Words, Windows or Walls?

Words, windows or walls? Today I have been thinking on how we speak to each other; it is so easy to hurt others without realizing... I suddenly remembered this poem from a book I read last year. It reminds me that to talk is always as having a conversation through a land line, there are filters on both sides of the line. Filters change the sound of our voice, or at least, how it sounds to the one who listens. I, sometimes, wish that we could hear what people really want to say with the words they pronounce. What do you say about yourself? (John 1, 22)

Words are windows, or they’re walls,
They sentence us, or set us free.
When I speak and when I hear,
Let the love light shine through me.
There are things I need to say,

Things that mean so much to me,
If my words don’t make me clear,
Will you help me to be free?
If I seemed to put you down,
If you felt I didn’t care,
Try to listen through my words
To the feelings that we share.

–By Ruth Bebermeyer
(Marshall Rosenberg Nonviolent Communications 2003)

John 1, 22 So they said to him, 'Who are you? We must take back an answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about yourself?'

Giving Thanks

These days I have made a point of looking back on my day and giving thanks for something. It is not always the first thought that comes to my mind but I have always found something. Then, by chance, I also found this poem in my USB… I had got it ages ago and forgotten about it. I hope you like it. It reminds me that nothing that happens to us is a waste. Everything can make us better people. Thanks also to the writer.

I give thanks for the hard times, for they made me strong.
I give thanks for the lean times, for they made a giver.
I give thanks for the loneliness; it taught me to be a friend.
I give thanks for the hunger that taught me to share.
I give thanks for the tears, that taught me to smile.
I am grateful to the darkness for it helped me find the light.
I give thanks for the storm and the pain and the fear
that made me a survivor.

I give thanks for the gift of words;
and as long as there is air to breathe and light to see, and lessons to learn,
to share the blessing, on this day and always, I will write.
Carmen Ruggero ©2007

Give a look to this passage from Romans, 8,28 We are well aware that God works with those who love him, those who have been called in accordance with his purpose, and turns everything to their good.

who are you not to be?

They always say that the greatest "achievement" of XXth century is to have convinced us of being no-one. This poem reminds me that God made us well, that when He saw that everything was good he was right. I hope you like it.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” (Marianne Williamson)

And this is the one who said it first...Genesis, 1, 27-31 God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them... God saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good

God Rested

I heard yesterday a priest joking about the fact that Church critics never seem to remember that "holidays" were God's invention. God rested. On the seventh day, after a week of creation, he rested. This idea seems to be following me these last days, maybe because I do not seem to have found the “seventh day” of my weeks.

I read the Bible, where God tells the Israelites to rest. In two lines it says what God does for resting: looks back on what he has done and he approves of it; he blesses it and He makes holy the day of looking back, enjoying and speaking well of his work.

I went to bed yesterday trying to remember what had happened during the day for which I could give thanks because it had been very good. I had been studying all day (got two exams this week) but lunch with the others was a moment of joking and laughing all the time. It was a great moment; after, I rested (and slept) much better. Thus, now I am even more convinced that God’s ways of doing things are much more effective than ours. He rests enjoying what he has done.

Genesis, 1:31-2:3 God saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good. ²He rested on the seventh day after all the work he had been doing. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on that day he rested after all his work of creating.

Simply, Pray

Today I have something different to show you. I received this in the morning. Big truths come in simple ways!

Sometimes we understand a message when it is simply illustrated…

...and you question God - 'why me?'.... always look at the bigger picture....

Thank God for the stuff that didn’t hit you!