Guitar Strings
So, there’s this really cool google.com guitar, and my friend and I did some acoustic strumming on it in Heine Brothers yesterday. And, here’s a little snippit of how it sounds to rock on an electric google guitar: http://goo.gl/doodle/Ka8wK ;)
But, I was strumming my real guitar yesterday, and God gave me this beautiful analogy. No fretting involved. ;) Pun intended. Oh that was so corny.
Anyway, the chords you play on a guitar have a way of supplementing (and enhancing) certain notes that you wouldn’t have heard otherwise. So, God gives us characteristics that shine light more apparently on His nature.
Just look at Galatians 5:22-23 . . .
The presence of Joy makes Love much more apparent. Now go down the list -
Love
Joy – supplements love
Peace – supplements joy
Patience – I think you get it now . . .
Kindness – brings out patience . . .
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness – supports faithfulness, makes it more apparent . . .
Self-Control
What chords are you strumming today?
Early mornings
God got me up early this morning . . . to see His majesty.
Beautiful doesn’t even describe how much warmth and glory exudes from Him.
The sun spritely waves its length across my face, and how warm and chilling these rays sink into my bones. Solitude.
Have you ever experienced solitude with God? It’s more than a picture perfect moment where silence reigns. It’s a silence from your heart that really fits the puzzle. Rest in your mind, relax in your heart, let loose your tension in your muscles, and wake your ears to hear the sound of God’s cooing voice – the voice of a small whisper . . . like a dove . . . yet powerful.
His words whisper to you throughout the day. But, do you ever take the time of solitude to realize what He’s saying to you?
I sat on the back steps, washed in sunshine, trying to put my mind at ease. Dogs barking, cars whirring, birds chirping . . . in the background. But, what’s at the forefront of my mind? My eyes close . . . sunshine sears behind my lids. Speak Lord, for Your servant is listening . . . is hearing . . . is waking my ears to wander into Your words.
Solitude.
Sunshine.
Rest.
Refresh.
Rest.
Sunshine.
Solitude.
So . . . Here we go . . .
Hi! Yes, I’m alive . . . :) haha.
Of course, we wouldn’t want to spread that rumor around too far.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately. Yes, I know – shouldn’t do that too much. Detrimental to the spontaneity factor. Yes.
So, think on this . . . but not for too long.
Don’t use someone else’s words to define something – use your own. Yours are the only unique ones, whispering novelty to the world’s worn ears. Everything else has been said . . . except for the locutions that drip from your lips. They’re all your own, sometimes tipping the edge of your fingers that try to capture the feather of your own thoughts. But, yes. They’re yours.
So, do something beautiful with them.
Tick tackin’ away . . .
:) There’s so many songs floating about in my head, wandering around for lack of strings and strums to play them into melody. Well, in other words . . . there’s too many things to write about?
Seriously . . . the ineffableness of God . . . for one, ginormous topic. Another one could be how ginormous is the way it is . . . spelled very strangely.
Finding Never Ever Land, for example. So still . . . so tranquil. Under pixie dust and pirate ships abroad on the colorful oceans that drown under wallowing moons that glow with the fire of flights to be.
So many romantic stories to be twined to the string of life . . .
Too many birds to sing, too many swallows to dance, too many butterflies to bloom . . . and still, the one you write will be the most brilliant of them all.
What will you seize today?
