Do you ever feel you've set your standards so high that it inhibits you from ever trying to reach them?
I see the beauty in a woman's manicured hand.
Yet, it seems so beyond reach that I don't dare try.
...testifies my short, hastily cut fingernails.
I see the beauty in careful, flowing handwriting.
Yet, legibility seems to be my most attainable goal.
...testifies my future students while attempting to read the chalkboard.
I see the beauty in well formulated speech.
Yet, while always desirable, disillusionment ensues from lack of clarity and timeliness.
...testifies my friends who wait patiently as I stumble through my thoughts.
I see the beauty in a lifelong friendship.
Yet, the burdens of distance and the anticipation of new associations make me falter.
...testifies life-changing relationships that have come and gone.
Where is the beauty?
I see the beauty in God:
Does (blank) draw me closer to Him? -James 4:8
Does (blank) please Him? -2 Corinthians 5:9
Is (blank) done in the name of the Lord Jesus? -Colossians 3:17
Does (blank) increase my knowledge of Him? -Ephesians 1:17
Where is the beauty?
I see the beauty in God:
A father embraces a son who has squandered his inheritance.
A man returns again and again to his adulteress wife.
The majestic presence of a mighty God is found in the silence of a whisper.
A flower of the field, here today and gone tomorrow, appears more beautiful than the richest king's robes.
A new covenant for all people arrives wrapped in the vulnerability and dependency of a small child.
I see the beauty in God.
A beauty worth pursuing.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
What I love about teaching
You can be as creative as you want.
Teach multiplication of negative and positive numbers by asking the students to write a short story about how the positive number became negative. Ask, "Have you ever had an experience in your life when your positive attitude turned negative? What was the cause?" Bring the numbers to life. Sure, it may not have much to do with numbers, but it has everything to do with life.
Teach someone not to fear by practicing putting on the imaginary "armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-17)." Buckle on the belt of truth. . .(Show her how to do the same). . .Fasten the breastplate of righteousness to your chest. Put on your sandals, with which to carry the Gospel of peace to the nations. . .(When she cowers in fear, take her hand and help her to continue). . . Take up the shield of faith, and put on the helmet of salvation. . .(When she loses heart, urge her on). . .Finally, take up the sword. And, stab the evil in the throat. . .(When she shrinks back, wrap your arms around her and hold her close. Never give up.)
Teach someone to understand the spiritual by teaching the physical, as Jesus did. So much is packed into the parables that Jesus told. The Prodigal Son. The Woman at the Well. The Wedding at Cana. The Samaritan man. Even at hearing the names of these parables, I am reminded of forgiveness, salvation, hope, newness, grace. While at first just words, these promises come alive in the stories of real people and circumstances.
Teach everything by learning it first. Learn it: Not just for the test, as a list of remote facts in one's mind. Not just for the pride of knowing it. Not just for apprehension. But, rather, for comprehension. Teaching facts that we've memorized and regurgitated is not teaching at all. It would be easier for the student to simply read it in a book. No, we teach what we have learned, using every sense and perception in our body. We've touched it, smelled it, seen it, heard it. Our mind and our spirit tells us it is true. We see it in the sky, in our neighbor, and in the work of our hands. We can bend it and twist it, yet it doesn't break. We can say it with confidence.
We can teach it, as creatively as we want.
Teach multiplication of negative and positive numbers by asking the students to write a short story about how the positive number became negative. Ask, "Have you ever had an experience in your life when your positive attitude turned negative? What was the cause?" Bring the numbers to life. Sure, it may not have much to do with numbers, but it has everything to do with life.
Teach someone not to fear by practicing putting on the imaginary "armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-17)." Buckle on the belt of truth. . .(Show her how to do the same). . .Fasten the breastplate of righteousness to your chest. Put on your sandals, with which to carry the Gospel of peace to the nations. . .(When she cowers in fear, take her hand and help her to continue). . . Take up the shield of faith, and put on the helmet of salvation. . .(When she loses heart, urge her on). . .Finally, take up the sword. And, stab the evil in the throat. . .(When she shrinks back, wrap your arms around her and hold her close. Never give up.)
Teach someone to understand the spiritual by teaching the physical, as Jesus did. So much is packed into the parables that Jesus told. The Prodigal Son. The Woman at the Well. The Wedding at Cana. The Samaritan man. Even at hearing the names of these parables, I am reminded of forgiveness, salvation, hope, newness, grace. While at first just words, these promises come alive in the stories of real people and circumstances.
