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"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven..."
Sometimes we think the times we are in are the only ones we're ever going to have. If we are riding high on the hog, well, it will always be this way - nothing can stop us now! And if we are scraping the bottom of the barrel, we can't even see daylight for the muck about us, or in us.
But the truth is that not much lasts forever. Relationships bud, grow, grow old, get stale, end. Finances wax and wane. Friendships flourish, or go south. It helps to remember that whatever you are going through right now, God has something else in mind.
Ok, so where am I going with this? God does not want us to stagnate. He doesn't want us to be too comfortable right where we are. How can we grow if we see the same four walls? Do the same thing forever and amen? Associate with the same people; go to the same places? What growth is there in that?
Of course, this is coming from a woman is a nomad at heart and always has been. As soon as I get comfortable in a place, I want to go somewhere else. As soon as I learn a job really well, I want to do something else. About the only thing this doesn't apply to in my life are my friends, because once I'm your friend, I'm your friend forever, unless something drastic happens to change that.
So, if you are in a season of change, like I am right now, just go with it. Put God in the driver's seat and see where He takes you. That's what I plan to do!
Blessings, Phoenix
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
September 20, 2010 - Jeremiah 15:19-21 - Redemption
"Therefore thus says the Lord;
If you turn back, I will take you back,
and you shall stand before me.
If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,
you shall serve as my mouth.
It is they who will turn to you,
not you who will turn to them.
And I will make you to this people
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
but they shall not prevail over you,
for I am with you to save you and deliver you,
says the Lord.
I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,
and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless."
It is good to know that God is there to save us. In this passage He is talking about outside forces, but the same goes for our inward folly as well.
What I notice is that God doesn't just swoop out of the sky and grasp us like an eagle in His talons and carry us away from danger and sin and idiocy. No, we have to do something first. We have to turn back to Him. We have to utter precious words, not only with our lips, but in our lives. And even before that happens, we have to acknowledge to ourselves that we are lost. Lost, frightened, alone, and beset by dangers all around.
Enemies we thought were friends hang onto our hearts and sit in our heads when we would rather they be gone. Situations out of our control swirl about us like so many dust devils, not as devastating as a tornado, but enough to kick up enough dust so that it makes it difficult to see clearly.
Then, we turn to God, we turn to Christ, and He is always there. Always closer than the air inside our lungs. Closer than the heart that beats inside our chests. He blesses us, and opens His arms wide, and welcomes us in.
It is humbling to know that God finds me worthy enough to fight for, especially when I don't feel particularly worthy (or not worthy at all). Exodus 14:14 says: "The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still." And isn't that one difficult? Since we were children we've been told we have to fight our own battles. We fight against bullies, and injustice and ourselves with a ruthless passion, and yes, sometimes our flesh needs to do that. But when it comes to our souls, our spirits, it is good to know that God Himself is in our corner. There is a passage that I cannot seem to find this morning, in the Old Testament, where deliverance is delayed because an angel was busy fighting for the person in question. (If you know where this is, would you let me know? It's going to drive me nuts until I find it...)
So, this morning, I just take heart in knowing that if God is for me, who can be against me? The dust devils that plague me are nothing against God's love for me. And when the dust clouds my vision, I know there is One who sees all things clearly, and I have only to trust in Him, and all will be well.
Blessings, Phoenix
If you turn back, I will take you back,
and you shall stand before me.
If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,
you shall serve as my mouth.
It is they who will turn to you,
not you who will turn to them.
And I will make you to this people
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
but they shall not prevail over you,
for I am with you to save you and deliver you,
says the Lord.
I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,
and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless."
It is good to know that God is there to save us. In this passage He is talking about outside forces, but the same goes for our inward folly as well.
What I notice is that God doesn't just swoop out of the sky and grasp us like an eagle in His talons and carry us away from danger and sin and idiocy. No, we have to do something first. We have to turn back to Him. We have to utter precious words, not only with our lips, but in our lives. And even before that happens, we have to acknowledge to ourselves that we are lost. Lost, frightened, alone, and beset by dangers all around.
Enemies we thought were friends hang onto our hearts and sit in our heads when we would rather they be gone. Situations out of our control swirl about us like so many dust devils, not as devastating as a tornado, but enough to kick up enough dust so that it makes it difficult to see clearly.
Then, we turn to God, we turn to Christ, and He is always there. Always closer than the air inside our lungs. Closer than the heart that beats inside our chests. He blesses us, and opens His arms wide, and welcomes us in.