Memorable quotes
“It’s like in the great stories, mister Frodo; the ones that really mattered: full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn’t want to know the end because how could the end be happy; how could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing this shadow; even darkness must pass. A new day will come, and when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you, that meant something even if you were too small to understand why. But, I think, mister Frodo, I do understand; I know now: folks in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, but only they didn’t; they kept going because they were holding on to something. There is some good in this world, mister Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for!” -Samwise the brave
“At this level almost everyone has the physical tools to be the best. It comes down to a few things: how bad you want it, what you do when things get hard, and whether you are able to stay focused amid turmoil, challenge, chaos and demands. It’s all in your head and in your heart.” -Michelle Akers
“Shall I describe it to you, or do you want me to get you a box?” -Legolas
“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you and I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road although I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death, I will not fear, for you are ever with me and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.” -Thomas Merton
“All endeavors call for the ability to tramp the last mile, shape the last plan, endure the last hour’s toil. The fight-to-the-finish spirit is the one characteristic we must possess if we are to face the future as finishers.” -Henry David Thoreau
“We can cure physical diesases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread, but there are many more dying for a little love. There should be less talk; a preaching point is not a meeting point. What do you do then? Take a broom and clean someone’s house. That says enough. In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love. Do not think that love in order to be genuine has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired. Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” -Mother Theresa
“Things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out.” -Jack Buck
“God didn’t promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way.” -Anonymous
“Anyone can give up, it’s the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that’s true strength.” -Anonymous
“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.” Consider calling it a challenge rather than calling it a crisis. Begin each day as if it were on purpose.” -Mary Anne Radmacher
“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” -Dr. Seuss
“There is no better time than now. The time to live is now. The time to dream is now. The time to imagine and forget the past is now. The time to shine is now. The time to bleed, sweat, and determine yourself for the things you want most is now.” -Anonymous
“Painful as it may be, a significant emotional event can be the catalyst for choosing a direction that serves us–and those around us — more effectively. Look for the learning.” -Eric Allenbaugh
“To accomplish great things we must not only act but also dream, not only plan but also believe.” -Anatole
“Big thinking precedes great achievement. Success is focusing the full power of all you are one what you have a burning desire to achieve. See it big, and keep it simple. Great lives are ordinary lives intensified.” -Wilferd A. Peterson
“I have heard it said that the first ingredient of success–the earliest spark of dreaming youth–is this: dream a great dream.” -John A. Appleman
“What you see depends on what you’re looking for.” -Anonymous
“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. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It’s not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights 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
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
“When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
when the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
when the funds are low and the debts are high,
and you want to smile but you have to sigh,
when care is pressing you down a bit – rest if you must,
but don’t you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns.
As everyone of us sometimes learns.
And many a fellow turns about when he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow – you may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than it seems to a faint and faltering man;
often the struggler has given up when he might have captured the victor’s cup;
and he learned too late when the night came down,
how close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out – the silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
and when you never can tell how close you are,
it may be near when it seems afar;
so stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit – it’s when things seem worst,
you must not quit.” -Edgar A. Guest
Awesome
God
Broken
Have you ever felt like you were broken? Shoo…I’m just gonna ramble. I’ve been sick for a long time…long enough that I don’t remember what feeling well really does feel like. I’m constantly sick, constantly in pain, constantly tired. I just want a pair of wings that aren’t so…well, broken really. But, God has a purpose for these appendages of mine that swing with feathers coming undone and fractures piercing each unstable fable of flight. God has a purpose, but I’m still stuck on a rock, with no wings to carry me home. But, it is a rock I’m standing on after all…what a place to be, Find Rest, O my soul, in God alone. My hope comes from Him. Psalm 62:5…I don’t understand all that well, Father, but may my broken little wings be Yours to hold and Yours to mend in Your time being.
LIFE
Losing everything—that’s where we begin.
Nowhere . . .
. . . is . . .
. . . Everywhere . . .
. . . And, solitude is the only place you can hold in the hollow of your hands without it cracking to pieces.
Silence—its beat engulfs your senses, wiping them away with a loud hum that overcomes every minute moment of comfort.
Darkness—where icy images tilt the world, making up reality in tales of dusk and myths of light.
Cold—icicles transpierce the once warm meaning of your veins, slowing the pulsing life within you.
Noise—whispers of tripping sound fear the mask of silence, yet the murmurs pitter forth as if agony stirred them to speak.
Light—where a hand, once cloaked in black, returns itself as a blurry sight; the fingers wave drifts of movement against your cracked skin.
