Missing In Action

Are you missing in action?
Send out a search party, souls have gone MIA. Can you feel it, this strange thing that is happening all around you? The atmosphere is changing, and with it the air quality. The heavy air, laden with greyness is a marker, a symptom of what is to come, and what is already happening throughout the world. 

Up and down no longer make sense, and our existence is turning into a nightmarish version of a Dr. Seuss book. Quite literally, furniture is being rearranged by wind. Rain washes cars, trucks, buses and trains, along its coursing path as though they were abandoned toys. I speak of things, but it is the people that cannot recognize their lives, who they are or will be once the wreckage ceases, because dear reader, it is not letting up. It does not appear to be abating, let alone ceasing.

We are either making a difference or...
I say this not as a pessimist, or a doomsday speaker: I am observing and wondering just as you may be, what is really happening, and do I dare pretend that it is business as usual, that this too shall pass? 

It feels as though someone has upped the anti, challenging us to make a bet on our beliefs. There is a cosmic message that is declaring, try me, see if you can win against my Royal Flush and the stacked deck I am dealing from. 

Life must count

This is serious, life is getting serious. While I look for ways to celebrate, to appreciate the gifts I have been blessed with, I see suffering, and the ravaging of souls, not only from nature giving us all a beating, but from the confusion of people not knowing that they are finite; that time is precious and short; and that each moment of life must count for something. 

The cost of the bet

We are either making a difference, or we are somehow going all in, without looking first at the hand we have been dealt, and measuring the cost of our bet. 

It is time to stop and think, consider the alarm that is sounding all around us, the warning to pay attention, to heed, and awaken to our current reality. And what is the current reality? 

The current reality is this:

Tomorrow may never come, for you. This may be your last day, your last hour, your last minute, and if this is, your last minute, do you know where you are going from here? Will your soul be missing in action, and will a search party be able to find you, retrieve you, pull you to safety? If tonight the earth quakes beneath your home, and your life is threatened, who will you cry out to in your distress? Can EMS save your soul dear one? When the earth quakes under their feet as they rush to your rescue, can you save them? 

Unexpected surprise visits
Something is definitely different. The changes are dramatic and devastating: recovery seems a pipe dream, when one catastrophe piles rubble upon the last. While I want to have fun, and look on the bright side, I have to say I notice, I see what is happening, and I want all souls to be counted, not lost, when death makes unexpected surprise visits. 

Lastly, I ask you to consider Christ. I ask you to give your life to Him because it is, after all, in His hands:

I am He that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen, and have the keys of hell and of death (Revelation 1:18) 

Consider the keys of life that He alone holds in His hand: there may be one with your name on it 

From a Distance

From a Distance

You fascinate me
I have been watching you, sometimes up close, sometimes from a distance. I never know what you are going to say or do next. You fascinate me. The other day, I heard you chuckle. When I looked up, there was a twinkle in your eye and it melted my heart. We were so close, I could feel you leaning in, shoulder to shoulder. You said something funny and we both stopped for a breathless moment, knowing there was brilliance in your words and than it started, the laughter, and it seemed it would never end.
   
I can feel you looking at me
You had to go, or was it me? One of us slipped away and I only started missing you when I realized, I feel so alone? I look for you and catch glimpses of you over there, just past that... I can feel you looking at me, inviting me to find you but you feel so far away, just out of grasp. You evade or did I just stop looking for you, trying to find you? I feel you, you are present and yet...
 
Love runs deep and cuts even deeper
I did not know. I did not know that love can run deep and cut even deeper. I did not know. I did not know what dying felt like or what rebirth meant. I did not know. I did not know that the heart could long to the point of breaking, and can feel sutures as they artfully mend. I did not know that you and me and they were so connected and that when one of us breaks, when one of us slips or walks away, we all fall down, we all feel the loss, we all look for and long and miss and and...we seek in order to find, to retrieve, to restore and it is akin to a driving force that cannot be denied.
   