It is humbling to know that God finds me worthy enough to fight for, especially when I don't feel particularly worthy (or not worthy at all). Exodus 14:14 says: "The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still." And isn't that one difficult? Since we were children we've been told we have to fight our own battles. We fight against bullies, and injustice and ourselves with a ruthless passion, and yes, sometimes our flesh needs to do that. But when it comes to our souls, our spirits, it is good to know that God Himself is in our corner. There is a passage that I cannot seem to find this morning, in the Old Testament, where deliverance is delayed because an angel was busy fighting for the person in question. (If you know where this is, would you let me know? It's going to drive me nuts until I find it...)
So, this morning, I just take heart in knowing that if God is for me, who can be against me? The dust devils that plague me are nothing against God's love for me. And when the dust clouds my vision, I know there is One who sees all things clearly, and I have only to trust in Him, and all will be well.
Blessings, Phoenix
Sunday, September 19, 2010
September 19, 2010 - Psalm 84:10 - Doorkeeper
"For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than live in the tents of wickedness."
The Doorkeeper’s Lament
By
Phoenix MaryGrace Hocking
Narrow the door is, like the eye of a needle, and few there are that find it, no matter how lustily I call and wave my arms. I can shout or I can whisper, it makes no difference. The world passes by unseeing, unknowing, not wanting what lies on the other side.
It’s not that the door is all that difficult to find. It’s right here in plain sight. It stands on every street corner, in every church, in every bar, in every bedroom. It stands high on the hills, and down in the gutters. The door stands open, ready, waiting. And I stand at the door, calling, calling, calling.
No, the door is not difficult to find. It’s just that there are other doors so much more attractive, more numerous, not to mention wider. Doors surrounded by bright lights and neon signs, doors that promise wealth and success, pleasure and ease, even doors that promise service in the great army of God. The wide paths leading to these wide doors are bordered with flowers and beautiful statuary.
Ah, but the path that leads to this door, well, that’s another story. This path is rocky and flanked with thorn bushes. It is a lonely path, a path meant for single-file, unlike the wide paths that lead to wide doors that swallow whole groups of souls with barely a burp.
No, this path is so narrow it requires those who walk it to leave everything behind, possessions and people alike. And what modern person in his right mind would willingly choose such a path, when others stand beckoning on either side for miles around? Why, a camel with its pack could not enter this door; only a single soul, naked and bare may enter, and who wants that?
Some find the door in their youth and walk right in. For others, the search takes a lifetime and some only find it at the very last second. Either way, the door stands open and ready to receive; all that is required is acceptance of the Gift offered.
Ah, but sometimes it seems a lonely job, this, but not a thankless one. For occasionally, someone hears my call. Someone stops his mad rush towards the wider door and pauses to listen. This someone listens for that still, small voice, the voice that says, “Come. Come unto Me. Come.” And that someone turns and, ignoring the gaping maws that promise success and pleasure, this person chooses the rocky path, the narrow path, the thorny path.
You see, as Doorkeeper, I know what is on the Other Side of the door, both this door and the others. Wide are the paths that lead to the wide doors that lead to emptiness. Attractive and pleasant and beautiful are they, until you get inside and find all is darkness.
The good news is that those doors swing both ways. Some who enter discover that all that glitters definitely is not gold, and somehow manage to find their way back out again. It happens; it happens. Not often enough to suit me, but it happens.
Sometimes they choose another wide door, and another, and another, until finally, exhausted and empty, they sit at the roadside and cry.
And their Father hears their cry; He always does. He hears and He answers, and He shows them the narrow path that leads to the narrow door. And sometimes, sometimes, they hear and they listen and they follow.
It’s a rocky path, flanked with thorn bushes, and sometimes a person starts on the path and gives up. They turn around and go back to the wide doors, the easy paths. And then I cry, because if they had only continued on, they would have found the door that leads to Life.
And sometimes, oh sometimes, a person picks his way along the rocky path, and braves the thorns and suffers through the scrapes and bruises and pains until he or she stands before the narrow door, naked and bleeding and empty.
That is when my job as Doorkeeper becomes a position of pure and utter joy. For then I can wrap this weary soul in a robe, white as snow, and put My arm around him, or her, and say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”
Blessings, Phoenix
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than live in the tents of wickedness."
The Doorkeeper’s Lament
By
Phoenix MaryGrace Hocking
Narrow the door is, like the eye of a needle, and few there are that find it, no matter how lustily I call and wave my arms. I can shout or I can whisper, it makes no difference. The world passes by unseeing, unknowing, not wanting what lies on the other side.
