Tag Archives: thoughts

Thoughts from George Clooney Interview

  By Rachel | March 15, 2012 - 1:23 am | Random
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I saw this on FB today and wanted to share my thoughts (and hopefully hear yours). The quote below was spoken by George Clooney after a trip to Sudan where he saw senseless violence and ethnic cleansing-innocent people being killed.

Watch entire segment from Today Show where Clooney is interviewed by Ann Curry, click here.

“We are only successful as a human race by how we look out to the people who can’t look out for themselves.”

That was the main quote that resonated with me during the interview.

Except I would say, as Christians, we are called by God to defend the helpless, to speak in their defense, to make their voices heard.

Isaiah 1:16-17

16 Wash and make yourselves clean.
   Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
   stop doing wrong.
17 Learn to do right; seek justice.
   Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
   plead the case of the widow.

I think our passion for life should extend to the unborn- those who are in the womb.  They can’t look out for themselves.

They are wholly dependent upon the woman who carries them in her body.  And they are subjected to whatever choices she makes- regardless of whether she acts in a way to protect and honor their life- or destroy it.

Micah 6:8

8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
   And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
   and to walk humbly with your God.

God calls us to seek justice for the oppressed- to be their voice.  To speak for those who can’t defend themselves. Will you be a voice?

33/52 (explored)

Coming Home

  By Rachel | March 13, 2012 - 4:50 pm | Thoughts for the Day
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Heaven

What a blessing to spend the past few days surrounded by family.  As the day approached to travel for my Grandmother’s funeral, I felt a sense of apprehension.  It had been so long since I had been with my family, would it be the same?  Would time make for awkward interactions and disjointed conversations?

I felt the doubts starting to weigh on me a little, and the guilt that I didn’t try harder to be with them, to find time to travel- we are all busy with our children, jobs, and commitments in our home states.

Yet, as I met each one of my family members- I felt the time melt away to insignificance as we came together to celebrate the life of a woman of God we all knew- and were blessed to have shared this life with her.

We laughed, we cried, we told stories, we remembered.  I love the remembering- treasuring the times of the past- we are a forgetful people.  We need to remember.

We need to remember all that God has done.  How many times He has answered prayers.  His Faithfulness, His Love.  How easily we forget and can be filled with doubt.

Remembering can also heal us- or simply remind us that God has healed us so many times before.  He has shared our sorrow, held us in our grief, and given us the courage to embrace life once again- to not run away from pain or seek escape.

Today sorrow and grief are pressing me- I feel the weight in my chest, making it hard to breathe.  Emotions are just below the surface, churning, threatening to spill over at any moment.

But I am not running from the pain or sadness.  I feel the depth of loss, what I will miss, letting memories wash over me.  I know that all this will pass- and what will remain is a confident hope and peace.  My Grandmother suffers no longer, she is at peace with her Savior.  I will see her again.

Someday there will be another homecoming.  A friend of the family sang this song at Grandma’s Funeral- it is a favorite of mine- here are the words.

Finally Home

When engulfed by the terror of the tempestuous sea,
Unknown waves before you roll;
At the end of doubt and peril is eternity,
Though fear and conflict seize your soul.

But just think of stepping on shore-And finding it Heaven!
Of touching a hand-And finding it God’s!
Of breathing new air-And finding it celestial!
Of waking up in glory-And finding it home!

When surrounded by the blackness of the darkest night,
O how lonely death can be;
At the end of this long tunnel is a shining light,
For death is swallowed up in victory!

But just think of stepping on shore-And finding it Heaven!
Of touching a hand-And finding it God’s!
Of breathing new air-And finding it celestial!
Of waking up in glory-And finding it home!

