Walking The Journey

Cloudy and dark skies, wonderfully crisp and cool days, windy – now that’s what I call napping weather. Sitting in my office, day dreaming out the window, thinking that it’s a good day to take a break. Funny how we physically and psychologically respond to weather, often in a subconscious manner. I suppose its all part of life’s rhythm. Isn’t it interesting that after God created the earth, all living creatures, and man, that he sat back, “saw all that He had made, and it was very good (Genesis 1:31).” God didn’t say, “Well, I guess it will do”, or, “wow, messed that one up”, or even, “not my best work, but hey, close enough”. No, He stepped back, admired His own great creation, and reflected on its very goodness. And in that creation was man and woman, in His image. A completely self sufficient creation by a completely powerful God. And to this day, nothing avoids His observation. He continues to know us and love us, as we continue to both please and disappoint the Father. And all...

When reflecting on growth, Goethe stated, "Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do." As I reflect on his statement, I realize that change in our lives can take place quickly, miraculously, but more often, change is a long process and can require considerable effort on our part. The reality is that change is a process that very rarely is complete or results in perfection. Many of us have relied on our own inner selves and will power to create change in our lives, to free ourselves from bad habits, from destructive addictions, from being self focused on our own lives and not on those who love us, from behaviors that harm ourselves and can destroy those we love. We somehow feel that in our flawed patterns of behaviors and faulty coping skills, we can "control" our way to change, or more accurately, we can "control" others to our way of change. I have discovered in my life, and in the lives of the wise that have walked befor...

Have you ever begun a week feeling like Monday should be Friday, or wishing it was still Sunday? Reflecting over the past weekend, full of family, late nights, separation, single parenting, endless driving, chores that never seem accomplished, funky weird dysfunction relationships (and those are the people you love), people to call, people to please, lists to complete the lists of things to do, running out of money, bills, stress, tension, emotional thinning (not to mention my hair), and on and on and on. And in my mind, a line in a Bangles song, “It's just another manic Monday”, begins to echo throughout. It’s not like we ask for these days to bless us with their presence, but they come anyway. And when they come, we can so often automatically fall into negative patterns of coping with life. All the while, as we begin to engage in faulty thinking and bad habits, the little voice that yells, “slow down, you can do something else, you don’t have to feel this way, you don’t have to...

That old saying about opinions surely applies to perceptions. You and I can visually see the same thing and have different perceptions. And this applies to what we hear, experience, and belief. I perceive the cold and beauty of winter as that of a child, with excitement and joy, whereas my friend might experience this as misery and confinement. And then, the cost of heating and the fear of freezing could be a completely different and drastic impression to others. In my opinion, I only know of one absolute. Most everything else is perception. It seems to me that we quickly, and oh so easily, fall into the belief that our perceptions are fact and in many cases, especially for those of us with higher degrees of control needs and rigidity, fail or refuse to see past what we feel. As I listen to people around me, in my interactions, I am aware of how perceptions interfere with the ability to truly hear and understand others. I heard a person once state, “They’re my feelings and so their...

I have come to a point in my life that when all things are considered, I tend to be a person who enjoys life. How can you not find joy and peace and meaning in the sights that fill your eyes, the noises of energy, the emotions and sensations of experience, from the Great Creator. What a waste of time to allow minutes, hours, and even days, of our lives fall to wayside in a lost and meaningful manner. Choosing joy over pain, love over misery, opportunity over negativity, optimism over pessimism, ought to be an easy task, for to say not would imply that one seeks pain and misery in life, choosing what is life over what stalls life. And yet, at the same time, external forces creep, or sometimes storm, into life, threatening to shake the most stable temperament and most solid of character. It is not just the catastrophic events; it’s often the minor, miniscule, the meaningless that will soon be forgotten. These events quake our foundation, our need for control, our desire to manage will,...

The winter comes and everything around us changes, or at least in our location. The season of summer moves into fall, and brings her transformations known. The colors from spring to summer now turn to fall, yellows, browns, reds, and then barren trees filling the skies. Bushes, flowers, shrubs, all thin out; some appear to die, hibernating through the upcoming winter, safe and unseen deep in mother earth’s arms. Life mimics the cycles and rhythms of nature. Birth, growth, maturity, death, and the ever continuation of the cycles. Death is so much more than physical, as I’ve witnessed the many forms of death in my journey, including the physical. The death of a sense of hope can lead a person down a lonely and sorrowful road. Those of us humans who suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD) experience a very real affect from these changes that others struggle to understand. Life is full of changes. How we learn to adapt and flow with these changes can impact our quality of life, a...

Years back, I was in a conversation with a friend, who happens to be a very talented musician and a very devoted youth pastor, about music and musicians. I was irritated, and I suppose somewhat (if not a whole lot) judgmental, concerning the believe systems of local musicians and their influence on youth. My friend made this comment, loosely quoted due to dying brain cells related to my memory, “In reality, I find that most musicians are spiritual. Their music comes from God but they are misguided in how they hear it”. In my most open and loving manner, I can remember saying something like, “That’s a load of crap - I mean, have you heard song lyrics lately?” A few months later I was driving home, flipped the radio on to a classic rock channel, and the harsh and distinct voice of Janis Joplin filled my ears with the pleasure of her voice. From the very moment I heard this talented, passionate, extreme woman sing, first blessed by her voice in the 70’s, I fell in love with Janis. My d...