our greatest fear

I wanted to briefly share with you these words that my good friend Dwayne shared with me today, when I needed them badly. Perhaps you need them too. May God bless you with them.

Our Greatest Fear — Marianne Williamson

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,

talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other

people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of

God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,

we unconsciously give other people

permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,

Our presence automatically liberates others.

powerful beyond measure

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

~ Marianne Williamson

faith and hope

Just a few words along the lines of some of my recent contemplations...

Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.
- Louisa May Alcott

the gaze of God

For those of you who might wonder what in the world God is up to in your life...

"Perhaps the gaze of God is like the gaze of the artist on the completed painting. Each and every pigment is discrete, and no mark is laid down carelessly; yet this green would not be present in its particular greenness were it not for this blue laid down at some time next to it. Each brush stroke has been laid down, one by one; yet when the painting is complete, we apprehend it in a single vision. But the painting is not 'time-free'; rather, it is a condensed temporality. We gaze on it as on a complete and consummated whole bearing all the marks of its making. People might be like this under the attentive gaze of love."

- Janet Martin Soskice in The Kindness of God: Metaphor, Gender, and Religious Language

more needed words

Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away

Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough
To where will you go child
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run

And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Look at these hands and my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life
I want to give you life

And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Cause I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, I love you
I'll never let you go

And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

- By Your Side - Tenth Avenue North -

The Wounded Healer

More Henri Nouwen for you... Since I've started receiving daily snippets of his writings via email, I've become even more of a fan than I previously was. So here's some food for thought:

"Nobody escapes being wounded. We all are wounded people, whether physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. The main question is not "How can we hide our wounds?" so we don't have to be embarrassed, but "How can we put our woundedness in the service of others?" When our wounds cease to be a source of shame, and become a source of healing, we have become wounded healers.

"Jesus is God's wounded healer: through his wounds we are healed. Jesus' suffering and death brought joy and life. His humiliation brought glory; his rejection brought a community of love. As followers of Jesus we can also allow our wounds to bring healing to others."

The Wisdom of Henri Nouwen

"You must decide for yourself to whom and when you give access to your interior life. For years, you have permitted others to walk in and out of your life according to their needs and desires. Thus you were no longer master in your own house, and you felt increasingly used. So, too, you quickly became tired, irritated, angry, and resentful.

"Think of a medieval castle surrounded by a moat. The drawbridge is the only access to the interior of the castle. The lord of the castle must have the power to decide when to draw the bridge and when to let it down. Without such power, he can become the victim of enemies, strangers, and wanderers. He will never feel at peace in his own castle.

"It is important for you to control your own drawbridge. There must be times when you keep your bridge drawn and have the opportunity to be alone or only with those to whom you feel close. Never allow yourself to become public property, where anyone can walk in and out at will. You might think that you are being generous in giving access to anyone who wants to enter or leave, but you will soon find yourself losing your soul.

"When you claim for yourself the power over your drawbridge, you will discover new joy and peace in your heart and find yourself able to share that joy and peace with others."

needed words

my desire

I know I've already posted a few things recently that are other people's words, but they're words that express very well who I am and what I'm thinking about, so I do it anyway. We'll get to more of my own words sometime soon, but in the meantime, I've got more lyrics for you. This song was introduced to me by my friend Mitch, and I'm very thankful for that because it quickly became one of my favorite songs. If you haven't heard it, I'd suggest lala.com as a free way to listen, because it's the music nearly as much as the lyrics that make the impact.

This is who I am and who I want to be, who I am striving to be. So thank you, Jeremy Camp, for expressing those things artfully and in a way with which I can connect.


"My Desire" by Jeremy Camp

You want to be real
You want to be empty inside
You want to be someone laying down your pride
You want to be someone someday
Then lay it all down before the King
You want to be whole
You want to have purpose inside
You want to have virtue and purify your mind
You want to be set free today then lay it all down before the King

This is my desire
This is my return
This is my desire to be used by you

You want to be real
You want to be emptied inside
And I know my heart is to feel you near
And I know my life
It's to do your will
It's to do your will

This is my desire
This is my return
This is my desire to be used by you

All my life I have seen where you've taken me
Beyond all I have hoped and there's more left unseen
There's not much I can do to repay all you've done so I give my hands to use

This is my desire
This is my return
This is my desire to be used by you

reflection

The wing and the wheel... they carry things away
Whether it's me that does the leavin' or the love that flies away
The moon outside my window looks so lonely tonight
Oh, there's a chunk out of its middle... big enough for an old fool to hide

Where are all the dreamers... that I used know?
We used to linger beneath street lamps in the halos and the smoke
The wing and the wheel... came to carry them away
Now they all live out in the suburbs where their dreams are in their children at play

There's a pale sky in the east... all the stars are in the west
Oh, here's to all the dreamers... may our open hearts find rest
The wing and the wheel are gonna carry us along
And we'll have memories for company... long after the songs are gone

-- "The Wing and the Wheel" by Nanci Griffith

no apologies...

"The whole life of the good Christian," said Augustine, "is a holy longing."  Sadly, many of us have been led to feel that somehow we ought to want less, not more.  We have this sense that we should atone for our longings, apologize that we feel such deep desire.  Shouldn't we be more content?  Perhaps, but contentment is never wanting less; that's the easy way out.  Anybody can look holy if she's killed her heart; the real test is to have your heart burning within you and have the patience to enjoy what there is now to enjoy, while waiting with eager anticipation for the feast to come.

-- Brent Curtis & John Eldredge in "The Sacred Romance"

"You don't throw away a whole life just 'cause it's banged up a little." I just finished watching Seabiscuit. An amazing story of despair, of brokenness, of defeat. More than that, however, a story of hope, of faith, and of victory. The whole movie strikes a chord with my soul because I too have been a person of despair, brokenness and defeat. But I long to be the triumphant overcomer who will run with abandon the race set before me, casting off everything that hinders and entangles and fixing my eyes only on Jesus so that I do not grow weary or lose heart. Yes, my life has been banged up a little. There have been times when it seemed I would not recover from my brokenness. On my own, I will not. Perhaps I am not supposed to. For, after all, I am only a jar of clay. It is my weakness that is to display God's strength. And God is faithful. Even in the midst of tribulation, He has walked by my side, leading me and comforting me with His presence. And though I my never be the same as I was, I suppose that's probably not God's plan for me after all. Whatever the case, I am not going to give up on life or give in to defeat just because I have been banged up a little. You never know what God will do, and you never know what victories may come.