Mosaic of Thoughts

So many thoughts travelling through my head, some I dwell on some I let pass, some so fast that I am unaware of their presence yet they tend to manoeuvre my very response. Some are memories, some are lies, some are random, some are doubts, some are lovely, some are dark, some are Godly, some are not. 

We live in two realities: the outside world and our own personal inside world, what others can see and hear, and what others are enigmatically oblivious to. We all know that ignorance does not mean non-existence. Our thoughts are real, sometimes more real and relevant to us than what's on the outside. Our inside drives our outside. But our outside can define our inside. 

At times I fear the inside for there is so much unknown, so much undiscovered depth, so much mystery, yet so many unending possibilities and capacities. 

It is frighteningly beautiful.

Maybe it's not that I fear the inside, but I fear the potential that I ought to embrace. 

As dreams make complete sense when they're in play, but are ridiculously random when we wake, so do thoughts make sense when they're just thoughts, yet often truth can be revealed when they're said. 

When I was merely thirteen, my teacher called me aside, sat me down and tried to explain to me that I was just too passive. He was big, I was little, He was powerful, I was intimidated, He was somewhat accurate, but I shut down. Sometimes what people tell us, though they may be right, can often cause us to act in exactly the way they are telling us we already are. For years I have lived passive, I listened to what others saw on the outside and began to believe on the inside. 

I know I am not alone in this.

It is crucial, in order to help others grow, to speak life, to speak positive, to speak into what is still a seed. Our words over others can be nourishment to enable them to flourish… or they can be destructive and unhelpful.

No one can grow healthy on their own, we need each other. Allowing the outside and inside to collide. It is evident that our thoughts often destroy us when they are kept secret, and our words to each other can fuel or distinguish our abilities. 

We need each other (and of course we need God). 

Un-need of others is not a sign of strength, that is more a reflection of stupidity and false pride. We need each other and we need to love one another… 

Only if we want to live healthy and purposeful lives that is. 

My personal challenge is to live aware of the realities of the outside and the inside, and to know when to listen and when to delete, when to reflect and when to speak: my mind a two-way filter. The trick is allowing God and His Word into both, unreservedly. But also being conscious of the fact that this is a life-long journey and there will, most assuredly, be bumps along the way...

P.S.

Classic wisdom from the movie Zoolander: 

What do you do when you fall off a horse?

(I'm sorry, I'm not a gymnast)

YOU GET BACK ON!

Created Capacity

You know, we can learn a thing or two from the animals. Have you ever just sat and watched birds fly freely through the sky and then randomly nose dive into the ocean? Have you ever watched dogs run around like mad as though it’s the best thing every time they’re out? They completely just let themselves go. There is something to envy about animals being completely free and expressive in how God created them. They don't compare, judge, and are not insecure. They just LIVE in who they are and live it fully and completely. A bird is completely a bird. A dog is completely a dog. Only humans are concerned with how they look, what people will think, about being right, not failing... But only humans have free will and the ability to choose...

There is freedom found in the acceptance and embrace of yourself as being you.

You are most beautiful, when you are your most beautiful you. And you are your most beautiful you when you are truly being YOU.

True freedom is not the permission to do what you want and where you want without consequence or responsibility. True freedom is seen and found in living completely and wholeheartedly within the capacity that God has created you to grow into.

A person is most free when they are comfortable and happy in their uniqueness and express it confidently.

We, as the Church, most beautifully reflect Christ when we live in our individuality but are together in our unity. As we are genuinely connected the world has a clearer image of who God is and what He is like. God is so vast, complex and grand. As His image bearers we all carry a little something of Him inside of us and this is best seen when we are in harmony but still true to who we are individually. Unity does not mean we need a million clones of the same type of person, but is rather expressed in the complete acceptance of one another through love.

One can best honour and worship God when they fully grasp who they are and live in their creative purpose, for Him. Birds seem to reflect and honour God in the way they fly like its the first time every-time with such joy and energy. They are living fully in their created capacity.

Imagine what we could accomplish on this earth if comparison, jealousy, condemnation, the judging eye, impatience, etc. were not barriers in our everyday relational lives?

Let us reflect God’s love, heart and character by being true to ourselves; not who we think we are or what others have said we are, but who we know we are because we know God’s design in us. And let us allow others to be true to their-selves even though it is different to you and I. There is always a deeper level than what you initially see, so let us look past the pretences, the misunderstandings, the moodiness, the ‘bad day’, the differences and accept that there is always an internal struggle that is unseen but is without a doubt felt internally. And remember that we are ALL on a journey of growth; our mistakes are often steps closer to the becoming of me.

We always have a choice. So let’s choose to live lives of continual growth. How boring would it be, to not even have come half way in life and know all there is to know. Growth is a choice and requires responsibility.     

If only it was as easy to live this way as it is to type it down... :)