Last week I was hanging with my family when I heard a dramatic “OH NOOOOO!” come from my 4 year old nephew. I asked him what was wrong, and he feverishly explained “I got snot on my shirt, AND IT USED TO BE MY FAVORITE SHIRT TOO!!!” I looked at the patch on his shirt; casualty of an explosive sneeze. I laughed inside as I wet a paper napkin and dabbed the beloved shirt a few times. The piece of clothing, I believe, was salvageable.
The situation was a little funny, but at the same time, I can empathize with those same kind of panicked feelings. They can pop up unassumingly, catching you off guard during moments of weakness. Sometimes, I will be painting a picture, and the brush will glob on the wrong shade of blue, or accidently smear a crisp line that I had genuinely liked before it was “Ruined”. And I’ll be thinking “AHHHGGH, the whole painting is ruined!” “I’m not an artist; I’m a fake!” “I can’t paint!” So on, and so forth. If you could hear my screaming thoughts at these times, you’d say “pathetic”. Really.
Or sometimes I will get that same panicked feeling when a glass slips out of my hand because I was thinking about other things. By the time I hear the glass shattering I know there is no gluing that thing back together. Ruined. Broken. At least with the painting there was some hope, but this…
Sometimes I wonder if God chuckles at my drama. When I take the time to consider my life, words like “ruined” come all too quickly to my lips. Upsets and mistakes can make a life look unattractive, but life is not ruined no matter how bad it gets. God in his mercy can wash what we claim to be indelible ink. In addition, He gives us new mornings to work with. “Try again” He tells us... and we should.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Monday, November 1, 2010
Listless No More
Here are some of my favorite things, in no particular order:
Bagpipes and snare drums… played outside
Grasshopper cookies made by Keebler. They’re like Girl Scout Thin Mints, but not.
The effect of paint on canvas. Sometimes it does its own thing, and I’m okay with that.
Bubble baths. The type where the bubbles are mighty enough to form a bubble beard… and bubble eyebrows.
*
Tea. Especially on the days I feel cold and shivery.
A musical instrument in the hands of someone who knows how to play well. They don’t have to be a virtuoso necessarily, but someone who plays with heart and skill.
Applepie- homemade, just out of the oven, but cooled off slightly. A little cinnamon… not too much.
Movies that make me laugh, think, or that put some effort into unraveling a good story.
Penguins and Monkeys. Need I say more?
Travel- roadtrips, oversea trips, field trips, DQ trips
Walks- brisk, but slow enough you have time to think, pray or talk
Rollerblading
Super hero movies- Spiderman, X-man, Batman
Well written books
Current favorite color: Emerald. Runner up: Violet. Third favorite color: Bright Orange.
*I was going to put people on the list, but I think that would be kind of a polemic thing to do, because people technically are not “things”… they are… well, people.
The Song of The Redeemed
Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have an operatically trained voice. Perhaps you are rolling your eyes right now because you do not particularly care for opera, but picture a voice, YOUR voice, if it could reach earth shattering heights, and depths that would rearrange the bowels of the most sour-faced puddleglum out there. A voice that could NOT sing haphazard karaoke or that could ONLY just manage to squeak out a decent tune every now and again. But a voice that could make the simplest of melodies linger sweetly in the air. A voice that was malleable in your lungs, like clay that could be shaped into whatever you wished, presenting the harmonies in your head on a silver platter. And with garnish at that! And think what it would be like to have ears that matched the voice. Ears that could hear better, more intricate harmonies and that could weave them into complex tapestries with other ethereal voices.
I am hoping my heavenly voice and ears will have that capability someday.
To take this in a slightly different direction, these following verses are of interest to me:
Rev 14:3-5 TLB
3 This tremendous choir-144,000 strong-sang a wonderful new song in front of the throne of God and before the four Living Beings and the twenty-four Elders; and no one could sing this song except those 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 For they are spiritually undefiled, pure as virgins, following the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been purchased from among the men on the earth as a consecrated offering to God and the Lamb. 5 No falsehood can be charged against them; they are blameless.
When you think about it, this special choir has some serious competition in heaven, but not even Seraphs will be able to pick up this tune and hum along. It is either off limits to the angels, or maybe they just won’t be able to muster up enough soul to do it justice. It is the song of the redeemed. It makes me wonder what will make this new song so very special. Is it the singers themselves, or is it the song writing behind it? It could just simply be the song writer Himself. Actually I think that will be a big part of what makes it so marvelous. That choir will be singing about redemption from a clear perspective. Not as slaves freshly bought off the market, who treat their master with disdain. The disdain coming from the unarticulated belief that he paid too little for them, not really fathoming the full price of the purchase. And the song won’t come from the lips of slaves who think he paid too much for them. Slaves who do not let it sink in that they are actually worth something now that they are in the possession of the new master. But the song will be uttered from the lips of blood-bought overcomers who finally understand with a clear perspective the astonishing proceedings behind their purchase.
It’s going to be a different show altogether, this upcoming celestial event- new eyes; new ears; beautiful new voices. Aged Instruments that have been through the ringer, and survived. And more than just survived! The individual voices making up the choir are going to make the likes of Sarah Brightman sound like the older version of Janis Joplin in comparison. It's going to be fantastic. Not a spectacle you want to miss!
I am hoping my heavenly voice and ears will have that capability someday.
To take this in a slightly different direction, these following verses are of interest to me:
Rev 14:3-5 TLB
3 This tremendous choir-144,000 strong-sang a wonderful new song in front of the throne of God and before the four Living Beings and the twenty-four Elders; and no one could sing this song except those 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 For they are spiritually undefiled, pure as virgins, following the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been purchased from among the men on the earth as a consecrated offering to God and the Lamb. 5 No falsehood can be charged against them; they are blameless.
When you think about it, this special choir has some serious competition in heaven, but not even Seraphs will be able to pick up this tune and hum along. It is either off limits to the angels, or maybe they just won’t be able to muster up enough soul to do it justice. It is the song of the redeemed. It makes me wonder what will make this new song so very special. Is it the singers themselves, or is it the song writing behind it? It could just simply be the song writer Himself. Actually I think that will be a big part of what makes it so marvelous. That choir will be singing about redemption from a clear perspective. Not as slaves freshly bought off the market, who treat their master with disdain. The disdain coming from the unarticulated belief that he paid too little for them, not really fathoming the full price of the purchase. And the song won’t come from the lips of slaves who think he paid too much for them. Slaves who do not let it sink in that they are actually worth something now that they are in the possession of the new master. But the song will be uttered from the lips of blood-bought overcomers who finally understand with a clear perspective the astonishing proceedings behind their purchase.
It’s going to be a different show altogether, this upcoming celestial event- new eyes; new ears; beautiful new voices. Aged Instruments that have been through the ringer, and survived. And more than just survived! The individual voices making up the choir are going to make the likes of Sarah Brightman sound like the older version of Janis Joplin in comparison. It's going to be fantastic. Not a spectacle you want to miss!
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