Friday, April 27, 2012

Searching For Silence






We sit quietly.....
Listening for the silence.....
We search for that quiet place....
A place where the clutter of the world around us stops....
We long for a switch to turn off the noise.....

But the noise continues.....
The mind won't stop speeding from thought to thought....
Memories from the past and present continue running a muck, without any sign of stopping.....
We long to sit quietly and hear the silence....
We long to feel the embrace of warmth and solitude.....

Some search for their inner peace through mantras and meditation....
Some find their peace in prayer with their maker.....
Some try and try and never get to that the soothing place.....
Some just want it to stop....
Some long for that switch to turn off the noise.....

We just want to find some peace in the world.....
We want to find the silence....
We long to sit quietly in the shadows.....
We long to feel the release.....
We long for the serenity.....

But the world around us can be a formidable place....
Our troubles can be a turbulent plot......
Our road can be filled with thorns.....
Our mind works and works and works....
We long for that switch to turn off the noise.....

So we sit....
We wait....
We try to let go....
We try not to try.....
We search for the silence.....







Monday, April 23, 2012

People Got To Be Free







I've been visiting several profile pages lately and for some reason, a song from my past keeps popping into my head.

All the world over, so easy to see
People everywhere just wanna be free
Listen, please listen, that's the way it should be
Deep in the valley, people got to be free

I first heard this song years ago in a high school assembly, when a traveling Pop/Christian group came and sang for us.  It was supposed to be a pop culture assembly but the lead singer had a moment of sharing a message of inspiration and prayer, and then went into a rendition of this song, "People Got To Be Free" by the Rascals. I remember the principle at the time, getting a bit ticked, because of the spiritual aspect.

We see so many factions of life on the internet. Whether they are rich, poor or in between, whether they are red, yellow, black or white, whether they are Christian, Muslim, Atheist or other, whether they are gay, straight, married, single, living with each other or living alone.......they all want Freedom. We search for Freedom in a lot of different places but we all want the Freedom to be Me.


We want to be who we are, what we are, what we're not, what we want to be. Sometimes the world says no, our upbringing says no, our culture and environment says no, other peoples agenda says no, but we still want the freedom to live our life, our way.

Sometimes I think our search for Freedom is really a search for our place in this world, our feeling of self worth, our purpose. Sometimes our search is a way to tear down the barriers, the limitations, the prejudice of others. Sometimes we just want the world to be fair, to be just and kind.  But there will always be those who criticize, who tell us there is no place in school for prayer, who let their own grasp for wealth and power set guidelines that help them and not us. There well always be our circumstances and environment dictating how we live.

We are taught...........The Truth Shall Set You Free......

Some find their way in knowing that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and we find our Freedom in Him. Others search their entire lives for that Freedom.


So what am I trying to say.......
We all Live and Yearn and Hope for the Freedom to get the most out of Life......Our Life. Sometimes we look in the right places and sometimes in all the wrong places, but we continue to search. Sometimes we just have to look at The Truth For What It Is..........

And Just........ Live Life



and the Journey Continues.......







Tuesday, April 10, 2012

The Journey of Life.....




Life......

A balancing act, a process, a series of events, moments of action and reaction.......
Fulfillment, hope, acceptance, questions, answers.....
So many concepts that we use to describe our existence.

We tend to see the world as the glass, half full or half empty.

Some find their place in the world, a comfortable place, filled with love, joy,contentment, purpose. Sure the world throws it stones but they have the ability to let them ricochet off like stones skipped across a pond. Life for them is a good thing, a joyful time with friends and family, a time to fill their days with activities that surround and include everyone they love. They see the world as a place of wonder, living each day, each moment as a gift from God.

Some see the corruption, the immorality, the greed for power and money, the dying and the tired. They have to muster up all their strength, just to smile, to make it through the day. Life for them is a search, a quest, a question....is this all there is, is this all I am, is there something more. They search years for the TRUTH about life, never feeling comfortable in their own skin, their own set of circumstances, their own life. They feel there is a way out but can't seem to find it. They see the green grass over a tall, forbidding fence and know there is a better life waiting for them. They just don't know how to get there. They try to smooth out the edges between good and evil.  They try to let go of anger and find joy. They long for hope, for purpose, for fulfillment, but they leave empty handed, only finding darkness and pain and a sadness that consumes. They believe in God and His power to overcome all obstacles, but continue to ask why, how, when. They have faith but sometimes faith doesn't seem to be enough.

The Journey of life is filled with so much wonder and so much pain.  Finding that balance between the two is is a life long adventure. We search the world for answers, we look deep in our hearts, we look at our decisions, we look at providence.........We Balance........

But to really live this life.....sometimes we have to let go of that balance, we have to step out of the box. We have to let go of what is comfortable and nonthreatening and take a chance. We have to make an effort to change the direction of our lives. We have to let go of the complacency. We have to LIVE.....

The road of life will always have its bumps, it thorns, it questions, but we have to look past those obstacles and see the good.  We have to find hope and purpose, find joy, find peace, find LIFE. We have to make changes, in a world that seems to only change for the worse. We have to shine, in a world filled with darkness. We have to love, in a world full of hate and anger. We have to give, in a world that only takes.
We have to let go, of all the wrong and do our part to make it right.......We Have To Live.

The Journey of Life is no picnic, but we can choose to look at the flowers, instead of the ants. There's nothing easy about it, and being human, we will continue to have our struggles and flaws.  We can judge or praise, we can say a kind word instead of shouting with anger, we can compliment instead of criticize. We struggle and we fall, but we Can Get Back Up and Try Again. We can look deep in our Hearts and see what lives there....We Can Change. Is it easy?.....NO.....but then it wouldn't be called LIFE.

Words on a paper can't change our Journey of Life, can't change who we are, can't change our outlook on this world. They can't make us Find the Joy of Living.........but.....

WE CAN......
My God and I walk through the Fields Together......
WE CAN.....

We need to Live....We need to Love....We need to Laugh....We need to Dance
We need to Live the Life we wish the World Would Be.......

and the Journey Continues......