It’s not that the door is all that difficult to find. It’s right here in plain sight. It stands on every street corner, in every church, in every bar, in every bedroom. It stands high on the hills, and down in the gutters. The door stands open, ready, waiting. And I stand at the door, calling, calling, calling.
No, the door is not difficult to find. It’s just that there are other doors so much more attractive, more numerous, not to mention wider. Doors surrounded by bright lights and neon signs, doors that promise wealth and success, pleasure and ease, even doors that promise service in the great army of God. The wide paths leading to these wide doors are bordered with flowers and beautiful statuary.
Ah, but the path that leads to this door, well, that’s another story. This path is rocky and flanked with thorn bushes. It is a lonely path, a path meant for single-file, unlike the wide paths that lead to wide doors that swallow whole groups of souls with barely a burp.
No, this path is so narrow it requires those who walk it to leave everything behind, possessions and people alike. And what modern person in his right mind would willingly choose such a path, when others stand beckoning on either side for miles around? Why, a camel with its pack could not enter this door; only a single soul, naked and bare may enter, and who wants that?
Some find the door in their youth and walk right in. For others, the search takes a lifetime and some only find it at the very last second. Either way, the door stands open and ready to receive; all that is required is acceptance of the Gift offered.
Ah, but sometimes it seems a lonely job, this, but not a thankless one. For occasionally, someone hears my call. Someone stops his mad rush towards the wider door and pauses to listen. This someone listens for that still, small voice, the voice that says, “Come. Come unto Me. Come.” And that someone turns and, ignoring the gaping maws that promise success and pleasure, this person chooses the rocky path, the narrow path, the thorny path.
You see, as Doorkeeper, I know what is on the Other Side of the door, both this door and the others. Wide are the paths that lead to the wide doors that lead to emptiness. Attractive and pleasant and beautiful are they, until you get inside and find all is darkness.
The good news is that those doors swing both ways. Some who enter discover that all that glitters definitely is not gold, and somehow manage to find their way back out again. It happens; it happens. Not often enough to suit me, but it happens.
Sometimes they choose another wide door, and another, and another, until finally, exhausted and empty, they sit at the roadside and cry.
And their Father hears their cry; He always does. He hears and He answers, and He shows them the narrow path that leads to the narrow door. And sometimes, sometimes, they hear and they listen and they follow.
It’s a rocky path, flanked with thorn bushes, and sometimes a person starts on the path and gives up. They turn around and go back to the wide doors, the easy paths. And then I cry, because if they had only continued on, they would have found the door that leads to Life.
And sometimes, oh sometimes, a person picks his way along the rocky path, and braves the thorns and suffers through the scrapes and bruises and pains until he or she stands before the narrow door, naked and bleeding and empty.
That is when my job as Doorkeeper becomes a position of pure and utter joy. For then I can wrap this weary soul in a robe, white as snow, and put My arm around him, or her, and say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”
Blessings, Phoenix
Saturday, September 18, 2010
September 18, 2010 - Sirach 37:12-15 - Counsel
From the Apocryphal book of Sirach, also known as the book of Ecclesiasticus:
"But associate with a godly person whom you know to be a keeper of the commandments,
who is like-minded like yourself, and who will grieve with you if you fail.
And heed the counsel of your own heart, for no one is more faithful to you than it is.
For your own mind sometimes keeps us better informed than seven sentinels sitting high on a watchtower.
But above all pray to the Most high that He may direct your way in truth."
The wisdom and truth of this strikes home for me. For the first part, godly people will warn you when you are about to make a horrible mistake. A godly person will tell you the truth, even when you don't want to hear it. Maybe especially when you don't want to hear it. A godly person will risk losing you as a friend in order to save your soul. I thank God for those godly friends who told me what I needed to hear, even when their words seem to fall on deaf ears, because of my own hard-heartedness, my own stiff-necked pride, my own self-deception. I thank God for those who said..."LOOK! A cliff! And you're about to fall over!" Even when I paid no attention, my spirit was listening, my spirit heard and understood and wept over my disobedience.
My own heart gave me good counsel. It did. I just chose to ignore it. I saw what I wanted to see. I heard what I wanted to hear. I did what I wanted to do. And I paid a high, high price.
"But above all pray to the Most High that He may direct your way in truth." In the end, this is where mercy is found, in the arms of a loving God who knows the disobedience of one's heart, the deception of one's own mind, and the sin of pride we carry...and loves us anyway. All He asks is that we come to Him in true repentance, for His arms are open, and He will forgive and forget.
