers thought he was possessed by demons, and his own family thought he'd gone insane. No one knew what to make of this man of mystery. I guess that's what happens when God dresses in skin, when heaven's wisdom speaks human words.
The greatest mystery of Christianity isn't that God loves us; nearly every religion would tell you that much. The greatest mystery is that God actually became one of us: 'Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith: Christ appeared in the flesh and was shown to be righteous by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and was announced to the nations. He was believed on in the world and was taken up into heaven' (1 Timothy 3:16).
In Colossians 2:2-3 Paul calls Jesus, 'the mystery of God... in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge' (NIV).
Jesus is a holy conundrum. A living enigma. A mystery. He was born helpless and yet almighty, temporal and yet eternal, human and yet divine. He grew to become a carpenter who was wildly meek, quietly loud, furiously patient, humbly proud. He was the bringer of both peace and a sword, of both clarity and confusion, of both judgment and pardon.

~
i don't name you, you name me.
i don't understand you, you understand me.
and the paradox of this love is that you uncover me
as you unveil yourself.

the mystery of this discovery swallows all of who i am.
that's the essence of faith.
if i could understand faith it would cease to be faith.
i only know the mystery
because the mystery knows me.
~

*

Jesus was too normal-looking to arouse suspicion. He didn't stick out in a crowd. In fact, Judas had to point him out to the soldiers so they could identify him when they arrested him. He was that forgettable. And yet he's the most memorable and influential man in the history of the world.
He spoke in the riddles of a mystic, yet with the authority of a God. He was both humble and audacious, both soft-spoken and fiery, full of both sorrow and joy. No one has ever been meeker. No one has ever been bolder.
Jesus, the real Jesus, is earthshaking. He will both calm your soul and send a tidal wave of truth crashing through your spirit. As soon as you try to figure him out or wrap your mind around him, you'll get lost in the mystery of this man.

~
child of heaven,
son of earth.
fragrance of light
strength of eternity.
former of worlds,
shaper of souls.
storm of glory,
love of God.
tamer of tempests,
raiser of the dead.

offender of the religious,
befriender of the outcast.
lion of conquest,
lamb of sacrifice.
hero of the ages,
talebearer of eternity.
king of all kings,
servant of all servants.
calmer of consciences,
disturber of the peace.
~

He is the mystic, majestic, mysterious Jesus. Holiness wrapped in humanity. He sneezed, coughed, yawned, burped, and got the hiccups, and yet he could walk on water, step through walls, and raise the dead.
When you try to prod at him, he prods at you. And when you finally meet him face-to-face, he'll shake your world - hardened criminals have been known to fall to their knees, shield their eyes, tremble, and weep at his feet. That's what happens when the veil is lifted and you finally glimpse his terrible, irresistible, glorious, soul-consuming love.

*

Theology is the greatest threat to spiritual pilgrims when it comes to the game of defining God and gets in the way of letting God define you. I think the wonder tales - fantasies and fairy tales - lie closer to the heart of the Easter story because they acknowledge the reality of good and evil, the battle between right and wrong, the power of the supernatural, and the wonder of a world where dreams actually do come true.
If you try to divorce the mystery of Jesus from Christianity, you'll be left with just another religion, and not a very interesting one at that. Mystery lies at the heart of this story.
When Jesus calls us to believe, he calls us to step out on a limb, not to fall back into our comfort zone and rely on our own reasonable opinions. He calls us to a radical commitment, never to a practical religiosity.
And I think that's good, because it seems to me that people today are hungry for mystery again. Philosophy has given us questions; science has given us facts. But neither of those fill our souls. Jesus gives both truth hidden in mystery and mystery hidden in truth. In this way he can give both our heads and our hearts what we long for most.
The story of God becoming a man is incomprehensible. Only fools would dare to believe it. And the idea that God loves us enough to die for us? Preposterous. I'm staggered at the thought of the world-whisperer speaking my name, of the almighty breaking into song at the thought of me or coming to earth to die for me. Yet that is the truth, that is the mystery of Jesus.
God didn't send us a doctrine to learn, or a religion to live, or a philosophy to debate. He sent us a brother to love and a madman to trust and a servant to serve and a mystery to embrace. Within the mystery of Jesus, all that is foolish teaches all that is wise, all that is weak conquers all that is strong, and death itself is swallowed up by life. Here truth and mystery stand side by side and immerse hungry souls in their sea.
To enter the story of Easter, you have to pass through the gate of mystery.
Through the person of Jesus.

*


*touching the unseen*
~
the text of my life is in need of editing.
enter between the lines,
pick up the pen of your love,
let your mystery engulf my heart,
rewrite me.

reveal yourself to me
even if it means that
i must disappear
into you.

inversion.
~

"

Introductions

There is an old Welsh saying, "Wisdom, like the best of the honey, will be at the bottom."

