The Moorschild

I've had the wonderful chance lately to pre-read a bunch of books recently given to my little guy as "hand me downs" and just this morning finished up a book called "The Moorschild", a fantasy story by Eloise McGraw.  At the end of the book, I was struck by the ease with which the humans in the story were so easily taken in and duped by the magic of the "Folk people" (fairy-like creatures). The physical senses of the humans were overwhelmed and overtaken by the sights, sounds, tastes, and intense pleasures of things made by magic trickery to be more than they really were.  As long as the Folk people were having their own fun, they didn't mind much that the lost humans were there partaking in the revelry of their Midsummers' Eve celebration.  In the book, the eyes of all of the babies of the Folk people were anointed at birth with a special oil that allowed them to see reality behind the veil of magic, and so the Folk people were never duped by the magic that encompassed their entire world.  Unfortunately, without the oil, the humans could not keep control of their senses long enough to see the reality of their situation, even when others were telling them it was not real...and so the humans happily became engulfed in a timeless oblivion of pure sensory ecstasy.  That is, until someone who cared about them was able to pull them out of their senselessness with the anointing oil, or, more likely, they were booted out of the Folk camp when they became useless--and a bother--to the Folk people.  And then, by the time they came "back out", so many years in the human world had passed, and everything and everyone they had known and loved had already passed on and was gone.

I guess it struck a strange reality cord in me for some reason...how similar the Folk people's trap is to those things that tempt and influence us in our own world.  How easily it is to be duped into thinking something is real when it is not...to be blinded by a mis-concept (about self or others), by a partial truth (about a person, or a situation, or a thing even), by a promise of something for nothing, by the temporizing thrill of instantaneous gratification.  How many situations of pain and hurt, lost time, lost relationships, wrong pathways, misunderstandings, bad choices could we have avoided if only we had that "anointing oil"!  Something that allows us to "see it for real" BEFORE we get duped.

And then...it hit me.  We DO have the "anointing oil" and we have Someone who cares about us enough to pull us out of our senselessness when we get lost anyway!

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God...You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." (1John 4:1,4, NIV)

"But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:26-27, NIV)

 When we see the world through the eyes of the Holy Spirit within us, He guides us with HIS knowledge, HIS wisdom and HIS understanding through any and all of the circumstances that the world can possibly throw at us.  Better yet, He gives us HIS strength, HIS faith, HIS heart and HIS love to use when we are overwhelmed, overtaken and afraid.  Lean not on your own understanding, He said, but trust in Me always and I will make your paths straight!

wow...better than the anointing oil, yes? 

selah!

mags 

Thankful

Thank you God for this beautiful weather...for several days in a row..Emilia is home for spring break and we have had the best time enjoying each other's company under each sunny day! I was thankful that she could go to mass with me this morning and share in the Eucharist that we all cherish so. The gift that we can each have each day, that refills us with hope and true LOVE. Enjoy the beautiful weekend coming up, and cherish each sunny moment.

Beautiful Christian Woman

Just wanted to share a beautiful little poem I received from a friend.  Such a striking reminder to me of the realization that being a true Christian is first and foremost knowing Who He is...and what I am!

BEAUTIFUL CHRISTIAN WOMAN 

'A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ that a man should have to seek Him first to find her.'

When I say that 'I am a Christian', I am not shouting that 'I am clean living'.  
I'm whispering 'I was lost, but now I'm found and forgiven.'

When I say 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride.  

 I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong.  I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success.  

 I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect.  

 My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner who received God's good grace, somehow! 

Remember:
Pretty is as Pretty does but, Beautiful is just plain Beautiful.

Thank you, ladies, for being my accountability group and true fellowship friends!  I LOVE our Red Tent!!

 

Wait For the Lord

"Do you not know? Have you not heard?
         The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth
         Does not become weary or tired
         His understanding is inscrutable.
    He gives strength to the weary,
         And to him who lacks might He increases power.
    Though youths grow weary and tired,
         And vigorous young men stumble badly,
    Yet those who wait for the LORD
         Will gain new strength;
         They will mount up with wings like eagles,
         They will run and not get tired,
         They will walk and not become weary." (Is 40:28-31, NASB, emphasis added)

I've been thinking alot about Janet's beautiful Lenten post on "waiting for the Lord" because it reminds me of how deeply the Holy Spirit will take us into His Truths if we are willing to delve into them with Him.  Incurable academic that I am, I guess I've been waiting for the chance to work in some concordance study with everyone this year...and, well, perhaps this might be as good a time as any!  So, here goes:  

In the past, we have seen that oftentimes our English translations just cannot do justice to the complex meaning of the original Hebrew or Greek text.  Take the word "wait", for instance...

