Ah...so succinct. Yep, one of my granddaughters birthday is today. Probably the best gift I may have left her was, “ your soul is > important than your body. Your body is important but your soul is precious.”
Your wise words and countenance are a salve to my soul, today and as always. I look forward to hearing my thoughts expressed so as to confirm them and then, boom, there you are. Thank you, dear Martin, for sharing yourself with us. 💛💛💛
Personal accountability----ahhhhh....No matter how much ( fill in the circumstance), "I am responsible for my response to it"....'freedom' without morality and accountability is not liberty. Finding the personal courage to stand in our own growth so that we can support others is our reason for 'surviving' these times so that true thriving can be our lived experience, since it has always been our birthright---God's plan for ALL of us! I continue to be so inspired by a lovely "middle-aged man in a hoodie" with a dear strand of lights illuminating your art. Thank you so very much.
Totally helps and I love to hear this from your perspective because it’s truthfully where everyone is. We are all in this place. Some won’t get it until the meltdowns begin. I’ve been a born again Spirit-filled believer since 1982 and have had super duper ups and downs with risky behaviors. I can’t wait to share this with those Holy Spirit points out to give them encouragement. Some are yet too proud or scared to death to step out of this pseudo world we have lived in to break thru and take it in. One seed at a time. God bless your undertakings. Your journey is EXACTLY the road I desire to be on. And I’m doing it day by day progressively- leaving plants seeds and seedlings along the way in the soil or rocky ground - whatever - along the way. God brings the increase. His will. Love that warrior-father character builder goal. Integrity and righteousness. 🙏🏼🙌🥁🎺👏🏼👏🏼🥳
Love the beautiful pic - misty evening in Darlington! Thanks also, Martin, for your viewpoints on our focus for the future. I agree with you regarding charities. So often in the past I have given to causes I felt were good.....then only to discover that the upper management was making quite a nice living from the organization while the intended receivers of the cause were barely receiving any help at all. So disillusioning!
I appreciate the wisdom of your three c's of survival. Always a pleasure to hear your words.
I do have some thoughts about "church." Raised Catholic. Loved being Catholic as a child. Left Church at 18, because I wished to rebel. Returned to RC Church at age 30 after an amazing Saul/Paul reversion. Nothing I ever asked for or dreamed of. That was 40 yrs ago and I continue to grow (in spite of myself) in faith and love of God - but it is more like two steps forward, one step back.
"Church" is more than a building, and it is more than congregants. The Christian Church is not known as a structure; it is a person, the person of Jesus Christ who claimed to be God. Now, either he was - or he wasn't God. C.S. Lewis addressed this point succinctly (and I will paraphrase here): Jesus said he was God. How do we know? Merely read the four Gospels. Now, either he is God - or he isn't. If he isn't God, he was a raving madman and we have been duped for two millenia. If he is, and he came to earth, walked among us, preached, gathered 12 apostles, allowed himself to be scourged and crucified (in one of the most painful human deaths), rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven, then we need to sit up and take notice, and ask why, and what that means for us.
While Christian churches are physical structures with dedicated liturgy, as well as places where people come together and worship and seek fellowship, the point is being missed if people are not led to understand it is the person that is Jesus Christ who is the core of the structure. He is the source and summit of life. He wants a personal relationship with each of us, and that traditionally has been made easier by coming together through "church."
That it has oft become secularized and social justicized so that we end up worshiping ourselves and the process more than we worship God is a fact. But it does not negate the fact of Christian teaching that "church" is the person of Christ. And our journey is to delve into our relationship with him through prayer, worship, praise, meditation, and reading the Word of God. He is the ultimate rabbit hole; he is the ultimate black swan. A God of infinite depth and surprises. To go down his rabbit hole is to find the satisfaction the heart has always desired. He is the living water that slakes the deepest of thirsts.
The (yes) "hierarchical" Catholic Church is undergoing a massive assault now - one that rattles the faithful, driving them out, or driving them more deeply into faith. Faithful Catholics will tell you how painful it is. Not that the churches are closing. But that the very established teachings are being attacked from within. Teachings that many died defending. The 12 apostles were martyred, as well as the first 33 popes. Annually it is suggested there are 100,000 Christian martyrs around the globe. Some Christian outlets have suggested 70M martyrs since the days of Christ. And for what? Adherence to a man who claimed to be God two millenia ago?? Surely the willingness to die for belief in Jesus Christ speaks to someone and something much deeper and richer than adherence, but an indescribable faith and trust.
Recommended reading: C. S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity." More current would be American Dr. Scott Hahn, commencing with "Rome Sweet Rome" - and then into his many other books, especially ones on his examination of covenant relationships. He is also to be found all over youtube.