I am a student. I have always been a student, and I will always be a student. I have a passion for learning, and for finding truth and wisdom wherever it may be found.

So I have decided it a reasonable endeavor to acquire a taste for the honey at the bottom of the jar - to notice things that stand out to me, that resonate with my heart, my mind, my passions, my spirit, that challenge the way I think, or question the norms I easily accept, to listen carefully to the wisdom of others, to seek wisdom in hidden places, and to consider all of these things as they relate to the life I live.

Wisdom has been defined by some as the practical application of knowledge to the betterment of everything. James L. Crenshaw defines wisdom as “The reasoned search for specific ways to ensure personal well-being in everyday life, to make sense of extreme adversity and vexing anomalies, and to transmit this hard-earned knowledge so that successive generations will embody it.” David J. A. Clines says that “Wisdom is true insight – into the way one should live, into the nature of things into the ways of God and humankind.” The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines wisdom as “accumulated learning… an ability to discern inner qualities and relationships… good sense… generally accepted belief… a wise attitude… [or] the teachings of the ancient wise men.” To a certain extent, I find all of these ideas to be relevant, and important pieces to an understanding of wisdom as a concept, but none of them leaves me satisfied. To take all of my nebulous thoughts on the matter and create a succinct definition for the word, I would say that wisdom is a lifestyle, which involves not only a constant search for knowledge, but a constant struggle to understand how such knowledge changes one’s perspective and the way one interacts with the world, with other people, and with God. Wisdom is a never-ending quest for knowledge, but it is more than that. It is a life lived seeking a fuller understanding of the immeasurable complexities of life and applying that understanding so as to make life as full as possible, in love and relationships, peace and happiness, justice and integrity, joy, hope, and righteousness, and all things good and Godly.

So this blog, as I have imagined it, expects to become a collection. I tend to write down thoughts, ideas, questions, quotes, etc on scrap pieces of paper and in various journals, in the margins of class notes, and on sticky notes in books and Bibles. And so this becomes a place that I can collect such things and share them with those who would read them.

Story

The following are a number of quotes from the book Story, by Steven James. The individual quotes are not all directly related, but they all have to do with how the Bible tells the overarching story of God's love for us, His creation, and how that relates to the stories that are our lives. James has a unique and engaging way of telling the story of the Bible, as it all points to what Jesus did on the cross and afterwards. It's a fantastic book to read, if you're looking for one.

"I think what makes us unique isn't so much our height or shape or fingerprints or eye color but our histories, our stories. Day by day our lives are woven into a giant narrative, and every moment we become more and more the story of who we are. We are our stories. The more intimate we are, the more our stories intertwine."

"By the way, I don't think being made in the likeness of God has anything to do with having toenails or tonsils or nipples or blue eyes or curly hair. Instead it includes stuff like being passionate about peace and quick to laugh and full of wonder and imagination and love and longing and life. Then God poured a questioning spirit into his children, along with dreams and persistence and salty tears and a dash of joy."

"By fighting each other, we diminish ourselves. The image of God is found in our unity as well as our uniqueness. There's a great equality here. A completion of each other. Our fullness reflects his fullness. Males being male and females being female reflect a clearer, sharper image of the Creator."

"We don't feed a hungry man sawdust, or give a thirsty man a pillow. That's not what he needs. So why do we try to fill our hunger for the mysterious, the spiritual, the eternal with cognac, ecstacy, reality shows, affairs and chicken fajitas? ... It's the wrong food."

"When Jesus came to earth he brought along the folk tales of heaven. He didn't lecture like a professor but told fables like a bard, weaving tales of another world into the fabric of human lives."

"Blindness isn't a result of too little light - that's darkness. Blindness is when you're not able to see when light is all around you."

"some lights are only made brighter

by putting them out."

"Truth always draws a line in the sand. That's why Jesus told Pontius Pilate, 'Everyone on the side of truth listens to me (John 18:37 NIV). We're not on the side of truth until we're on the side of Jesus."

"when death fingered your throat,

hoping for a final victory.

it didn't realize that it was

actually strangling

itself."

"Don't turn away. Hear the painful cries of this man now, or you won't hear his invitation later. You can't accept his love until you realize his sacrifice.... Hold onto this moment. See him hanging there, between heaven and earth. Between God and humanity. See him dying there on Skull Hill. Don't turn away. Easter will never make sense without this moment."

"'The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy.'

Matthew 28:8

~

'As he spoke, he held out his hands for them to see, and he showed them his feet. Still they stood there doubting, filled with joy and wonder.'

Luke 24:40-41

~

'He held out this hands for them to see, and he showed them his side. They were filled with joy when they saw their Lord!'

John 20:20

~

Any religion that's all somber and serious isn't Christianity. Easter is not an elders' meeting; it's an end zone dance. The curse is over, death is conquered, dawn is here. The words joy and Easter may not sound the same in English, but they are synonyms in the heart of God."