Nevertheless

I never want to settle for less
I heard something today that I am going to make my own, and I invite you to do the same dear reader. Louie Giglio used the term nevertheless and broke it down into its component parts to read: I never want to settle for less. What do you think about this idea? It captured my attention and imagination because isn't this what we do, settle for less?

Mediocrity: an unpalatable word
Is something better than nothing for you dear reader? Did someone teach you that you had better settle because this is it, this is all you are going to get and why not accept it, even if it dulls your senses, mutes your powerful voice, stifles your creativity, slows your heart rate and all but kills your spirit? Are you settling for less? Is this your lot in life? Mediocrity. What an unpalatable word that leaves a wretched coating on the tongue. We take what we can get when we believe that we are unworthy of more. Less is easy, asking for more takes confidence and the boldness of knowing that nothing but the best is good enough for you!

Let's get down to business
Okay, enough of the pep talk. Let's get down to business. Choosing never the less is a big deal and it requires you to think and feel, and come up with words to describe what you are not experiencing in life. What is not there that is missing? Dare to think it and than to speak it out loud and next, tell someone close by. Be courageous now, tell the person sitting next to you, someone you are currently texting, a stranger standing in line... what is missing? Thinking it and then saying it, will help you long for it, whatever the "it" happens to be.

Asking for more takes courage

This is not an exercise in futility, it is meant to awaken in you desire, a rekindling of what may feel lost to you, perhaps buried or long dead. It you can resurrect, recapture, ignite the more you long for: you can start living again! Come on now, more is waiting for you. You have to get up and go get it.

Everyone is entitled to never the less
Here is a caveat: You must never ever get more for yourself at the expense of another getting less. You must never put yourself above another, their needs and wants, to satisfy your own cravings and desires. Everyone is entitled to never the less dear reader. Remember this: that fair is fair and all of your choices must be a reflection of this undeniable truth.

Never settle for less then what God wills for you, never. 

Chasing After the Wind

Trying to find meaning

Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun (Ecclesiastes 2:11)

Have you ever felt this way dear reader? I have; in fact, today this is how I feel. Work did not satisfy, a bike ride in nature with a lovely friend did not satisfy. It was a chasing after the wind. A sense of wholeness was not mine to appropriate, not mine to have, not mine today. In its place is an understanding. As I unravel this dear reader, I invite you to walk and talk along side of me.

Darkness dominates
Today is the longest day of the year. This information made me so sad I almost wept. It means the sun will shine longer today than any other day, only to shine a little less tomorrow and the next day. This means that darkness will again prevail and take its turn, dominating. Under todays sun, I feel like I have been chasing after the wind.

The ultimate why, is love

The wind is uncatchable dear reader and if I take a look at what it represents to me, I see that it is love lost, love longed for, love unattainable, misplaced, unspoken, unrequited, irreplaceable. To catch the wind is quite a feat, wouldn't you say? 

Love can catch us off guard in its extraordinary beauty. It does exist, even when it feels as though it were only a vapour, a mist, here and then gone. 

When I look on all the works my hands have wrought, and what I have laboured to achieve, I recognize that none of it has worth or value without love felt, love shared, love embraced, nurtured, held in high regard and as the ultimate why for all I do. Nothing is gained, under the sun without love.

I want the intangible to become tangible. I want the chasing to become catching. I want I want I want what this existence really means. 

I want you and me, to be, in love...

Do Not Enter

Keep out

Do not enter is a warning
What sign is placed over your heart? Is there a Do Not Enter message? If so, how come? What is going on in there? Is your heart under construction, reconstruction, rewiring... or this, is it a dead zone? Do not enter is a warning to the would be intruder but it is also a protective measure taken by the one posting the sign. Something is unsafe for one or both of the parties concerned.

When we can no longer relate
I wonder about this. All around us are moving objects we call humans and we have been designed for relationship. When we can no longer relate or choose not to, it is because of injury, hurt, loss, imposition experienced. The pain may seem unbearable in relationship, and retreat becomes an unnaturally natural way of staying clear of all that can hurt or feel like maiming. This removal from others is our greatest loss dear reader because again, we have been designed for relating to one another.