I am forgiven, but I have to confess that the forgetting part is hard for me. I am human, after all, and the memories still come, and they cause me much pain. I can't make them go away. I feel stuck, and it is difficult to move on. But each day I am further away from the source of my pain, it gets a little easier. I hope, when next some other issue comes to the front, I am able to accept the counsel of godly people in my life. I hope I can hear and heed the counsel of my own heart. And I pray that I will listen to my God, who only gives me counsel based on truth, and love, and mercy.
Blessings, Phoenix
"But associate with a godly person whom you know to be a keeper of the commandments,
who is like-minded like yourself, and who will grieve with you if you fail.
And heed the counsel of your own heart, for no one is more faithful to you than it is.
For your own mind sometimes keeps us better informed than seven sentinels sitting high on a watchtower.
But above all pray to the Most high that He may direct your way in truth."
The wisdom and truth of this strikes home for me. For the first part, godly people will warn you when you are about to make a horrible mistake. A godly person will tell you the truth, even when you don't want to hear it. Maybe especially when you don't want to hear it. A godly person will risk losing you as a friend in order to save your soul. I thank God for those godly friends who told me what I needed to hear, even when their words seem to fall on deaf ears, because of my own hard-heartedness, my own stiff-necked pride, my own self-deception. I thank God for those who said..."LOOK! A cliff! And you're about to fall over!" Even when I paid no attention, my spirit was listening, my spirit heard and understood and wept over my disobedience.
My own heart gave me good counsel. It did. I just chose to ignore it. I saw what I wanted to see. I heard what I wanted to hear. I did what I wanted to do. And I paid a high, high price.
"But above all pray to the Most High that He may direct your way in truth." In the end, this is where mercy is found, in the arms of a loving God who knows the disobedience of one's heart, the deception of one's own mind, and the sin of pride we carry...and loves us anyway. All He asks is that we come to Him in true repentance, for His arms are open, and He will forgive and forget.
I am forgiven, but I have to confess that the forgetting part is hard for me. I am human, after all, and the memories still come, and they cause me much pain. I can't make them go away. I feel stuck, and it is difficult to move on. But each day I am further away from the source of my pain, it gets a little easier. I hope, when next some other issue comes to the front, I am able to accept the counsel of godly people in my life. I hope I can hear and heed the counsel of my own heart. And I pray that I will listen to my God, who only gives me counsel based on truth, and love, and mercy.
Blessings, Phoenix
Friday, September 17, 2010
September 17, 2010 - Hebrews 12:12,13 - Courage
"Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed."
God is not a marionette master. He will not lift our drooping hands for us. We need to find, somewhere deep in our spirits, the will to lift our hands and reach for help. When one is sunk in the mire, usually of our own doing, it is not easy to put out a hand and ask for help. Reaching the bottom of our misery is the first step towards climbing out of the pit.
I find it interesting that the first step towards standing upright is to fall to our knees first. Isn't that what happens when we are babies? We don't usually just stand up and start walking. No, we have to crawl first, or scoot on our bellies. Then we find a sturdy table or chair or person, and hoist ourselves up. Then we take those first little steps, and before you know it, we're off and running and forget how to crawl.
I think maybe it's that way in our spiritual life too. I think maybe we get cocky. We're solid Bible readers. We attend church every Sunday. We go to Evening Prayer, or Bible study. We may give alms to the homeless guy on the corner, or serve at the soup kitchen and feel pretty darn good about ourselves. But somewhere in there, we forget how to crawl. We forget to go back to the beginning. We find ourselves stuck in the mire and wonder just how in the heck we got there, and we have to put out our own drooping hands and reach for help. We have to drop to our knees so that we can rise again with new determination. We have to realize that what is lame cannot be healed unless we recognize that we have become lame.
The good news is that no matter how far down in the pit we have fallen, God is right there, with His hand out, just waiting for us to lift our dropping hands and grasp His. If God has seemed very far away, it is not because He has moved, but because we have put blinders on our own eyes and refused to see that He is closer than the skin that covers our innards.
So, today, if you are in the bottom of the pit, open your eyes and see that God is waiting for you to reach out your hand. God is waiting to help you see the straight path before you. God is wanting to heal your lameness and make you whole once more.