Teach everything by learning it first. Learn it: Not just for the test, as a list of remote facts in one's mind. Not just for the pride of knowing it. Not just for apprehension. But, rather, for comprehension. Teaching facts that we've memorized and regurgitated is not teaching at all. It would be easier for the student to simply read it in a book. No, we teach what we have learned, using every sense and perception in our body. We've touched it, smelled it, seen it, heard it. Our mind and our spirit tells us it is true. We see it in the sky, in our neighbor, and in the work of our hands. We can bend it and twist it, yet it doesn't break. We can say it with confidence.
We can teach it, as creatively as we want.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Two words.
Isabel Allende, one of the most famous latina authors, writes her story "Dos Palabras" under the genre of magical realism. As real events become abnormal and impossible events become reality, magical realism both frightens and intrigues its readers.
"Dos Palabras"
Two words.
The two words that drive this thought-provoking and heart-wrenching story are never actually explicitly stated but the reader slowly settles on their interpretation in the last line of the story which is below written in the native language followed by my translation, not free of mistakes.
"Los hombres comprendieron entonces que ya su jefe no podía deshacerse del hechizo de esas dos palabras endemoniadas, porque todos pudieron ver los ojos carnívoros del puma tornarse mansos cuando ella avanzó y le tomó la mano."
The men finally understood that their leader could not undo the spell of the two words which had possessed him because they could see his eyes like those of a ravenous cougar become tame when she walked towards him and he took her by the hand.
How powerful is love between a man and a woman!
Yet, even as I grow to learn more about the love between a man and a woman, between a mother and a daughter, between two sisters and two friends, between a disciple and a discipler, it is then that I grow in deeper understanding of the love of God.
It happens through these thoughts...
Why not translate the way I treat my loved ones here on earth to the way I treat my Father in Heaven? Why not learn from the love I receive here on earth about the love I receive from my Father in Heaven?
"I wonder if he's thinking about me." => "I wonder if He's thinking about me."
"I want to do something special for him." => "I want to do something special for Him."
"She understands me so well." => "He understands me so well."
Your love is incomprehensible, Father. Only is it more fully comprehended through a reflection on the earthly relationships that You have ordained. What a master architect You are!...using Your own creation to point more perfectly towards Your holy identity. Amen.
Two words.
(In English, it's three.)
"Dos Palabras"
Two words.
The two words that drive this thought-provoking and heart-wrenching story are never actually explicitly stated but the reader slowly settles on their interpretation in the last line of the story which is below written in the native language followed by my translation, not free of mistakes.
"Los hombres comprendieron entonces que ya su jefe no podía deshacerse del hechizo de esas dos palabras endemoniadas, porque todos pudieron ver los ojos carnívoros del puma tornarse mansos cuando ella avanzó y le tomó la mano."
The men finally understood that their leader could not undo the spell of the two words which had possessed him because they could see his eyes like those of a ravenous cougar become tame when she walked towards him and he took her by the hand.
How powerful is love between a man and a woman!
Yet, even as I grow to learn more about the love between a man and a woman, between a mother and a daughter, between two sisters and two friends, between a disciple and a discipler, it is then that I grow in deeper understanding of the love of God.
It happens through these thoughts...
Why not translate the way I treat my loved ones here on earth to the way I treat my Father in Heaven? Why not learn from the love I receive here on earth about the love I receive from my Father in Heaven?
"I wonder if he's thinking about me." => "I wonder if He's thinking about me."
"I want to do something special for him." => "I want to do something special for Him."
"She understands me so well." => "He understands me so well."
Your love is incomprehensible, Father. Only is it more fully comprehended through a reflection on the earthly relationships that You have ordained. What a master architect You are!...using Your own creation to point more perfectly towards Your holy identity. Amen.
Two words.
(In English, it's three.)
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Living with disregard to the Truth
"...that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage I have overcome the world." John 16:33
Sin has lost its power,
Death has lost its sting,
From the grave you've risen,
Victoriously!
-Marvelous Light, Charlie Hall
the battle has already been won!
the battle has already been won!
why then? why do i continue on struggling with my flesh...desiring to do evil...liking the taste of sin in my mouth...forgive me O God...i am careless, thoughtless, selfish, only your love can undo this. set me free, take me back, let me rest in your arms, for it is your love that i seek the kind that cannot be removed, the kind that never ends...
Sin has lost its power,
Death has lost its sting,
From the grave you've risen,
Victoriously!
-Marvelous Light, Charlie Hall
the battle has already been won!
the battle has already been won!
why then? why do i continue on struggling with my flesh...desiring to do evil...liking the taste of sin in my mouth...forgive me O God...i am careless, thoughtless, selfish, only your love can undo this. set me free, take me back, let me rest in your arms, for it is your love that i seek the kind that cannot be removed, the kind that never ends...
