Don’t Lose The Way

‘Half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it so that the other half may reach you.’ – Kahlil Gilbran (Sand and Fog)

From the beginning, we lived in the presence of greatness. We lived under the constancy of light but we barely understood what it meant. We lived with great provision without realising the character of the Provider. We were treated as sons and daughters by the Master, when really we were still slaves.

Slaves not to Him, but to ourselves. Slaves to fear, to darkness, to false truths. Slaves to our own bodies, created for a wide open lives but squashed into terrifyingly small spaces. We lived in the presence of completeness, of wholeness and yet we never grasped the fullness of it. Our slavery led us away from the light until we were so far away from the original intention of our being, we were cast out into the darkness and the light longed for us, called out to us but was not with us as the Light had been.

You see, we share it in, equal parts, the slavery that led Adam and Eve, the first man and woman into abandoning the presence. We share in the same humanity that led us to suspicion and distrust of the only Loving Father we had ever known. We choose to walk in opposition to the only thing asked of us and we walked straight into the darkness, the bloodiness of human history.

Adam, from the word “Adama”, literally named of the earth, chose slavery over freedom, and cast out from the garden, walked onto the earth to cover it with bloodshed. The very blood which gives us life, became our undoing, our brokenheartedness, the scar of our history on this earth… acres and acres of bloodsoaked earth.

But we weren’t left alone out here. In fact, God barely left us for a minute before redrawing the path, the Way back to Him.

Time and time again, he re-drew it in the earth, the sky, through the history of humanity as it poured out its story on to the planet. And still it faded from our view because we so easily turned our eyes. We washed out the path with dirt, blood, greed.

Again and again, He, the great Father, used his own hand to lead us back to him and our history of words and stories is the history of our enslavement and our freedom, being captured and set free, choosing entrapment and crying out for salvation again.

We still live in the Presence. His light is all over us, the footsteps of the Way before our eyes. Through blood and war, peace and beauty He still points out the Way and welcomes travellers onto it. Whatever you do, once you find the Way, don’t lose it as so many are prone to do.

We are still sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, still making our way through the human story and wandering the earth. Hold to the constancy of light, the character of our Father, do not take your eyes from His hand drawing us home. Don’t lose the Way.

A Poem By Grace.

Grace is one of the children attending the school in Kibera Slum that 100days100dollars is working with. This is her recital of a poem (unknown origin).

life oh life life
—-
how many ever lived and today no more but dust
it doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor
surely life is more than south african gold

all sons of my woman, of my woman
and daughters of my womb
this generation of young ducks has fallen apart
days and nights
boys and girls
walk right left left right
forward backward

alcoholic —-
tell me where is your destination
———
———
———
———

A Collection Of Mondays.

“Our limited perspective, our hopes and fears become our measure of life, and when circumstances don’t fit our ideas they become our difficulties.”
Ben Franklin from Jill at Conversations.

Prayer for the Week
from Jesus Creed by Scot McKnight

“O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”

Choosing The Kingdom

Reflect on whether your choosing of God is bringing you genuine life. If your God-choosing is not making you fundamentally more alive and vital, you may be choosing the external trappings of the Christian religion rather than the life-giving inner essence of Christian spirituality. You may be choosing a spiritual self-improvement program of the kingdom of self, but you are not choosing the genuinely life-giving program of the kingdom of God. Hear God’s call to surrender to God’s will as an invitation to a fullness of life that exceeds your wildest expectations and imaginings. The source of this call is the Source of everything that is truly alive. Settle for nothing less than this truly abundant and vital life in Christ.
David Benner

from Rich

When In Doubt
Sometimes the circumstances of life come flooding in around you and you have to take a pause. I have plenty to say but for now – I’m recording the days and nights, the flood of thoughts for calmer seas. So when in doubt, turn to the trusted and true .. here’s the the collection of thoughts, prayers, quotes and hope from dear friends.. including this walk on the lighter side.

The Good Samaritan In Rehearsal

from Etnobofin

Liam’s 4th Birthday Party
Liam was born on the 26th September 2004, while I was in the US at my first Youth Specialties NYWC convention. His birthday is always a time for remembering a ‘birth’ of my own. Meanwhile.. pirate parties are awesome. Check out the amazing pirate ship the Captain built!

Whoops.

What a week so far. There is plenty of fur flying in lots of directions.

Postive Intent
These are words that I’ve been using regularly but Marko gave me the phrase – in regards to working through conflict and resolution, postive intention. You have to assume positive intent. My positive intent is never to use this blog as a passive-aggressive method of communication.. but nor do I want to feel bullied about it’s content either. My daily observations of life and all things inclusive are the fodder for this blog – not necessarily earthshattering ideas nor are they always right. But, they deserve a forum surely – because where else should they go or be?

So what are the rules of common decency? Even now, I’m talking about something that has happened but in the context of the broader idea – therefore does that make it safe fodder? Other, far more political situations of my daily life I have left well alone… so what is my positive intent?

To Learn and grow from a situation I cannot change.

Coming Down.

I come down a lot
I turn on the lights
Making promises of peace tonight
I shut the door
Quick I tell my lies
Before I bend my knees
Oh I refuse to give or take an inch
And I won’t bend or break
Oh I come down a lot

I shut the door to keep you out
I lean myself against this wall
Do anything to keep the weight of the world
From falling down, from falling down
Around me

I am terrified of falling
I feel myself burning
I am buried with confession
I can’t get the words out
And I’ll fall apart if it all comes down
And I am scared to be broken
But you can take the fear apart
And you can break me

I am swallowed up by pride
I live inside myself
Telling lies and it’s so cold
I won’t bend or break
I won’t give or take an inch

And all these promises I break
They take my strength
I am slowly dying
I die a little every day
Oh I come down a lot

I am terrified of falling
I feel myself burning
I am buried with confession
I can’t get the words out
And I’ll fall apart if it all comes down
And I am scared to be broken
But you can take the fear apart
And you can break me