The twinkle dimmed
You had to go, or was that me? The light fades, dimming so that I squint to see. I cannot see the twinkle in your eye, it too has dimmed. I look for it and wonder, where did it go? We used to lean in and I can still feel you, brushing against me, a phantom memory, a used to be. A could have been. A moment spent and gone. What was is no more and this has always been.

I see you, from a distance...

Hope

Hope springs eternal, does it not?

Hope seems like a sweet sentiment, does it not? It appears child like, appeals in its simplicity, and causes my left eyebrow to rise at the temple, in questioning wonder. Hope? Hope springs eternal? Does it, really?

What if I told you

What if I told you that it does for me? What if I said to you, that I have this crazy with me all of the time companion that I laugh at, because no matter what happens, no matter what I face, I have a little and sometimes universe big ever present ether like friend called, hope? I know, I know, in this world of chaos and turmoil, I have hope. 

• Do you know me at all dear reader? 
• Do you understand what I am about and who I am? 
• Do you know yourself, understand what you are about and who you are?

Awakening to hope
If you didn't have hope, you wouldn't get up in the morning. If you didn't have hope, you would not try until you succeed. If you didn't have hope, you wouldn't have one more conversation with that kid of yours, or the estranged relative. If you didn't have hope, you would not try, one more time, to make pleasant conversation with the angry neighbour next door. If you didn't have hope, you wouldn't volunteer your time, give at the office, smile when you were in pain, comfort when it looks like nothing is going right for people you love.

Why bother, is the question, without hope? 

 
With hope
So you see dear reader, I am not the only one, am I? You have it too, is this true? With hope, dreams are dreamt and with hope, you try and try again. With hope, outcomes are possible and with hope, action is courageously taken. 

You and I, we must hope before we have. I write, not because I have all of the answers to life's questions-you must go to a Higher Up for that tall order to be filled. I write because I hope that we are working toward a better way of being with one another. 

You read, I assume, because you too, want a better way, you too, hope for what can be, which is often times, better than what was, and currently, is? I may be unique in my hopeful ways, but I don't think so, I think we all have a built in hope generator:

For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease (Job 14:7)

Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant (Job 14:7-9) 

Built into you and me is a desire for renewal and hope is our scent of life giving water. You know you have this in you, admit it. 

Life isn't so bad, I hope you believe this too 

Dangerously Devil Soaked

Dangerously Devil Soaked

Fugue state

I am wondering dear reader, if you know the term fugue state, defined as: a rare psychiatric disorder characterized by reversible amnesia for personal identity, including memories, personality, and other identifying characteristics; a facet of dissociative amnesia. 

Focus in on dissociative amnesia and I will tell you that your dart has hit the bullseye of the writing your are reading

Soul Purpose

What, I ask you, has happened to make us so comfortable with dissociation, in forgetting that we are humans who need one another, depend upon one another and ultimately, live, breathe and exist for the soul (I spelt that correctly English majors) purpose of being in relationship with one another? 

Fugue State

If it, life, is not about people, about sharing, caring, and loving one another, then what, again I ask you, is the purpose of you and me taking up space in the strangeness of time? 

I breathed out there as I finished the last sentence, as the relief of what I was thinking and feeling spilled from my heart and onto a page, in a virtual world. Is this, too, a part of the fugue state I sense we are now living, where I spill from my guts what I want to scream in the world? I want to yell loudly, clearly, wake up, wake up, stop allowing the people in your life to slip past you, unknown, unappreciated, unloved

Unloved dear ones, how can this be, for you and me to not love? It is incomprehensible, which leads me to this...

Self-righteous striving

Our world is dangerously devil soaked. We have marinated in self serving self righteous striving and grinding and getting, and it comes at a price. There are lives that are lived, sadly alone and in wretchedness, because you and I didn't stop and take notice, that while we were getting for ourselves, we left behind the ones that needed us the most, that only wanted to be noticed and next, loved for who they are.

