Monday, August 25, 2008

houses on sand

I was at the beach and I was drifting off to sleep in the warm sun when it came-
we cannot build permanence here.
The rocks, being more at home here than we are, belong-but we do not.
The only thing that holds us here is time.
When our time is no more, nothing can keep us here.
We are not meant to build up kingdoms of security and comfort here below,
We are meant to love Him with all of our heart with all of our soul and with all of our minds. In doing this, we store up treasure for ourselves in heaven-not here where moths will eat and destroy.
The one who tries to secure his place here, who does not acknowledge his own mortality or the path that twists and eventually ends- man who lives for wealth alone: he has been deceived. He has been seduced to build his house on sand.
Like a flower that springs up in the morning and by the evening withers and fades-this is our reality.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Perfect Love Casts Out All Fear

Fact: You lose nothing by reckless abandon or by unhindered devotion.

Your brother is in a car accident and you spend the rest of his life (and yours) day-in, day-out reading to him as he lay in a vegetative state without a single response.
Undeterred by the apparent lack of acknowledgement or awareness on his part, you read novel after novel. You are ridiculed for your "neurotic" time investment; and your commitment costs you much, In fact, your leisure time-your time spent reading aloud in a hospital room- is viewed as lost time and you are held in contempt for scheduling it in each evening on the way home from work.

Then one day everything changes.

You enter your brother's hospital room for what must be the thousandth time. Your brother is awake. There he sits. Incredulous nurses stand all around waiting for your reaction.

You are so shocked that your legs give out and you break into sweat and tears immediately.

Suddenly everything fits together, all becomes just.
"Thank you brother, for your faithfulness- I heard every word you read to me. you were my light in the darkness of my mind; you were hope made manifest."

Everything was worth it. Nothing was lost.

"Not only did you choose to sustain my apparently meaningless life but you became the visible sign that it had inherent value.

Thank you for choosing love over convenience, for choosing life over death. All is choice on the surface, but look below and you will see that only love is truth,and love does not compromise. Love necessitates necessity.

Yes, I have learned much in my silence. I have learned in the prison cell that was my suffering body. They will never understand what they hasten to snuff out. If they knew, they would have no such desires."

All is made simple in love.
Dig deeper, deeper and deeper still- if you are hindered by human reason, you have not dug deep enough; if you are still heavily influenced by the voices of the world, you have not dug deep enough. If you have reached darkness and there is nothing but profound silence, you are right where you need to be. Be attentive and real love will come for you. Love will guide you through swollen bouts of darkness; through hope's long draughts ...without a glimpse of daylight you will be carried to the Son.
Faith is like this.
Invest in love.