But the world is not at peace, and though it may sometimes be a little closeted and it's easy to ignore the world's woes I am equally loving reading the news at the moment. Somehow being more aware of the world's shortcomings makes you appreciate the joys you are blessed with all the more. It stops your view of what is peace and what is war becoming too fixed, your idea of beauty becoming too narrow and your definition of right becoming closeted.
The snow started this morning, it's flakes dancing in the breath of the wind and floating around our elevated window. It got heavier as the day progressed, finally dulling the earth to it's presence and starting to leave whispers of white that broke out like a carpet of daisies over the darkened concrete. It's the first snow of the winter, unseasonably late here but as it falls weakly across our vision it's posing little threat to our day-to-day-ness. There is a simplicity about life here that I am coming to adore, needs are complex but equally basic, and days meander as if the world can spin as fast as it wishes, we have no need for the measurement here. Somehow God always provides enough, even if the splurges we wish for are denied, and as long as we have things to keep our minds busy, bodies warm, and stomachs fed there really is little more to ask for. Perhaps this simplicity is overlooked as such a gift to us, and yet there are many who toil and stress about that which matters very little from this perspective. I believe there is a calmness that you find with people who have come to appreciate simplicity, and I feel myself dipping my toes into that most crystal clear pool and letting go of wants in exchange for peace. But the world is not at peace, and though it may sometimes be a little closeted and it's easy to ignore the world's woes I am equally loving reading the news at the moment. Somehow being more aware of the world's shortcomings makes you appreciate the joys you are blessed with all the more. It stops your view of what is peace and what is war becoming too fixed, your idea of beauty becoming too narrow and your definition of right becoming closeted. I watched a trailer for the harrowing documentary, 'it's a girl' yesterday. The woman, who could barely contain her laughter, as she told how she strangled eight of her children for being the wrong gender, chilled me and made my righteous anger want to burst. But then my heart broke for her, for those who would never tell for the guilt they felt, for the righteous anger, with its snap judgements, that would be felt when the film came to be shown, and mostly for how she would be painted as a demonic face in the fight for the world to hold to the same values. I couldn't start to even understand where she comes from, could never see it as justifiable, but somewhere deep inside me I see in her face the face of Christ, I hear in her words the whisper of the greatest deceiver of all, and I imagine the angels poised to fight for her when the word is given.
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Wanting recognition is a funny thing. We should work for the glory of a job well done, create for the beauty of the creation, strive for excellence for anything less would be a shortcoming of ourselves and a misuse of the gifts we have had bestowed upon us. But we want recognition, crave it as a basic need. The amount varies widely but even the saintly need a pat of the back occasionally. Many a bible passage is dedicated to the message of 'well done, good and faithful one, come receive your reward in the kingdom'. Recognition is also a form of sufficiency. Even the slave was rewarded with food and shelter, however merge that may have been. Copyright is one way people try and find and protect their recognition, watermarks and royalties are a way of making sure you are compensated for your effort and receive the deserved dues. But grace requires no recognition. If everyone rejected Jesus I doubt it would change a thing, for what he did was pure love, it asked for nothing in return. And so I'm left with a quandary, for as my other site expands I recognise that it's drain of effort and time gives me very little recognition, and I have no malice towards it, for I share freely. But that tiny part of me that still craves the pat on the back, that part is the thing that has lead me to place a donate button upon the screen. should it remain, will it even be noticed? I know not. So I'll continue to struggle with the question, 'when is recognition sufficiency, when is it pride?' |
The other siteWho is GfeefGfeef is the name that my writings have been under for some years. As far as I know it's unique to me. Originally from the UK, I now live in Serbia but continue to have a passion for childrens and youth ministry. Archives
October 2014
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