June | 2022 | Gloryteller

M.L.K. Wisdom and A Prayer From Francis of Assisi

26 Jun 2022 2 Comments

(I wrote this piece a decade ago. Hatred has multiplied exponentially since then on many fronts, especially today, as we simply ask people to think about what constitutes murder, and the wrong in the shedding of innocent blood. Today, it has become fashionable for a faction of society to hate with a vengeance anyone who disagrees with their depraved ideology. I wish these people could understand . . . “don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God?” (James 4:4 ) When they violate their own “hate crime” laws, how should we respond to their insults, threats, violence, and terrorism? Dr. Martin Luther King, a leader whose principles most seem to have forgotten, had answers for all of us: )

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Like cockroaches coming out of the woodwork, an infestation of hatred is multiplying and invading contemporary society. I should say, it is appearing out of the darkness behind the woodwork of society.

Notice how shining a bright light on those disgusting insects sends them scurrying back into the darkness. That’s how it is when the pure, cleansing, light of love sends hate back to its dark source – the enemy of our souls who thrives in evil darkness. Hate is so destructive, yet so enticing. What a great tool for him who seeks to kill our souls and spirits.
How do we fight it?
Hate them back?
Fight darkness with darkness;
trade evil for evil?

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
~Dr. Martin Luther King

No, he is right,
We must end darkness,
But who has the light?
Who can take away the place
Where hate lives,
Where evil hides?
Who has the power,
Who has the light?
Only Jesus, and, well, the one in the mirror,
The one facing you!
Yes, you,
If you would be free,
Pray this prayer of the man from Assisi:

Dear God, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master,
Grant that I not so much seek to be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

~ Prayer of St Francis.
These are extremely difficult concepts, but these are extremely difficult times.
However, we are:
Born to eternal life through Emmanuel our Savior!
Take heart! The dark one cannot abide this Light.
Invoke His name! Jesus! Lamb of God! Almighty God With Us!
See?!
The evil one flees!

Image by Gloryteller

Straining To Reach Beauty

15 Jun 2022 Leave a comment

“We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words—to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it . . . At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door . . . We cannot mingle with the splendours we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in.” ~ C.S.Lewis

Isn’t he great?
I know what he means – I think.
But Lewis is right, it can hardly be put into words.
I want to be immersed in the beauty I enjoy with my senses.
I want to be baptized in it.
I want it to soak into me and heal the ache.
I want it to fill the voids of longing and loss.
I strain against my earthbound chains to reach it.
I want to revel in the pure joy of it.
I want to unite with it;
to be it.
Earthly beauty must be but a metaphor,
a poor representation,
of Heavenly beauty.
Did He not create it as a foretaste,
a tidbit,
a sampler of His own absolute beauty?
Ahh, to imagine how durably our spirits must have been created
to stand in His presence
and to bear the unutterable,
unfathomable,
power and glory,
and beauty,
emanating from The Father and from Christ Jesus!
With each new encounter with beauty,
I strive;
I wrench and heave at my chains.
Little by little,
link by link,
they weaken.

Image by Gloryteller

Then, Realization, God Spoke To Me

08 Jun 2022 11 Comments

Caught up in worldly troubles, I hadn’t been watching, I hadn’t been listening. My attention was not where it should have been. Everything has been going wrong, especially with my vehicles, and with my writing opportunities. In my frustration, I reached out for help. I was under serious attack!
Then one frustrating afternoon, the realization dawned on me that God had spoken to me that very morning. It wasn’t vocal. It wasn’t overt. It was through a very timely Scriptural reading which told me He would calm every storm if I but communicated my needs in prayer.
Next, he spoke by sending a close friend who guessed the exact-sized hole to drill in an essential auto part that had broken. The storm began to calm.
Then, when I was purchasing a part to fit the hole, He spoke to me about buying an obscure little part, having odd looking threads, that was hidden among others. It might be a possible backup part – it was an afterthought.
Soon, I was ready to tap threads into the formerly-mentioned hole, but the first part would not fit. The backup part might fit, I thought, but I didn’t have the proper tap. Oh, yes I did! It turned out that the cheap little tap-and-die set I bought a few days previous had a little die tucked away, almost hidden, in the corner of the case. That was perfect for the job! Amazing! God had spoken again . . .
And again, when I successfully performed, on the first try, a technique I’d never done before. The backup part, the little “afterthought” screwed in perfectly! The complex larger part was like new, restored and re-installed on the engine without a hitch, and works well. (Kind of like I was restored, He reminds me)
And again, when three friends came with tools, experienced hands, and good advice, to do the seemingly impossible to get my truck running.
They haven’t given up on the project, or me, to this day.
Oh yes, I mentioned my writing opportunities. Obviously, I am writing! I’m back! But not without fighting for it. Distractions, house problems, storms knocking out my internet for a whole day . . . He is calming those storms too, and I’m completing this post.
Dear reader, you might say “coincidence, all of it”, but I maintain my Father God is speaking to me. I’m certain, steadfast, firm, and I am “listening” now. Perceiving Him, discerning, watching, hearing, sensing Him near. And I am speaking back. It’s a conversation!
I believe that God is a personal God, not only in the sense that He is the ultimate “person“, but in that He longs for a personal relationship with each of us. Jesus’ earthly mission made that opportunity possible!
Personal relationships are of primary importance. We keep them alive by speaking to each other in all the various real and metaphorical ways. Sometimes the small things say volumes.
I believe God has a language of love tailored and tuned for our exclusive individual understanding.
Let God speak volumes to you!