 

 

 

Against You and You Alone Have I Sinned

  By Rachel | February 4, 2012 - 3:47 pm | Thoughts for the Day
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I still remember the first time I read Psalm 51 and empathized with the writer.  I felt so alone in my pain and anguish- the consequences of my poor decisions were weighing heavily upon me, and the guilt I felt was agonizing.  I didn’t know how to express what I felt, my counselor encouraged me to look at Psalms- so I did.  Wow.  If you are going through something, whether it be the highest of highs or the lowest of lows, or somewhere in between- there is a Psalm for you.

I had lived a good portion of my life thinking I was a good person.  I didn’t do any of the “really bad sins” anyway, so I think I felt pretty prideful about that at times.  This was a turning point for me, a time when I was brought low in humility before the Lord.  I recognized that I had consciously sinned- I had chosen to do what I wanted to do, directly opposing God and what His Word told me to do.

Psalm 51 helped me find words to express all the turmoil going on inside me.  It helped me to pray and find the courage to ask forgiveness and change my life- to stop continuing in what I knew was wrong and walk away.  Here are the words:

Psalm 51

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!

3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

I recognized on a whole new level my need for God- for His forgiveness and the sacrifice of His Son.  I was guilty, but He showed me mercy.  And I will never doubt my need for Him again- I realized in this season that life with God was much better than life without- I wanted His peace, His guidance, His strength- and I needed His perspective- because I was not satisfied with what the world had to offer.  The world left me feeling empty and alone- He is the only thing that fills the need that I have- whose love truly satisfies and frees me.  Great is Thy Faithfulness.

You Gotta Keep Them Separated

  By Rachel | February 4, 2012 - 1:45 pm | Thoughts for the Day
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Despite my little nod to The Offspring with the name to this post, the subject matter for today has little to do with their song- in fact, I don’t remember much of the lyrics.  I just felt that title aptly fits what has been on my mind today.

I am deeply disturbed by the political climate in our country- well, truthfully, I guess the climate in general bothers me-socially, economically, yeah, all of it.

Political-The fact that those who are supposed to represent the average American don’t really have a clue what’s important to us, and they don’t really care either.  For them, it is about pandering to groups who can make them money or secure them a position or hook them up with some kickbacks.  It doesn’t even matter what the majority of the American people want- the govt. just does whatever they want-even if it’s against our will.  We are treated like an ignorant child that doesn’t know what’s best and therefore needs someone much older and wiser to make decisions for us.

Social-People claim to be really passionate about an issue but when you follow the money, suddenly you are not so sure what their true motives are.

Economically- We now have a large number of people in our country who believe that if you have a lot of money then that automatically means that you need to share it with people who have less money- whether they “deserve” it or not- they are “entitled” to it.

Now, before you start making assumptions about my political leanings- let me say this- I believe this has been true of politicians and our presidents for decades- I am not blaming the current administration and I am not blaming the politicians.  Though, I am angry that their own greed supersedes doing the job that they were elected to perform.  And I believe we have been on a downward spiral concerning out economic and social climate as well- things are just more pronounced now- so more people are beginning to take notice.

I think there is a polarization that has begun among the American people.  It is becoming more pronounced due to a little thing called confirmation bias.

To see the full post on Wikipedia, click here.

Confirmation bias is basically focusing on information that confirms your own beliefs or favoring information that makes your side look right and the other side look wrong.  And of course, this effect worsens when the issues are emotionally charged, or people are very passionate concerning the issue, or they are foundational beliefs that a person holds.

Another interesting bias to note is belief perseverance, where we refuse to see the evidence that refutes our belief system and continue blindly following it (or the people we feel represent it) without recognizing that we are being lied to or manipulated.

How does one find the truth?  How do we handle our anger and frustration at others who refuse to see the truth that we believe and won’t come to “our side” or “the right side” of the issue?

For me personally, when I feel distressed by the current hate that people have for each other- when I see people coveting other people’s wealth, when I see friendships destroyed over political/social issues- I turn to God.

I test all that I hear against Scripture and pray that God will show me the truth.  These are some verses that have been helpful to me.

Ephesians 6:7-8

 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.