Blessings, Phoenix
God is not a marionette master. He will not lift our drooping hands for us. We need to find, somewhere deep in our spirits, the will to lift our hands and reach for help. When one is sunk in the mire, usually of our own doing, it is not easy to put out a hand and ask for help. Reaching the bottom of our misery is the first step towards climbing out of the pit.
I find it interesting that the first step towards standing upright is to fall to our knees first. Isn't that what happens when we are babies? We don't usually just stand up and start walking. No, we have to crawl first, or scoot on our bellies. Then we find a sturdy table or chair or person, and hoist ourselves up. Then we take those first little steps, and before you know it, we're off and running and forget how to crawl.
I think maybe it's that way in our spiritual life too. I think maybe we get cocky. We're solid Bible readers. We attend church every Sunday. We go to Evening Prayer, or Bible study. We may give alms to the homeless guy on the corner, or serve at the soup kitchen and feel pretty darn good about ourselves. But somewhere in there, we forget how to crawl. We forget to go back to the beginning. We find ourselves stuck in the mire and wonder just how in the heck we got there, and we have to put out our own drooping hands and reach for help. We have to drop to our knees so that we can rise again with new determination. We have to realize that what is lame cannot be healed unless we recognize that we have become lame.
The good news is that no matter how far down in the pit we have fallen, God is right there, with His hand out, just waiting for us to lift our dropping hands and grasp His. If God has seemed very far away, it is not because He has moved, but because we have put blinders on our own eyes and refused to see that He is closer than the skin that covers our innards.
So, today, if you are in the bottom of the pit, open your eyes and see that God is waiting for you to reach out your hand. God is waiting to help you see the straight path before you. God is wanting to heal your lameness and make you whole once more.
Blessings, Phoenix
Thursday, September 16, 2010
September 16, 2010 - Hebrews 12:5 - Discipline
"My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
or lose heart when you are punished by him;
for the Lord disciplines those whom He loves,
and chastises every child whom He accepts."
Quite frankly, discipline is not something I'm all that great at. I chafe at rules, cannot stand to be boxed in, am claustrophobic in more ways than one. So when Fr. Rob suggested that discipline might me something I would want to work on, I groaned inwardly.
For a while, you remember, I was quite disciplined about adding to this website. I would get up in the morning, and find a Bible passage that spoke to me, and then write about it. It was fulfilling, and helped me to think and focus on God every day.
But I strayed, my friends. I strayed badly. And it is only through the discipline and love of the Lord that I have found my way back to the path. There is a song on Christian radio that speaks to my condition (as the Quakers say). "When your tired flesh has squandered what your spirit would have saved, and your restless feet have wandered far from all you truly crave, turn and run toward your Father; do not wait another day. For His arms are open and He is calling you today."
My friends, do not chafe under the discipline of God. True repentance comes from feeling in your heart that the greatest sin is wandering away from God, from His love, from His commandments, from His care, from His mercy. The greatest sin is refusing to reach for the only Hand that can save you.
It is not too late. If you have wandered far from God, turn today. Do not shun His discipline, for with the discipline is love, and tenderness and mercy. Do not wait another day.
Love and Blessings, Phoenix (who is back to being Phoenix again...older, wiser (I hope), and most of all, forgiven.)
or lose heart when you are punished by him;
for the Lord disciplines those whom He loves,
and chastises every child whom He accepts."
Quite frankly, discipline is not something I'm all that great at. I chafe at rules, cannot stand to be boxed in, am claustrophobic in more ways than one. So when Fr. Rob suggested that discipline might me something I would want to work on, I groaned inwardly.
For a while, you remember, I was quite disciplined about adding to this website. I would get up in the morning, and find a Bible passage that spoke to me, and then write about it. It was fulfilling, and helped me to think and focus on God every day.
But I strayed, my friends. I strayed badly. And it is only through the discipline and love of the Lord that I have found my way back to the path. There is a song on Christian radio that speaks to my condition (as the Quakers say). "When your tired flesh has squandered what your spirit would have saved, and your restless feet have wandered far from all you truly crave, turn and run toward your Father; do not wait another day. For His arms are open and He is calling you today."
My friends, do not chafe under the discipline of God. True repentance comes from feeling in your heart that the greatest sin is wandering away from God, from His love, from His commandments, from His care, from His mercy. The greatest sin is refusing to reach for the only Hand that can save you.
It is not too late. If you have wandered far from God, turn today. Do not shun His discipline, for with the discipline is love, and tenderness and mercy. Do not wait another day.
Love and Blessings, Phoenix (who is back to being Phoenix again...older, wiser (I hope), and most of all, forgiven.)