We are guilty

We are guilty, of heeding the devil and his demands upon us, and disassociating from what God has called us to, which is to selflessly love, to die to our own desires and demands, and to give to the ones He has generously, kindly, thoughtfully, mercifully, placed in our midst. 

Let there be a return of our memory to what matters, a reverse of our amnesia, and I beg, a remembering of what life is about

It is and always has been, about Love 

He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love (1 John 4:8)

HALT

Ask yourself

Here is a mind cue for you, a reminder to HALT, meaning to stop. Taking the individual letters, ask yourself H, am I hunger, A, am I angry, L, am I lonely, and T, am I tired? 

I have heard this idea before. Checking with yourself before reacting or, in the event that you already have, when a reaction to circumstances seems extreme, and out of whack with the naturally calm and cool headed you that you normally enjoy (is this true dear reader, are you naturally calm and cool: does this not depend on what you are facing?) 

Emotionally engaged without becoming enraged

I grin as I type, because I have learned it is rare to have this disposition naturally, it is the gift of the very few. Most of us have to diligently invest time, effort and sometimes even money, to learn the skills of staying emotionally engaged without becoming enraged.

Tirade

Two days ago, I wrote about pain or peace, the devil or your Daddy, and how staying peaceful in all circumstances is possible. Yesterday, however, I did not HALT, I did not check in to see if I was hungry, angry, lonely or tired, before I gave myself permission to a tirade, after hearing what I believed was unacceptable choices. 

Stuff of greatness

I grin again, right here, knowing as you read that perhaps, you have done the same, maybe even as recently as today? Here is my point. We are living is these things called bodies, and they need the stuff of greatness poured into them, in order for us to be able to perform optimally.

Friendly functioning
Let me get real. I need sleep, then I need coffee and some breakfast, along with other creature comforts, in order to focus on my work, my relationships, my purpose for being in this world, and you need these too! 

The devil knows

Now, without these items in place, we are subject to hunger, anger, loneliness and being tired. We are also subject to our emotions taking over our mouths, while our minds whirl to come up with more proofs and accusations, in order to justify our verbal rampages. We are spirit living in flesh and by God, the devil knows this, and he will, and does, capitalize on our weakness, our emotional instability, our exhaustion and lastly, he works to isolate us, keep us separated and apart from others, to increase our feeling of loneliness. He is very good at his job.

God is the great reconciler
So, here is the deal. God is the great reconciler. You may very well have been hungry, angry, lonely or tired yesterday, and it showed up in a damaging way in your relationships. This, my human friend, happens to the best of us, no matter our intentions to "be good", next time. 

In our here and now, we get to decide to choose healing, to choose extending grace, to choose to listen, and perhaps even tell someone we are sorry for not HALTing and hearing, the last time we spoke.

Grin

Choose reconciliation: for you, for them... for Love

Devil or Daddy?

Devil or Daddy?

Not hype at all
I'm not sure about you, but I have these thoughts sometimes, they aren't always  kind. The thoughts may relate to someone else, an experience I just had or me, as in me thinking I am weak, not too smart, hard of learning, slow on the uptake: maybe you can relate? 

This internal messaging system is often on constant loud speaker, and it is only when I recognize the nonsensical abrasive monologue, that I start looking for the off switch. All the hype about consciousness and awareness, mental state, and being in charge of our thoughts, is not just hype. The power of thought is beyond the research phase, and is a proven phenomena. 

We become what we think, and not only this, our circumstances and relationships (or lack there of), are moulded and shaped by our thoughts. Which leads me to this dear one:

Who is the message coming from?

• If your thoughts cause you pain, where are they from? 
• If your thoughts can cause enough stress to weaken your heart, increase blood pressure and drive you to drink or over eat, where did they come from
• Who placed them there? 

Master of delivery

Without chasing these thoughts down, pinning them to the ground, and forcing them to explain themselves, insisting that they tell you right now who sent them, you remain captive to their effects. If it sounds like I am personifying, and pointing a finger at a master of delivery, then I give you the affirming nod. 

