Life As I Seize It

When bad things happen to us, our first reaction is "why me?" When good things happen to others, often, in our flesh, our initial reaction is "why not me?" Oh, we are happy for the other person, for their good fortune, but inside, in that secret place, we think to ourselves: "Why not me? After all, I'm a good person, aren't I?  I mean, Why not me ?" It's a wail, a plea to 'the universe' because of the 'unfairness of it all'. We might even tell ourselves, I'm a  much  better person that he (or she). Why not me? In our humanness, we want the good, but not the bad. It's only natural.  Who wants to just "get by" when the alternative is wealth?  We see wealthy people who win the lottery, and say, "You have to be kidding!" Someone who didn't need "it" won the big payout, and we ask . . . why not me ?  Why can't we hit the jackpot or be the surprised heir of some distant relative...

Somewhere over the course of my lifetime it dawned on me that life is a journey. I am heading to a destination, drawing closer and closer every day.  Back in the '60s someone started singing about stopping and smelling the flowers along the way. I am totally loathe to admit that I remember the '60s, but I was a very sad and quiet little child who soaked in everything I heard or saw like a sponge . . . keeping it inside until just the right time.  I have a ton of useless information stashed in my brain, and some good stuff too! I can still vividly remember things from when I was a tot in my high chair . . . but I digress . . . as usual . . . Okay, stop and smell the flowers.  Good advice.  Take time to enjoy life along the journey, and realize that it is during the ordinaries of every day that many of life's most meaningful moments - our most memorable moments - the ones we talk about years later as we stand around eating potato salad at a funeral - occur during t...

I had this written back Thanksgiving and am now just getting around to posting it.  I know that the purpose of a blog is to blog and then post . . . obviously I had to amend a paragraph or two . . . I have had a lot on my mind lately . . . other than the change in latitude . . . Every day, periodically through the day I have begun unconsciously doing a spiritual check-up, and have been asking myself: When people see me, do they see Christ?  Do I reflect Him?  Am I giving the non-believer, the unsure, those seeking something more from life, a glimpse of Christ?  Over the past months I have been spending more time with the Lord and less time with the distractions of the world.  I am in the world, yet somehow I feel as though I am detached from it, especially from things that steal my inner peace and time with God.  I have an incredible hunger for more of the Word that seems insatiable. It's a thirst I cannot seem to quench. God has put it on my heart ...