Warmth—life floods back into your veins.
Life starts; blood rushes; pain drowns.
Life . . .
Life . . .
Life . . .
A beating rhythm surmises relief as the air wraps its dithering fingers around the instrument from which the drumming noise rolls.
THUMP . . . It beats fervently for hope.
TH-THUMP . . . It waits, stuttering, as if life wanted more than to exhale the dusty ruins of this setting.
BEAT . . . Your heart beats; the waves of coolness drift away, and all you are left with is a memory—a memory of how it used to be: life without meaning.
1. Theme: Life without a real relationship with Christ is meaningless (Ecclesiastes). Also, you have to realize that you lose everything before you gain your everything, your every breath, Christ.
2. Character: This essay recounts the life of a sinner before Christ and after Christ, a meaningless life and then a life full of verve and breath. As my friend put it: Jesus is the man with the tools to shock you back to life in a vacant hospital room where your heart monitor has nothing more to examine until it jumps up ever so slightly in a pulse.
Anointed in prayer
God is awesome. Just throwin that out there. :)
So, I got anointed and prayed over by the elders of our church. Check out James 5…pretty sweet passage. Anyway, it was an awesome experience, as God always has fun with those awesome experiences. :) He always shows up; I don’t know about you, but I see Him everywhere. So, I have this thing…it’s an incurable illness…maybe CFIDS like the soccer player Michelle Akers had, but whatever it is, it stumps the doctors, and I pretty much feel like I have the flu 24/7 and am in constant debilitating pain most of the time. But, God is going to use this for His glory whether He heals me or if He uses it to reach those who need a bright glimpse of Him. Whatever it is, I’m just glad I could lend myself. :) Thanks, God…You’re awesome…even if I do have this pain in my life…I know somehow that You’ll get me through each day if I lean on Your for everything.
Doubtless….
Doubt…the words along with it…fear, timidity. What price must come with the compromise of doubt? The payment of confidence…the faltering actions that would have come in pure commitment, drive and faith all waning. We must not doubt…who are we to doubt really? If you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, your Lord and Savior, then you have no reason in the world to fear…for if you doubt your abilities, you are really doubting His grace and His power. Your talents come from Him…so, don’t doubt…don’t lose confidence in the Savior of the World…the all-powerful Being Who is Able. For, if you doubt, you are a vapor, not amounting to much, fading and drawing to a close that light that God kindled within you in the beginning. Do not fear…do not doubt…Learn that your confidence grows in the shadow of His wings, in the depths of His might. God is the weapon to defeat every barrier of doubt in your mind. So, let’s take captive every thought in obedience to Christ…your doubt does not come from your Savior…it comes from His enemy. Defeat it…and see how God uses your talents to shine His light and His confidence…to live in His light…to give glory to His power.
Turning a blind eye
Irony…simply put; the eye is infinitesimally complex, irreducibly so…this little structure has God’s fingerprints all over it…an evolutionist can’t explain it…science can’t fully comprehend it…yet, through this little organ, we humans tend to close our pupils to God and His transparent evidence…Sight is a miracle in itself of God’s making, but why in the world can’t people see Him through that very instrument?
Ironic…no, it’s more sad than that.
Have you ever wondered…wandered…
You know, from a single sentence, you can make a story wrap around your finger…from a single sentence…That’s how all stories/books start out…with a sentence. Then, there’s the crafty style, the subtle style that gets you thinking and the very vague entrance into a labyrinth of tale-worthy notes. What kind of sentence do you like to read in the very beginning?
Isn’t it strange that words can make up a piece of artwork by way of “pixels” that change the face of a story? I don’t know; I may be off track here, but words are very powerful little things, though small they may be. To wonder and to wander on a trail of words…hmm…curious.