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
June 9, 2010 - Psalm 19:14
"Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer."
We say it in church all the time. I pray it myself. And while I generally have a fairly decent hold on the words of my mouth (with a few notable exceptions...well, maybe more than a few), but the meditations of my heart are another matter entirely.
Well, maybe I should start with the words of my mouth. I've heard it said that one should always keep one's words sweet, because you never know when you're going to have to eat them. How true! One of my major failings is that I speak first and think later. Open mouth, insert foot. And it's not always my mouth that's doing the talking...it's what I write that gets me into trouble.
I'm a great fan of "free writing." Do you know what that is? That's where you just simply sit with pen and paper, and if it comes into your head, it goes down on the paper, no matter how silly, stupid, or nonsensical it sounds. Eventually, after the random thoughts play themselves out, you get down to what is the crux of the matter. It's a great tool.
Unfortunately, I sometimes pop those things down, especially on the computer, and hit the "send" button, and then everybody in God's green earth knows what an utter jerk I am. I need to spend more time minding my own business, and less time minding somebody else's.
And then there's the whole "meditations of my heart" thing. Sometimes the meditations of my heart are not the most pure and noble. I can be judgmental, crabby, and downright mean. It's hard to shut my brain off sometimes; makes it hard to sleep.
There's a passage in the New Testament - 2 Corinthians - "...we take every thought captive to obey Christ." How does one learn to take their thoughts captive? Thoughts just come, unbidden mostly...they just are; they just happen. And once thought, you can't unthink something. So how do you take your thoughts captive?
What occurs to me is that taking your thoughts captive, which is an internal activity, has to start with external activity. What I mean by that is this...if I am focusing on how the world is going to hell in a handbasket, then my thoughts are going to go there. They're going to see the negative in the world around me. If I watch "Nancy Grace" and "Cops" and any of those other true crime shows, isn't that where my thoughts are going to go?
But if I focus on the pure, the good, the holy, then are my thoughts naturally going to go there instead? If I watch Disney, Jesse Duplantis, Touched by an Angel...won't my thoughts go in that direction?
So, by taking my thoughts captive, and focusing on the clean, the pure, the holy, then the words of my mouth AND the meditations of my heart are more likely to be acceptable to God.
Please Lord, make it so! phx
We say it in church all the time. I pray it myself. And while I generally have a fairly decent hold on the words of my mouth (with a few notable exceptions...well, maybe more than a few), but the meditations of my heart are another matter entirely.
Well, maybe I should start with the words of my mouth. I've heard it said that one should always keep one's words sweet, because you never know when you're going to have to eat them. How true! One of my major failings is that I speak first and think later. Open mouth, insert foot. And it's not always my mouth that's doing the talking...it's what I write that gets me into trouble.
I'm a great fan of "free writing." Do you know what that is? That's where you just simply sit with pen and paper, and if it comes into your head, it goes down on the paper, no matter how silly, stupid, or nonsensical it sounds. Eventually, after the random thoughts play themselves out, you get down to what is the crux of the matter. It's a great tool.
Unfortunately, I sometimes pop those things down, especially on the computer, and hit the "send" button, and then everybody in God's green earth knows what an utter jerk I am. I need to spend more time minding my own business, and less time minding somebody else's.
And then there's the whole "meditations of my heart" thing. Sometimes the meditations of my heart are not the most pure and noble. I can be judgmental, crabby, and downright mean. It's hard to shut my brain off sometimes; makes it hard to sleep.
There's a passage in the New Testament - 2 Corinthians - "...we take every thought captive to obey Christ." How does one learn to take their thoughts captive? Thoughts just come, unbidden mostly...they just are; they just happen. And once thought, you can't unthink something. So how do you take your thoughts captive?
What occurs to me is that taking your thoughts captive, which is an internal activity, has to start with external activity. What I mean by that is this...if I am focusing on how the world is going to hell in a handbasket, then my thoughts are going to go there. They're going to see the negative in the world around me. If I watch "Nancy Grace" and "Cops" and any of those other true crime shows, isn't that where my thoughts are going to go?
But if I focus on the pure, the good, the holy, then are my thoughts naturally going to go there instead? If I watch Disney, Jesse Duplantis, Touched by an Angel...won't my thoughts go in that direction?
So, by taking my thoughts captive, and focusing on the clean, the pure, the holy, then the words of my mouth AND the meditations of my heart are more likely to be acceptable to God.
Please Lord, make it so! phx
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