Nothing is more wondrous than sharing
Lets have a heart to heart, you and I, here and now. Nothing is more precious than meeting you here Dear One. Nothing is more awe inspiring than feeling safe in your company. Nothing is more wondrous than sharing who I am with who you are...nothing. 

I cannot compare what it is like to be with you to any other experience I have had, in fact, I want this with everyone all of the time because it fills my soul with darkness shattering brilliant blinding light. There is safety in love given, love received. Do not enter stops me in my tracks and I cannot, will not enter against your will. In fact, my heart breaks at the thought of force, of violent entry. In our heart to heart, the message is enter, be mine, and I will be yours. You are welcome here... all are welcome here.

What message is placed over your heart dear reader? Look into my eyes, look into your fellow human beings eyes. Everyone wants to be welcomed in. There is no such thing as exclusion in love, everyone is and always will be, welcome

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34-35).

A new commandment? If it is new, can you be too?  Love one another, what could possibly be better than love?

Perfect Timing

Paying attention to Gods timing

Experiencing perfect timing
Have you experienced perfect timing dear reader? A simple example of this is wanting to get up at 6:00 a.m and opening your eyes just minutes before your alarm.

For a more dramatic example, imagine arriving home to find a loved one in cardiac arrest. You perform life saving cardio pulmonary resuscitation. 

While in hospital, your loved one looks you in the eye, tears streaming down their face as they thank you.

You recognize a compelling feeling you had 
Your mind quickly takes a trip back in time to one month prior. You recall the weekend you spent getting certified in CPR and now recognize that the compelling feeling you had had to take the course for the first time in your life was for this moment in time. A hospital visit is clearly, unequivocally preferable to a grave site.

Are we killing time?
Time is an extraordinarily bendy object marking and demarcating continually. I call it an object which is a crazy descriptor and yet it has this quality to it, that it is a something we grapple with that cannot be grasped. Am I currently killing time here as I wrestle with the concept? I think not, because I take you now to this. God has perfect timing. I joked with him this morning as I prayed, "In your perfect timing God and can you hurry up?" I picture a sideways grin shot from him to me because I sense he understands my urgency and my concurrent trust.

While I trust in his perfect will and his perfect timing, this means that I must wait and often times wait some more. I think of the preparation that goes into all good things bestowed. I believe that foundation must be laid prior to balconies being built. I see that seeds must be planted before they grow into powerful wind resistant trees. I know a baby must be held, helped, hoisted, before taking on the world. Nothing and no one of worth starts out as an end product. What dear reader, would be the point in this? What would we have to look forward to, eagerly anticipate and then joyfully savour if we had what we wanted and we had it right now?

Gods will and timing make the end result exquisite
Accomplishment is this-time, effort, desire, commitment, unwavering-all-in-nothing-is-going-to-stop-me-now determination to win the race with our eyes continually on the prize. The prize, what is the prize? What do you want and want it now and yet, you are willing to be all in and wait, no matter what because God; Gods will is so perfect, his timing so precise as to make the end result so exquisite that it feels like rapture?

Wait... wait... just wait a little longer dear reader. He knows your hearts desires because he himself placed them there and he knows, when perfect is. 

Positionally Progressive

Look at your location, can you mark it geographically, spiritually

I'm right here. Where are you? Look at your location, can you mark it geographically? Your body is somewhere in space and time, taking up a spot. When you move, you move from spot to spot to spot and so on. We are animated. Even when asleep, breathing in enlarges our lungs with oxygen, expanding us outward so that with every inhale, we take up just a little more space. Take a look at your spirit, can you mark it geographically? We are spiritual beings and we occupy space in this realm too.

Certain uncertainty can cause anxiety

On any given day, it can feel like the soul is travelling in multiple directions as circumstances suggest we feel this way or that, taking us here and there as though an invisible tour guide has lost the agenda and map for our paid for and planned excursions. Not knowing where we are in space and time, not knowing the direction we are traveling means certain uncertainty that can cause anxiety, fear, doubt, insecurity, an ever present threat to well-being.