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Thoughts on fearing GOD...
We fear that which we believe has power over us...
We fear the unknown.
We fear the dark.
We fear disease and sickness.
We fear death.
Has not GOD overcome all evil, even death? "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33
Why should we have need to fear anything but GOD?
And, we should fear GOD.
"Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!" Deuteronomy 5:29
He alone has the power to destroy us, body and soul.
Yet, how satisfying that the only entity worthy of our fear is He that loves us the most!
Furthermore, what is grace without a healthy fear of justice and punishment?
Punishment: "For the wages of sin is death..." In other words, eternal separation from GOD, from all that is good and loving and righteous and true and merciful. The wrath of GOD is something to be feared.
But, the verse doesn't stop there. And, neither should our hope. For the Great "I AM," has made a way for His people to be with Him forever.
Grace: "but the gift of GOD is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
So, what does it mean to fear GOD?
"To this man will I (the Lord) look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." (Isaiah 66:2)
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Proverbs 1:7
Oh GOD, grant that we may learn what it means to fear You, that we could worship You in truth.
We fear the unknown.
We fear the dark.
We fear disease and sickness.
We fear death.
Has not GOD overcome all evil, even death? "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33
Why should we have need to fear anything but GOD?
And, we should fear GOD.
"Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!" Deuteronomy 5:29
He alone has the power to destroy us, body and soul.
Yet, how satisfying that the only entity worthy of our fear is He that loves us the most!
Furthermore, what is grace without a healthy fear of justice and punishment?
Punishment: "For the wages of sin is death..." In other words, eternal separation from GOD, from all that is good and loving and righteous and true and merciful. The wrath of GOD is something to be feared.
But, the verse doesn't stop there. And, neither should our hope. For the Great "I AM," has made a way for His people to be with Him forever.
Grace: "but the gift of GOD is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
So, what does it mean to fear GOD?
"To this man will I (the Lord) look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." (Isaiah 66:2)
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Proverbs 1:7
Oh GOD, grant that we may learn what it means to fear You, that we could worship You in truth.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Dark Circles
that which you justly procrastinate,
or contemplating the political debate,
what keeps you up so late?
music of all genres,
blogs written to discuss,
why put up such a fuss?
does it rule me?
or am i still free
to say yes to sleep.
under the eyes
you see what lies
in the recesses of minds
are you sleepless
by the thought of missing this
or fighting the injustice
morning bring the light
may i not put up a fight
for you shine on insight
what keeps you up so late?
or contemplating the political debate,
what keeps you up so late?
music of all genres,
blogs written to discuss,
why put up such a fuss?
does it rule me?
or am i still free
to say yes to sleep.
under the eyes
you see what lies
in the recesses of minds
are you sleepless
by the thought of missing this
or fighting the injustice
morning bring the light
may i not put up a fight
for you shine on insight
what keeps you up so late?
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Birds can't swim
a bird above
the vast sea, you fly
a refuge you seek,
rest for weary wings
though a Rock is nearby
solid and strong
you don't see it, though you try
even I don't know why
you've been so blind, open your eyes
how is it that you've spotted me?
such a small yet swift fish
sure, it was I who came to the surface
thinking I could show you to your place of rest
now you've forgotten where your need is
is it rest you need or sustenance
though you're hungry for fish,
it's for rest that you truly wish.
you're flying too close, you're swooping too near
it's not my own life that I fear
rather where you'll be when death draws near.
I'm swimming circles 'round the rock now,
don't miss it or you'll die
your strength is running thin now,
yet this Rock is here to stay.
You can believe it if you see it.
these fish scales can't carry me through the air
your bird wings won't do you any good under here
our only refuge is the Rock from which
our source of strength comes
find your rest in Him and be
a beloved of the King eternally.
the vast sea, you fly
a refuge you seek,
rest for weary wings
though a Rock is nearby
solid and strong
you don't see it, though you try
even I don't know why
you've been so blind, open your eyes
how is it that you've spotted me?
such a small yet swift fish
sure, it was I who came to the surface
thinking I could show you to your place of rest
now you've forgotten where your need is
is it rest you need or sustenance
though you're hungry for fish,
it's for rest that you truly wish.
you're flying too close, you're swooping too near
it's not my own life that I fear
rather where you'll be when death draws near.
I'm swimming circles 'round the rock now,
don't miss it or you'll die
your strength is running thin now,
yet this Rock is here to stay.
You can believe it if you see it.
these fish scales can't carry me through the air
your bird wings won't do you any good under here
our only refuge is the Rock from which
our source of strength comes
find your rest in Him and be
a beloved of the King eternally.
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