Purely simple

I did something wonderful about two weeks ago.  I went into my bathroom and removed all of my makeup.  I then left it off.  I have become so accustomed to wearing it, that I did not know what I looked like.  Can you imagine, not knowing the state of your original skin because it is hidden under layers ? I have been trying to do this for years, but every time, I get the gook off, I put it back on.  I understand why people pick the strictest of religions to put their faith in from this experiment.  Your life can become so cluttered by the antics of life, that you really can't see it for what it is.  You can mask pure blessings by focusing on defeats.  Life is not that hard to live, but we make it difficult.  We make breakfast about pancakes and eggs and bacon and tomatoes, when it could simply be a bowl of oatmeal.  One Sunday, I forewent the big Sunday meal and had a simple dinner prepared for one and was completely satisfied.  I think I need to dig in my closet and find other things that are cluttering my world.  I find that most of the time, I have changed looks, but kept the old clothes.  I like this pared down me.  Pure and simple.

Let the dead bury the dead

I have, at times, rejected the hand that fed me because I did not like what was on the spoon.  Then, like an idiot, I complained of being hungry.  I finally know how people starve in the land of plenty.  I finally understand that we can want what we want so badly, that what we have is inferior.  I have been spending time with people, who don't live in a palace, but they enjoy the living space that they have and they maximize it.  I am determined to spend this Christmas with the loving family that is reaching for me instead of grieving over the ones that are in the grave.  When I get done ruining my holiday at the funeral parlour again and again, the season of joy would be over and they will still be dead.

The God of Love

I am sitting here thinking about how God was presented to me.  I never felt his love.  I never knew the love first.  I was told to get my life right and I was told that I would go to hell, but not that he loved me.  The church that I grew up in was a good church, but they struggled to express emotion.  Maybe this is why they portrayed God as such a mean and hateful man.  They made him into the image of the men they lived with.  He had to diminish you to love you and that is so far from the case.  I had to go to other churches to find the God of love, and sometimes, on a dark night, I struggle to know if he is there.  I wonder how a God defined as love, is not portrayed as love.

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The New Monastic

Who are we who rise long before the sun peeps over the distant hills.  We hear the call of the sacred and the beloved.  He wakes us up with a thought so pervasive that we fall into conversation like falling into step with an old time friend.   The hours pass and we pray.  The day ceases and we contemplate.  We think about the intimate details of life that he whispers in the evening, when our daily duties are done.  Those whispers drive us to sleep just so that it can begin all over again.  There is no other life as sweet as this.  There is no other endeavor than His.  He has taken my body and my soul.  Now, he possesses my mind.

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Just thought this was funny

There is this atheist swimming in the ocean. All of the sudden he sees this shark in the water, so he starts swimming towards his boat.

As he looks back he sees the shark turn and head towards him. His boat is a ways off and he starts swimming like crazy. He's scared to death, and as he turns to see the jaws of the great white beast open revealing its teeth in a horrific splendor, the atheist screams, "Oh God! Save me!"

In an instant time is frozen and a bright light shines down from above. The man is motionless in the water when he hears the voice of God say, "You are an atheist. Why do you call upon me when you do not believe in me?"

Aghast with confusion and knowing he can't lie the man replies, "Well, that's true I don't believe in you, but how about the shark? Can you make the shark believe in you?"

The Lord replies, "As you wish," and the light retracted back into the heavens and the man could feel the water begin to move once again.

As the atheist looks back he can see the jaws of the shark start to close down on him, when all of sudden the shark stops and pulls back.

Shocked, the man looks at the shark as the huge beast closes its eyes and bows its head and says, "Thank you Lord for this food for which I am about to receive..."

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Just thought this was funny

A one dollar bill met a twenty dollar bill and said, "Hey, where've you been? I haven't seen you around here much."

The twenty answered, "I've been hanging out at the casinos, went on a cruise and did the rounds of the ship, back to the United States for a while, went to a couple of baseball games, to the mall, that kind of stuff. How about you?"

The one dollar bill said, "You know, same old stuff ... church, church, church."

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Hell

We don’t talk about hell anymore.  I remember growing up with the idea of hell.  If you displeased God with sin, you were going to hell.  Then someone told me that a loving God would not send you to hell.  How can he say he love me and send me to hell.   If there is no hell, then sin has no consequence and that is OH SO convenient for some people.  Without hell, I can do what I want to do with no fear of the flame.  God can’t send man to hell, but man can send you to prison, he can take your life, he can sue you in court, he can repossess your house, he can repossess your car, he can put you on a list for the rest of your life………..

Man can exact consequences, but God can’t.  Come on people.