Being created for greatness

Look again, where are you? Are you positionally progressing? When you move from spot to spot to spot, is it a climb for a better view of the world around you, with eyes that see clearly what is possible and available? Do you feel in your body and know in your soul that you were and are still, being created for greatness? Inhale, take up space with the idea that within your reach from where you stand, abundance flows all around you and toward you as though teasing you to open yourself to let it all in. Are you positionally progressing?

Does your spirit have a boarding pass for flight

You are a traveller

We are all travellers and at any given time, we can be on the road to personal hell or heaven with the terrain of each representing themselves in shape and form to our bodies, our minds, our spirits. We take up space in time, moving about but does this matter dear reader, when the spirit is trapped in a holding cell? When the spirit is not given a boarding pass for flight to the outer reaches of the imagination?

We are more than things

What looks like progress can just be more of the same and again, more of this sameness. More can mean abundance in thought, deed, and enlargement of the heart. We are more, much more than things and to believe otherwise steals from our glorious nature. You dear reader, are more than where you are in time and space. You were created for progression. Isn't it time you check your location? Where are you now?

Fighting with Feathers

Picture boxers sparing. Two opponents, squaring off, dancing and dodging with tentative jabs that eventually turn into what looks like lethal blows. The bobbing and weaving is artistry disguising the ultimate end good in a match of wits, a knockout punch, rendering a competitor unconscious. There is gradual progression, a warm up to fire feeling of anticipation for observers. A spectator may have a favourite going into the viewing or may feel a sentimental pull of sympathy for one fighter over the other. Either way, taking sides is natural, a human condition that echoes a voice in our heads, implanted in our hearts of divide and conquer while we play favourites. Fighting appears to be a natural inclination, wouldn't you agree Dear Reader? Winners and losers is the name of the game. Dodge the punches, maybe land some of your own, weave your way out of the fight and walk away intact, safe for another day. Love speaks a different language than this. Love asks that we remain, in love, despite threats, despite attack, despite our urges to put up our fists and block a punch or worse yet, throw one at a fellow human being that looks, sounds and feels a lot like us.

How would it be for each of us Dear Reader, if we chose to disarm our opponent? What would it take for you and me to decide that we do not want to spar, refusing to give in to carnage, blooding another for the sake of winning and lording this over the "loser" in battle? Think now of a feather as pseudo sword, with its wispy down softness, the ticklishness of it brushing across the face as an opponent takes a swipe. Imagine fighting with feathers, squaring off against an adversary, swatting at one another, attempting to jab, bob and weave to avoid harm. It is impossible to injure someone with a feather in fact, the idea is absurd. So is fighting, fighting is absurd. In fact, the idea of fighting becomes more ridiculous with every day that passes in my life...what do you think Dear Reader? Is there a better way? You could have knocked me over with a feather is an expression with the idea "that surprise will put you off balance and so it will be easy to knock you over. In this case, so off balance that all it would take would be the brush of a feather." Disarming is charming, an unexpectedly wonderful way of letting love win Dear One. How much fight is in you? Is it your usual way? Are you ready for a new approach? What would your life look and feel like if you let love win? Fight with feathers. Knock someone off balance today with your gentle kind heart. 

Hoodwinked

The wool, pulled over your eyes

Have you ever been hoodwinked? In case you don't know the meaning of the word, it is to be deceived or tricked. I am not sure why but the sound of the word as it comes off of the tongue is appealing-perhaps it is the word inside of the word, wink!

Being tricked is not so nice

Deception is the dark side

Now, let's get serious. To be deceived or tricked is not so nice and no one wants to be played for the fool. When someone has pulled the wool over our eyes, another interesting set of combined words, we can become quite indignant. Injury to our pride can be an aggressive reminder that someone got the better of us. Look dear reader, at all of the ways to express having been subjected to someone else's purposeful deception for their own gain.

