The New
May Love undying amaze you
may the sun of Presence keep you warmly assured
may the dance of the Spirit sparkle in your being
may Heaven be in your hands
as you walk day by day.
love
Follow
Alexander Venter from South-Africa had us follow his chain of thought.
The century of ‘following’.
We all follow someone or something, especially the social media of twitter and Facebook. Instant contact around the world with the tap of a key or the glide of a finger.
And so many voices luring, begging, declaring, prodding, inviting…
Not to mention the choices! (Teacher-man and I shop at a smaller grocery store because the choice is limited and the reasonably priced products are of good quality.)
Then there is the guru, the hero, the star or the leader to follow.
Because we all ponder these important questions of ‘who am I?’, ‘why am I here?’ and ‘where am I going?’. When do I say yes and when do I say no.
We want to follow… And whatever we pursue, focus on, follow, we become.
We (the teacher-man and I) decided very long ago that we would follow the carpenter from Nazareth, called Jesus because he points to a Father that loves relentlessly. As we continue to live our everyday, not alone but in relationship with every-broken-one around us, we see him, receive his love and change our minds to the way he views life. We follow His ‘Facebook’ page closely, ‘twitter’ consistently. And so.very.slowly. change happens. From the inside out. And we begin to love as he loves, pointing other-broken-ones to the Father who loves relentlessly.
John 13:34 (NIV)
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
what if i were the only one
teacher-man is in south africa to support and encourage and help and sow seeds of hope.
and i’m at home to support and encourage and help and sow seeds of hope
and work…
between children, taking care of the farmyard, enjoying friends, keeping up with the work, keeping friends informed via e-mail, shedding excess weight, chores around the house, killing snails (yes, i do not like these slimy creatures chewing away on my precious plants) and… oh, why do we recount what we do everyday? battle to keep up with all the demands on our time and energy. and there’s only two dozen hours. all those interruptions!
i just don’t keep up!
maybe, just maybe joseph stalin had the solution: “when there’s a person, there’s a problem. when there’s no person, there’s no problem.” i just indulged into this idea… when there’s a person, there’s an interruption; when there’s no person, there’s no interruption. great!
but, truth is
no person, no pleasant surprise
no person, no unexpected bounty
no person, no help
no person, no encouragement
no person, no friend
no people, no sharing
no person, no connecting
no person, no fellowship
no person, no family
no person, no identity
no person, no inheritance
no person, no real sense of being
no person, no love
no person, no lesson to learn
no person, no story to tell
no person, no development
no person, no purpose in life.
so, i can choose to work (for whom and what?) without interruptions and be the.only.one.
teacher-man nailed it, as always: “by allowing others to love you enough through those interruptions, you’re allowed to love yourself just a little more.”
so, i choose the grace of interruptions to receive love and to give a little love.