Or in other words, I am to do the work the Lord has for me whether it pleases the people around me or not, despite my circumstances- whether I am doing a job that I love and really want to do- or working in a very humble profession that receives little respect or notice.

Exodus 20:16-17 (This is the chapter where you can find the 10 Commandments)

16“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Wow, there’s a whole lot of that going on right now.  Lots of lying, and lots of envying what our neighbors have- their nice car, their big house, their vacations, etc.  And we lie to get ahead, to look better than someone else- well, just avoiding responsibility for our own actions and choices- and then laying the blame on someone else instead of accepting the consequences.

I am going to share something now, about my husband and I.  We sacrificed a lot financially when I quit working to stay home with our kids.  Our first house that we bought cost 60,000.  It was a very old house that needed a lot of work- it wasn’t in the best neighborhood, in fact, it was not even where we really wanted to live- but we couldn’t afford anything nicer.

We have many friends that live on double or triple our income.  It would be easy for us to envy them, to be jealous of their vacations (which we can’t afford), eating out at restaurants (which we rarely do), and nice cars and houses.  But I could go back to work.  I could work two jobs, my hubby could work two jobs, and we could have a really nice house and car and vacations- all that stuff.  But I would never see my children.  We made a choice.  We all make choices every day that have consequences.  And we have to live with how that affects us and the people around us- and it speaks to what we value.

This post is getting rather long- so I will conclude this discussion with a second post.

You Then Me

  By Rachel | February 3, 2012 - 7:44 pm | Thoughts for the Day
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While I was reading an entry from Andrew Murray’s devotional “Waiting on God,” Romans 12 popped into my mind.  This was the portion of the entry that I was reading:

“You worship with a certain congregation.  Possibly there is not the spiritual life or joy either in the preaching or in the fellowship that you could desire…There is so much error or wordliness, of seeking after human wisdom and culture, or trust in ordinances and observances, that you do not wonder that God hides His face.”

My family attends church together and we are members of a congregation.  We discovered a long time ago that no church is perfect, since the people who attend are just as sinful as we are and in need of God’s grace and forgiveness.  We could church-hop for the duration of our lives and never find a place where everything is just the way we want it.  And the fact that we even imagine that we could possibly find a church that does everything the way we want it to is a little ridiculous.  One might say looking for a church based on those parameters is selfish and arrogant…well, I digress.

What is the purpose of attending a church?  That’s what struck me, and brought up Romans 12 to my mind.

Verse 3:  For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

Verses 10-13: Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

There is so much that challenges me in this chapter- but most of all, I think about what I can do to serve my congregation- my brothers and sisters in Christ.  Honor them above myself- give them the benefit of the doubt- maybe they are just having a bad day and need prayer, maybe they didn’t sleep well…

Build each other up- encourage each other- pray for each other- listen to each other- don’t just wait for your turn to try to say something brilliant (I am guilty of this too)- LISTEN.  We need each other!

“Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought” = watch out for pride.  That ugly beast rears its head in my life far more often than I would like to admit.  And I know I care far too much about pleasing others.  I also know I am guilty of being harsh in my judgments of those who I think may not like me or have rejected me in some way (in my perception).

I want so desperately to truly love others in spite of how they may feel about me or whether or not they want to be my friend.  Maybe this is a shallow struggle that all of you out there have already mastered.  But I find myself convicted constantly when I recognize that my thoughts about others are unfair or judgmental- or I am gossiping to my husband all the while trying to tell myself I am not. And my harshest judgments are usually centered on fellow believers- people in my church or other Christians I know.  It makes me heart ache as I write this- yet I believe at times it is true.

Day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute- I pray that God will change my heart- that the Holy Spirit will convict me- and that I may rest in my identity in Christ and from that position seek to love my brothers and sisters in Christ- and all who I meet- with humility and grace.

“Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord, where I can go in and shut the door, and kneel to my Father in secret, and am at peace as in a deep sea of calmness, when all around and above is trouble.”
― Andrew Murray