Do not be deceived

Now, let's get playful. We cannot be hoodwinked, deceived, tricked, have the wool pulled over our eyes or have someone get the better of us when we know what the trickster is up to. There is an admonishment in The Bible and it is this "do not be deceived". But we have been, haven't we dear reader? I mean really, who hasn't? There is an expression, once burned, twice shy. Another expression is fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me! Call me crazy but I distinctly heard God said to me last night, earlier today and this evening, "Don't take your current circumstances too seriously. Have a good laugh at them because I have it all covered." In other words, he suggested that I not be hoodwinked, that I not believe what the devil would want to convince me of. The devil is a liar, known by another name, deceiver.

Truth teller of diabolical deceiver

Now let's get serious again. There are characters in our lives that can be tricky, deceptive, hoodwinkers. They are you, me and the devil plus his black hearted fallen angel crew. We decide who we are and who we will be in relation to others. Truth teller or diabolic deceiver? Do we protect one another by giving and getting or do we take until it hurts the other? I am not a hoodwinker dear reader. I do not deceive myself or others. In fact, I pride myself on the character strength of truth telling and integrity. How about you? There is a command and a natural law all wrapped up in one bit of scripture "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap" (Galatians 6:7).

Letting go and letting God

I have been deceived. You have too at one point or another and what we get to decide is whether or not we take it too seriously. Whether or not it makes or breaks us as humans. Do we trust in the law that justice prevails? If we do, do we let go and let God, as he suggested to me repeatedly in his admonishments to laugh because he has it all covered? What if God likes to wink at us and see if we take notice? Sowing and reaping are natural laws. At harvest time, the seeds we have sown undeniably become plants, evidence of what resides in our minds and hearts. Proof perfect of who we truly are. Who are you, really? 

Vantage Point

What is your vantage point Dear Reader?

Do you see straight ahead, around corners? Do you have eyes at the back of your head? Are you able to see far into the distance or immediately in front of you? Do you look down when you walk, talk? Not wanting to exhaust all of the possibilities, I ask you this last option, do you look up? 

Depending on your viewing inclinations, the vista changes. In fact, you may not see a vista at all, given the direction your eyes take. I am learning rapidly that it is the mind, the thoughts we give credence to that direct our vision. Keeping the mind narrowly focused on the mundane and mediocre has our eyes trained on the minuscule and microscopic. 

If you are a scientist your microscope will allow you to discover worlds inside of tiny worlds, expanding your vision and understanding of the world at large. If you are a human that only focuses on what is immediately in front of you, you make your own world, life and mind, teeny tiny. 

What we focus on becomes who we are, and I am hoping for us dear reader, I am hoping for a vantage point, a view of life that includes majesty, magnificence, and magnitude. Impressive beauty, scale, stateliness and royal power. A title or form of address for a monarch or other distinguished person. Great importance, a difference of one on a scale of brightness, treated as a unit of measure. Look at the definitions included in the three sentences that precedes this one! Is this what you want for yourself? 

There are a whole lot of m words in this piece of writing, all descriptors of perspectives that you, and I can grab hold of, and see from, that represent vantage points. We get to choose ours. 

In the choosing, we affect our minds, and our direction, because whatever the focus may be is exactly the direction we travel. 

1 Peter 2:9-10 "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." 

Can you see Dear Reader, that these biblical verses speak of a heavenly vantage point, an elevated position of looking up, in order to look down from above? Through Christ we have already or can, receive mercy, and the brightness of our vision changes. We become members of a chosen people, royalty, a holy nation belonging to God. 

Belonging to God Dear Reader, the sovereign. Being a family member of the King of kings, makes me a daughter and princess. This can be your title too, prince or princess of the Kingdom of God. 

Who will you be, what will you see from this point of view? Nobility, gentility, elegance, stature, grace and grandeur becoming of royalty are yours to lay claim of, in Christ. Look up, so that you can look down from a heavenly vantage point. 

You are becoming, always becoming more of the same of what you are already. You decide, narrow your vision or broaden your scope?