Yes, yes, the messages are from somewhere, and while you allow their continuance, you are choosing to believe the messenger, and what they present as truth. 

Feel peace

Now onto another mode of thinking: 

• If your thoughts give you peace, where do these come from? 
• If your thoughts make you grin, lighten your step, and make you want to sing and dance, Who is filling your mind, and affecting your physical body? 
• What about the thoughts you have toward yourself, toward circumstances, and others? 
• If you feel peace in the face of turmoil, where oh where did THIS come from I ask you? 

While permitting thoughts free range in our minds, we are choosing to allow them to frolic freely there. Whether they be of pain or peace, make no mistake, we are always at choice in allowing them to permeate and prevail.

Demolish devilish arguments
Back to personification. I am going to get all brass tacks with you now. Your pain thoughts came from somewhere and honey, it ain't from your Daddy, it's from the devil. 

God will challenge His children, but He will never torture you, and make you physically ill with destructively cruel and abusive thoughts. He wants peace for you in all circumstances, and He is the only one that can give you these amazing mental, and resultant physical states, of wellbeing. We are not promised perfect health, but we are promised perfect peace in Christ:

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought o the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). 

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee (Isaiah 26:3)

Still have your doubts? Here, look here and compare the mental meanderings that your mind is demonically influenced to take, against Biblical instruction given by God:

Finally, brethren whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things (Philippians 4:8). 

Think dear reader, think on these things, and you will experience peace, no matter the circumstances. 

Monopoly

Is life a game of monopoly?
Yesterday, while driving past some newly constructed homes, and ones that were in the process of being built, I commented to friends, Don't they look like the motels from monopoly? This strikes me as funny today, because the way we play as humans, is so similar to the game of monopoly. Stay with me as I suss this idea out for us.

Gigantic toy
When you look around you, there are many moving parts, items to be positioned, repositioned, eliminated, added to our pockets, closets, garages, driveways, bodies, minds, our souls. I am feeling weighed down, just writing about it! We have turned our lives into one big game, and the universe has become a gigantic toy.

Perceived control
I laugh as I type, because our perceived control becomes a ridiculous idea, as soon as a hurricane hits, or the earth quakes, opening up and swallowing anyone and anything standing there. 

Look at an ant hill in your garden, or a bees hive in a tree near where your children play. The ants have no chance and the bees can not stop you, when you decide to wreak havoc on their carefully built homes, the places they work on, nest in, feed and raise their own young. 

The houses being constructed near my home, they are subject to wind, rain and destruction. No amount of scrambling can stop nature from tearing down what you or I have built. We can cling, hope, plead and ultimately, the choices are not ours to make.

Life is somewhat subjective
We are subject to the one who runs the show, created the game, and makes all of the rules. This statement begs the answer to these questions:

• Are you playing by your own rules
• How much power do you have, to dictate al the elements, place all the pieces, and ensure that everything goes according to your plans?

Roll of the dice

The creators of monopoly were on to something, because a roll of the dice can make you rich, or land you in jail. I laugh again here as I type, remembering that we humans suffer from the strangest combination of arrogance and fear. When we are winning, we are the boss, when we are losing, we are overcome with desperation to regain control, or what we perceive as control? 

Here is what the Ruler of the universe says, in part:
   
Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season... (Jeremiah 33:20)

God is challenging us with this one! He is saying, hey, you, human! Pay attention. If you, can boss the sun and moon around; if you think you can reorder what I have established; if you have that kind of power and command, then you go right ahead and prove it, I dare you!

Get out of jail for free card
God doesn't play games, He plays for keeps. The universe is not a toy to be trifled with. 

All He asks is that you and I respect and honour Him. You got up with the sun this morning, and you will sleep tonight with the moon and stars lighting the sky. 

Who do you thank and have you yet today, for all you have? Now is a good time to stop playing the game of monopoly, and start something new. 

You get to decide, gratitude or pretend control? 

God gave you a get out of jail for free card over 2000 years ago...