Human Imagination.....Playing It Grand! - 08/24/2010
Human imagination is such a grand gift from God! When I’m busy writing my novels, I’m privileged to exchange my actual circumstances for imagined ones, and sometimes that exchange can be a lovely vacation from difficulties. Certainly I hope I’m helping you, my readers, take a little vacation for an hour or two through my books. Additionally, I hope you return to your “real world” with a bit of wisdom you need, wisdom God has given you through the words I have strung together.
I’ll let you in on a little secret....after a long session of writing, sometimes I can’t totally pop back into my “real world.” Most of the time that’s just fine with me! Do you remember Anne Shirley in “Anne of Green Gables”? I thought of her immediately today when I left my writing and headed out to the woods for a few hours of wandering in God’s creation. Just like Anne when she first drove to Green Gables from the train station, I could not quite live in the “real world.” I could not leave my imagination behind. I was Playing It Grand!
I’ll show you what I mean. Surely this is Anne's "Lake of Shining Waters" and not plain old Barry's Pond.
And there's no doubt in my mind.....these two trees are kissing.
This must surely be the opening into a magical garden.
and on the other side you'll find lace-covered trees
Human imagination......another way of Playing It Grand!
Serving a Living Savior...how grand! - 08/16/2010
I awoke this morning with the lyrics of a favorite hymn playing over and over in my head. Perhaps you recognize them:
“I serve a living Savior; He’s in the world today. I know that He is living whatever men man say. I see His hand of mercy; I hear His voice of cheer. And every time I need Him, He’s always near.” If you know this grand song, you know the refrain: “He lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way. He lives! He lives! Salvation to impart. You ask me how I know He lives; He lives within my heart.”
How blessed I was to be raised by parents who walked with God and were in love with Jesus! They made it easy for me to find the Jesus who was living in my heart. Not all were so blessed. I have a friend who says he does not believe in God and others who say they don’t know whether God exists. My response is simple. Don’t look for God in the circumstances of your life. After all, you and other humans are creating those circumstances for the most part.
Instead, put your mind in a totally neutral state—absolutely no judgment yet made. Then go out into the natural world, get quiet and just look and listen. Stay awhile.
See the grandness all around you. It’s huge in scope and so meticulously crafted. Could this creation in front of you really just be an accident?
Look at one bird. Consider the enormous diversity of birds on this planet. Where does this grand creativity come from?
Look at your own hand. Is this grand functionality an accident?
There’s Someone bigger and smarter than you out there. And you know it. Will you ever understand God? Absolutely not. He’s too grand. Could you believe in a God you could understand? I couldn’t!
Playing It Grand! - 08/10/2010
God was definitely playing it grand when He created the Rosario Beach Park area.
When you first arrive, you are surrounded by towering firs and hemlocks reaching for heaven.
As you begin your walk, your feet are cushioned by a carpet made of centuries of evergreen needles. A woodsy scent swirls around you as tiny songbirds sing overhead.
Walk fifty yards more and hear the surf.
Another fifty yards and all the elements are brought together by the Artist of all creation and time.
Stress, worry, exhaustion evaporate.
You are in His presence........You are home.
Walk with Him a while. He loves you and wants your company.
Playing It Grand - 08/03/2010
“Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. . . .
We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.” (Nelson Mandela)
Why settle for a little lavender when there are fields of lavender close by?
And why decorate your cute little shop with a few flowers when you can turn the front into a wonderful garden?
And even provide a bench for visitors like blessed me to sit and enjoy God's incredible creativity?
These lavender farmers and this shop owner are definitely Playing It Grand!
How about you? How will you play It grand this week?
Playing It Grand! - 08/01/2010
Playing It Grand!
“Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. . . . We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.” (Nelson Mandela)
Every life is full of possibilities, and consequently we are presented with endless opportunities to choose. We are not only making the obvious external choices—what to do on any given day, what to wear, what to eat, etc—we are also making internal choices. It is those internal choices—what thoughts to allow in, what vision of ourselves and others to adopt, how we view our position in the universe, in time, in relation to our Creator, etc—that actually shape the quality of our day.
Mandela’s comments encourage us to see ourselves as powerful. Why? Because we are children of God. He says,“We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.” He is encouraging us not to settle for the least we can be or accomplish. He is asking us to pause and consider our origins. When we do that, we understand that we are not here on earth merely to further our own existence. We are all part of a large community called the human race.
Regardless of our faith basis, we know that the human race is important; it is the pinnacle of creation. As an individual member of that “pinnacle of creation,” it is vastly important that we make choices that create peace in us so that we can extend support to others. Mandela is right when he calls us to service of others, when he exhorts us not to play our lives small, because in the final analysis no life is small. Every choice we make creates a ripple effect in our society and thus impacts many people.
So I choose to play it grand. Won’t you join me?
Kay