Something that just popped into my head…
…then, it got transfered to the nearest piece of material I could find, since paper was scarce at that moment…I’ve got you wondering what that material was, yes? Or maybe not, since it’s just a piece of something…Since I’m going on about it, I might as well tell you that this thing came out to be the back of a belt…haha; strange, I know, but anything works as long as its “writability” is reliable…so, here goes…I almost “regret” (ironic, you’ll see in a moment) posting this because it’s not very good, but nonetheless, I have to take the good with the bad…:
Regrets are the pangs of a life well-lived but a life ill-spent…Oh yes, there is a difference between the two (spent and lived). Where you invest your life and how you live are two different things; connected they may be, but possessing disparities uncommon they portray the different sides of the human purpose…the purpose of a legacy. Who are you living for? Where do you place all the time you scrape up out of your lint-swept pocket? The key to these qualities lies in your purpose, your goals…if you don’t invest your life in the right place, then all is lost, the key to your life rusted until its dust is the only thing left gracing that worn pocket of yours. My dear friend, I do not wish for this to be the locked keyhole of your life; “seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you”.
Then, a little summary of a sunset…
The tint of hazy green that faded into a whitish blue grew still to a deep azure that pressed its hands around the sun’s noble glint…It was the draw of two fingers across the horizon that took all the colors by surprise, leaving the stars to grace the night with their flickering rays. What is more: the red drifted into a mauve-kissed lilac that danced upon the gusty clouds, mounting one on top of the other they were, swirling about. The circuitous graces of slivering shapes can make up a picture that holds the intensity of a focus, grazing across the horizon of sight…This spectacle is a wild thing; never to be captured, it always finds its way to be memorized for its momentary tale of light’s escape.
Listen…hear that?
What do you get when you mix wind and water…you know the sound, the one that taps against your eardrums to a beat all its own, winding against wisdoms untold for years that no one’s been listening for…what would it take for you to give an ear to hear it? Just a moment, a mere second or so before the rhythmic noise whittles itself down into a time shifting momentum of soft notes and puzzling pieces of an opus…one chance to catch it…did you hear that?
Yello…
Wow…I got to say:
Look for God in everything…did you see that sunset? He was hanging his hand out of the clouds and spreading his fingers through the streaks of gold…so cool. Nothing better than after soccer practice drives with the music of the wind streaming past the scales of the window, riding home with God in the sky.
Pixels of pictures
Life…that’s what a picture is: it’s full of life. Have you ever wanted to jump into a picture and drown yourself in it for a moment…to watch the reality of it all unfurl and catch your eyes as if it was so real in that mere second? To see a sunset shiver off its flickering colors for as long as you’d like, to listen to the seashore without a single thought of a murmur from a being glance your way…Life…that’s what a picture is: it’s full of life. So, have you ever wanted to jump into a picture?
Something more….is Christ
There is something more than mere skin and bones…and I want so many people to see that…
That some are destined for greatness is certain, but is their role really seen as great anymore? Honor meets virtue and virtue meets its end in complacency, but no one seems to know where that something more can come from….
I’ll admit it: I’m an insecure human being wanting something more, something real. I am genuine, real flesh and blood, but sometimes it feels like such a difference to be alive and to live. I am made of this wooden feel that can be scathed by a blow, but can hardly be shattered when meant to have been broken. Something more…I want something more. Life is not about the bland things of this age starting to dim all the more, becoming so prosaic in a sense that should it be shut out, then “that’s all right, we’ll just find something else”, something less. But, prosaic consuetude is not worth settling for if you have to sell your life for a void of something less.
Something more can come as easily as the something less, or even more so as easily comes, swiftly, fleeting, only at one opportune moment, then at others: still flying away from their grasp.
Something more can be…something more is…something more was…
Something more is not a phrase, lest it be totally void, but it is, indeed, a Person.
Do you know Him?
So, when confidence lies in Something More, you become insecure in yourself and secure in Him; settle for Something More, something beautiful, something altruistically perfect…and you’ll never be the same…you’ll be different, brilliantly shining Something More…and guess what? You’ll be genuine.
For, that Something More is Christ.
