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| With the year ending I usually think about the year and how it went.
It went quickly.
My children are sprouting more quickly than I anticipated. The fall school term scurried by. ZOOM. As hurriedly as it went by, I can also say I greatly enjoyed it too. I spent a good deal more time at the park than the year before--doing NOTHING AT ALL. just being. That is fantastic by the way. one feels very human that way. I'm glad I did that. That made for good bonding time as well. It didn't help my house get cleaner, but no one died from a messier house, so I'm glad I picked the park.
Sometimes I focus on the shortcomings, on the things I wish were improved. There is always that I can notice, and I do have a bit of a list there. I'd like to make some changes this year. I'd like God to show me more areas for healing and spiritual maturity, and I like to be courageous in obedience for the necessary steps for that to happen. It's one thing to see what needs to change; it's a whole other thing to do it-to be brave, see the ugliness, and push through it to the end. Sometimes I, like most of humanity, close my eyes like toddler playing hide and seek and think if I can't see it anymore, it must not really be there. My job of not hiding is working. I tackled some of these things in the fall term, so I'd like to see more of them through. Thankfully, I had some dear friends in my cheering section. That makes a huge difference. When we come up short, it's the true friends that will still support us and give us the extra push when we are dry, like angels with skin on, whom God uses, if things get bumpy or others take their pot shots. I hope I have the courage to push forward, I can run for the hills like a wounded animal sometimes, and I don't like that about myself.
May God work in your life to cause growth. It may be very painful, but it will be worth it. There may be pruning, but the flowers and fruit will be a harvest of goodness. I'll tell you of it myself, once I get there, if I ever do. | | |
| by Parker Palmer, A Hidden Wholeness
The soul is like a wild animal--tough, resilient, resourceful, savvy, self-sufficient. It knows how to survive in hard places. But it is also shy. Just like a wild animal, it seeks safety in the dense underbrush. If we want to see a wild animal, we know that the last thing we should do is go crashing through the woods yelling for it to come out. But if we will walk quietly into the woods, sit patiently by the base of the tree, and fade into our surroundings, the wild animal we seek might put in an appearance.
May this holiday afford you some time for solitude for your wild soul to come out from the underbrush to the the tree where you are quietly sitting. With all the crashing about of the holidays we can forget that our souls are "shy" and need solitude, real solitude, to be truly refreshed.
Happy holidays! Jesus was born! Merry Christmas and a happy New Year! | | |
| Recently a photo album belonging SS-Obersturmführer Karl Höcker, the adjutant to the commandant of Auschwitz, was found and donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. It depicted Höcker and other Nazi officers enjoying recreation, formal ceremonies, holidays, retreats, meals, and sing-alongs at part of the same compound that would kill exterminate countless Jews. Because of a lack of photographic or historic evidence Höcker was never found guilty or executed for war crimes unlike many commanders shown in the photo album. In 1945 he evacuated the camp only carrying enlisted soldier papers was able to fool the British and serve in a British prisoner of war camp for 18 months. Later in 1963 he only served 7 years in prison. Though he administrated the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of detainees at Auschwitz, he worked after the war as a banker and lived to the ripe age of 88 years old. This album had many rare photos of Karl Höcker that prove his rank and responsibility as a Nazi at Auschwitz during the time when the gas chambers were running at maximum capacity. What is probably the most shocking of all is that Karl Höcker seems not like a monster at all, he seems like a normal happy man, doing normal things. The thrust of the exhibit was to show that people are capable of evil. They don’t have to look like monsters to do it. They look ordinary.
Don't think that some pillars of your community couldn't do, or don't do horrible things. These people were those types of people! We can also become monsters all too easily as well.
When Jesus says the road is NARROW, that what he means. Not many people really find it. It seems like everybody finds the road, like we're all pretty much "okay". Jesus says the road is narrow, because it is. He says we have to take up our cross daily and follow him. Are we doing that? Are we really? We make excuses.
I think it's like the four soils. . . . I think we're mostly the thorny soil. . . the seed is planted and choked out by life... when we look around . . . people aren't really paying attention. So, the road is actually VERY VERY narrow. And the Karl can easily happen, in reality. I saw Karl lighting the Christmas tree in one picture. It was sweet. No, it was horrible. But he probably thought it was sweet. He thought he was a Christian. We make up reasons to do what we what to do if it doesn't stack up, but it's not on the narrow road. We've gone to the highways.
Are we disciples that understand self-sacrifice, devotion, and humble love? I get distracted, you get distracted. It's time to take up the cross again.
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| I can't believe it myself... I caved. . . for the sake of friendship I registered at facebook. It's been nicer than I thought. I found a few long lost friends actually. That's pretty nice!
You can write on my wall anytime too. : )
You can find me at facebook.com It's easy to upload photos there, and send messages, so if you're curious, and want to check it out, come find me. I'll "be your friend". | | |
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