In the Hebrew Scriptures (aka Old Testament), there are three different words that have all been translated into the same English word "wait".  Each one of the Hebrew terms has a slightly different tone or shade of meaning that brings so much more depth and understanding to both the verses and the contexts in which it is used.

The first one is "dumiyah", which means "silently waiting with a quiet trust."  Selah on that for a moment.  It is this tone of quiet confidence, calmness, strength and hope conveyed by the king and psalmist David in the following verse:

"My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation.  He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken." (Ps 62:1, 2).

This is the sense that I feel when I am resting fully in my faith and trust in the Lord that I know is totally in charge.  No anxiety, no worry...only peace, calm, and absolute and utter confidence in the love, will and timing of the Lord who directs me.  A quiet, calm time of waiting.  Like a well-fed and contented babe, resting peacefully in the arms of his mother, waiting without concern for whatever...knowing she will take care of everything...not even considering anything more than the wonderful moment at hand.  Happy, at peace, content.  What a lovely quality to the feel of this type of "waiting"!

The second word is "chakah," which means "adhere to", or "long for."   When David said "My soul thirsts for God" (Ps 42:2; 63:1), he was describing a deep longing for God's company--he was "chakah"...waiting, longing, yearning for something palpably missing, yet fully knowing that it will be coming.

"Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield" (Ps 33:20)

This is the sense that I feel when I plead in intercession for wisdom and understanding in something hard to accept in His Permissive will...like the devastation in Haiti, or the seemingly untimely death of a child, or the onslaught of "attacks" in the life of a single person.  It's when I get down on my knees and prostrate myself before my God, fighting against the despair of grief, blinding hurt, senseless confusion and the angry bitterness of resentment, guilt, and blame.  A truly rich word for "wait", implying deep emotion and a desperate grappling Trust.  "chakah"... i just love the depth of humanness of this type of "waiting".

But, the last word is one of my favorites.  It is "qavah" and means "to wait for...with eager expectation."  It also means "to bind something together by twisting" or braiding.  wow...somehow "wait" now becomes a dynamic action verb, implying that we are actively being prepared--actively 'doing something WITH and IN Him' even as we await the moment of God's time to move/arrive/call upon us.  The main thought, therefore, for "qavah" is "eager expectation and ONENESS; a joining, or a braiding together."  It's the excited, anticipatory tone of gathering strength as preparations are rapidly being made:

"Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord."(Ps 27:14)

"Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary." (Is 40:31)

This is the sense that I get when I am confident of a divine task or "munus", and with bold assurance and faith in the Lord who has given it to me, I begin to set aside myself and allow the Holy Spirit to take over and guide me in every step, every breath, every thought, every act that I take from that moment on.  In this type of "waiting", I am eagerly anticipating the arrival of God's time and fully realize that with each passing moment, HE is preparing me for "kairos".  In this type of "waiting", I can  watch, without distraction, distortion or alarm, seemingly unrelated situations develop and come to pass, knowing with all of my heart that somehow, some way they will all come together for the good of whoever is involved--all because of the faith we have in the all-loving God we serve! 

Pondering the strong images and feelings conjured up by the different Hebrew words, we can come up with a much fuller sense of the word "wait"...something like:

"Silently waiting with a strong, calm trust, longing for His presence and eagerly expecting Him...anticipating, stepping aside to prepare, and then experiencing the oneness that results as our hearts become entwined into one with and in Him."  Wow.  Now THAT's what I call 'getting a better sense of the word'!! 

Even the English definitions for "wait" has much meaning for us here:  let us "wait" for the Lord (in obedience, diligence in study and discernment of Truth, in attendance to and service for) while we "wait" (resting in anticipation and readiness) for Him.  Think about these very different senses of the English definitions for "wait" as we reread the following verses from Isaiah 40:

"Yet those who wait for the LORD
         Will gain new strength;
         They will mount up with wings like eagles,
         They will run and not get tired,
         They will walk and not become weary."

So totally cool, isn't it??


Every word, every verse, every story, every Truth in the bible is meant to teach us something amazing and wondrous--something only the Holy Spirit can fully understand and explain!  No wonder Paul wrote:
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Tim 3:16, NIV, emphasis added)

Imagine how deeply the Holy Spirit can take us, if we are willing to follow Him where He would go!

Selah! See everyone tomorrow!!