Ah...so succinct. Yep, one of my granddaughters birthday is today. Probably the best gift I may have left her was, “ your soul is > important than your body. Your body is important but your soul is precious.”
Your wise words and countenance are a salve to my soul, today and as always. I look forward to hearing my thoughts expressed so as to confirm them and then, boom, there you are. Thank you, dear Martin, for sharing yourself with us. 💛💛💛
Personal accountability----ahhhhh....No matter how much ( fill in the circumstance), "I am responsible for my response to it"....'freedom' without morality and accountability is not liberty. Finding the personal courage to stand in our own growth so that we can support others is our reason for 'surviving' these times so that true thriving can be our lived experience, since it has always been our birthright---God's plan for ALL of us! I continue to be so inspired by a lovely "middle-aged man in a hoodie" with a dear strand of lights illuminating your art. Thank you so very much.
Totally helps and I love to hear this from your perspective because it’s truthfully where everyone is. We are all in this place. Some won’t get it until the meltdowns begin. I’ve been a born again Spirit-filled believer since 1982 and have had super duper ups and downs with risky behaviors. I can’t wait to share this with those Holy Spirit points out to give them encouragement. Some are yet too proud or scared to death to step out of this pseudo world we have lived in to break thru and take it in. One seed at a time. God bless your undertakings. Your journey is EXACTLY the road I desire to be on. And I’m doing it day by day progressively- leaving plants seeds and seedlings along the way in the soil or rocky ground - whatever - along the way. God brings the increase. His will. Love that warrior-father character builder goal. Integrity and righteousness. 🙏🏼🙌🥁🎺👏🏼👏🏼🥳
Yep, you're right.
Love the beautiful pic - misty evening in Darlington! Thanks also, Martin, for your viewpoints on our focus for the future. I agree with you regarding charities. So often in the past I have given to causes I felt were good.....then only to discover that the upper management was making quite a nice living from the organization while the intended receivers of the cause were barely receiving any help at all. So disillusioning!
I appreciate the wisdom of your three c's of survival. Always a pleasure to hear your words.
I do have some thoughts about "church." Raised Catholic. Loved being Catholic as a child. Left Church at 18, because I wished to rebel. Returned to RC Church at age 30 after an amazing Saul/Paul reversion. Nothing I ever asked for or dreamed of. That was 40 yrs ago and I continue to grow (in spite of myself) in faith and love of God - but it is more like two steps forward, one step back.
"Church" is more than a building, and it is more than congregants. The Christian Church is not known as a structure; it is a person, the person of Jesus Christ who claimed to be God. Now, either he was - or he wasn't God. C.S. Lewis addressed this point succinctly (and I will paraphrase here): Jesus said he was God. How do we know? Merely read the four Gospels. Now, either he is God - or he isn't. If he isn't God, he was a raving madman and we have been duped for two millenia. If he is, and he came to earth, walked among us, preached, gathered 12 apostles, allowed himself to be scourged and crucified (in one of the most painful human deaths), rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven, then we need to sit up and take notice, and ask why, and what that means for us.
While Christian churches are physical structures with dedicated liturgy, as well as places where people come together and worship and seek fellowship, the point is being missed if people are not led to understand it is the person that is Jesus Christ who is the core of the structure. He is the source and summit of life. He wants a personal relationship with each of us, and that traditionally has been made easier by coming together through "church."
That it has oft become secularized and social justicized so that we end up worshiping ourselves and the process more than we worship God is a fact. But it does not negate the fact of Christian teaching that "church" is the person of Christ. And our journey is to delve into our relationship with him through prayer, worship, praise, meditation, and reading the Word of God. He is the ultimate rabbit hole; he is the ultimate black swan. A God of infinite depth and surprises. To go down his rabbit hole is to find the satisfaction the heart has always desired. He is the living water that slakes the deepest of thirsts.
The (yes) "hierarchical" Catholic Church is undergoing a massive assault now - one that rattles the faithful, driving them out, or driving them more deeply into faith. Faithful Catholics will tell you how painful it is. Not that the churches are closing. But that the very established teachings are being attacked from within. Teachings that many died defending. The 12 apostles were martyred, as well as the first 33 popes. Annually it is suggested there are 100,000 Christian martyrs around the globe. Some Christian outlets have suggested 70M martyrs since the days of Christ. And for what? Adherence to a man who claimed to be God two millenia ago?? Surely the willingness to die for belief in Jesus Christ speaks to someone and something much deeper and richer than adherence, but an indescribable faith and trust.
Recommended reading: C. S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity." More current would be American Dr. Scott Hahn, commencing with "Rome Sweet Rome" - and then into his many other books, especially ones on his examination of covenant relationships. He is also to be found all over youtube.