I'm really wrestling with something. Sometimes life can just seem a bit too much. You have faith in God to lead you. You have a spiritual life that informs you, inspires you, guides you. But there are still times when nothing you do seems to bring you peace...or helps you to believe "enough."
What is enough faith? What is enough belief? I feel like the guy who approached Christ saying..."I believe, help my unbelief." It's like I'm saying...I believe, but I just can't get it all together. God, please help me when I can't muster the faith to even ask for help.
What I have is a gift from God, even though I like to think it somehow came from me, or started from me. It didn't. Even what little I have, was a gift, freely given in love. The more I try to assert my own strength, my own belief, my own faith, the more I move away from depending upon and believing in God. It almost sounds silly as I write it. So simple, so hard to believe. The foolishness of our faith confounds the wisdom of this world and all of its messages.
Let my weakness showcase God's strength. Instead of fighting my way forward, let me submit myself to God's will. I want to find the still small voice leading opposite the tide. It takes doing nothing sometimes to stop and hear that voice.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Going to sleep
I was asleep. In my life, in many ways I was going through the motions being caught up in one thing after another. The stress of the moment could change my focus, alter my emotions, start my mind on a track that was hard to stop. I could be distracted from what was right in front of me, because I was only thinking about something else... Normal.
We're usually asleep like that. We stop hearing the birds sing when we're outside, we don't even notice our ride into work. What did the trees look like? How did the sun fell as it fell upon your face. How did the air conditioning feel as it cooled you? Did that song on the radio make your soul dance or cry? Do you remember what you just said to your friend on the cell phone?
It's like we're just filling time between things that we don't experience. Experiences that aren't experienced. In a way, we are asleep. What puts our lights out? What makes the day seem like a haze or a series of obstacles just to jump through? We're zoned out. We need to tune in.
We need to think one thought at a time and do one thing at a time. We need to pay attention to what is in front of us. IF we don't like what we see, we need to get up and move. We need to wake up our minds and decide what gets our attention and our focus and our very short time on this earth. If what is filling our lives is junk...then our lives are junk. If what is filling our lives is rich and lasting and enriching and sustaining...then our lives are rich and fulfilled. If we don't know WHY we are doing what we are doing, then we are asleep and unaware. We have to wake up. WAAAAKE UUUUUUUUP! What fills you up?
We're usually asleep like that. We stop hearing the birds sing when we're outside, we don't even notice our ride into work. What did the trees look like? How did the sun fell as it fell upon your face. How did the air conditioning feel as it cooled you? Did that song on the radio make your soul dance or cry? Do you remember what you just said to your friend on the cell phone?
It's like we're just filling time between things that we don't experience. Experiences that aren't experienced. In a way, we are asleep. What puts our lights out? What makes the day seem like a haze or a series of obstacles just to jump through? We're zoned out. We need to tune in.
We need to think one thought at a time and do one thing at a time. We need to pay attention to what is in front of us. IF we don't like what we see, we need to get up and move. We need to wake up our minds and decide what gets our attention and our focus and our very short time on this earth. If what is filling our lives is junk...then our lives are junk. If what is filling our lives is rich and lasting and enriching and sustaining...then our lives are rich and fulfilled. If we don't know WHY we are doing what we are doing, then we are asleep and unaware. We have to wake up. WAAAAKE UUUUUUUUP! What fills you up?
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Are Latinos the new Jews?
I am distressed. Two latinos in Arizona are murdered by members of a "minuteman" anti-immigration group. It's sad. A line has been crossed. One of the suspects is believed to have murdered a latino homeless person years ago as well.
The Anti-Defamation League now reports that Sotomayor is being blamed on the "Jews:" "White supremacists and anti-Semites have flooded Internet sites with messages charging the Sotomayor nomination is the result of 'Jewish power.'" The best thing about this is that Jewish advocacy groups are embracing the Latino community out of a common bond: persecution by the ultra right hate groups.
Today in Alabama, troopers can stop you on "suspicion" of being an undocumented immigrant. They can take you to jail and start deportation proceedings if you can't produce ID fast enough. Better not look Latino down here! Better not be listening to Mexican radio!
In Albertville, Alabama, the mayor is diverting money from the school system to try to start an immigration detention program in his city. TWENTY FIVE PERCENT of his constituency is Latino. They have started businesses, bought houses, and made his formerly abandoned downtown into a bustling business district. Thanks so much...now go back to Mexico?
It's a sad day in America when the new "weapon" against "illegal immigration" is a gun in the hands of vigilantes. Enough is enough. Violence is the product of hate...it can only be combated by all of our communities standing together against it. Christians, Jews, Muslims...all peace loving and God-fearing persons...we need to stand together for the common beliefs of decency and human rights against this tide.
The Anti-Defamation League now reports that Sotomayor is being blamed on the "Jews:" "White supremacists and anti-Semites have flooded Internet sites with messages charging the Sotomayor nomination is the result of 'Jewish power.'" The best thing about this is that Jewish advocacy groups are embracing the Latino community out of a common bond: persecution by the ultra right hate groups.
Today in Alabama, troopers can stop you on "suspicion" of being an undocumented immigrant. They can take you to jail and start deportation proceedings if you can't produce ID fast enough. Better not look Latino down here! Better not be listening to Mexican radio!
In Albertville, Alabama, the mayor is diverting money from the school system to try to start an immigration detention program in his city. TWENTY FIVE PERCENT of his constituency is Latino. They have started businesses, bought houses, and made his formerly abandoned downtown into a bustling business district. Thanks so much...now go back to Mexico?
It's a sad day in America when the new "weapon" against "illegal immigration" is a gun in the hands of vigilantes. Enough is enough. Violence is the product of hate...it can only be combated by all of our communities standing together against it. Christians, Jews, Muslims...all peace loving and God-fearing persons...we need to stand together for the common beliefs of decency and human rights against this tide.
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