God kind of Love

Is it possible to say that because God is Love, and knows best how to Love, that "Love and Loving" belong to Him? As in, since it is so part of who He is, flowing through His nature and being, that the very action is His right? It is only through the LOVINGNESS of God that we are allowed to take part in this beautiful encounter . So in a sense, when we love people we are representing God. We embody God in the way we love people. 

When we have been loved right, it is easier to see God as a Loving Being. But when we have been loved wrong (which is not really love at all) it almost becomes inevitable for us not to blame God. It is no wonder that when we dilute or disgust love, it often causes us to turn away from God. Love is so interconnected to God, that even the perversion of love is unfortunately reflected back onto Him in our weak efforts to try and make sense of pain and redeem any wrong done to us or through us… the worst kind of evil is the dressed up in goodness and love kind. Manipulation is a mask that can only be worn in the dark, but the God kind of Love always supplies light and life…

If Loving is His, and I choose to extend love, then I must love like Him… right?

This can be done in the way I word things, the way I think about people, the way I look at people, the way I talk (or choose not to talk) about people, the way I smile at people, the way I treat people, the way I make people feel… Just as there is so much more to loving than simply saying the words or trying to look like we're doing the right love things, so is there more to God than we often realise or acknowledge… there is so much more to Him than we give Him credit for… 

If Love (the action) were a person what would you think about them and how would you respond to them? 

What if it is true, like really true not just kind of true, that God is in fact LOVE; And not just love in the way we're used to or think we know, but Love in its purest form, Love that we will never fully grasp or make clear sense of, Love from the source… Would that change the way you think about God? Even just a little? Why is it that the one thing we crave and desire most, when offered to us, is the hardest thing to truly accept and live inconsistently? 

ocean.droplets

When I look at the ocean, I see it as a timeline of Life. 

Either of an individual on their journey,

or of a community with vast arrays of seasoned lives.

The waves represent youth

It's where baby steps are taken and initial choices made

to play

to splash

to tip-toe in

They are unpredictable like teenage mood-swings

sometimes calm

other times engulfing

unsure and sure all at the same time

Funny how when it comes to the ocean, all its layers are considered beautiful and loved. 

What if this was more so for people?

As we sail into the distance,

there are no playful splashes or the shallow boundaries of the sand

it is the age of depth,

wisdom

mystery

danger

discovery

consistency

trust

responsibility

stillness and strength

maturity

The farther we go with the ocean, the more it overwhelms us.

Yet sheds perspective on the vastness of the work of God's hands.

Rather than staying standing on the shore looking out into the horizon and dreaming about what lies beyond,

I want to venture out and travel to the distance 

discovering the smallness (yet uniqueness) of me compared to the bigness of my God.

Trying to grasp all that I can from and about the Almighty.

Going where He's gone,

Following when He calls,

Always trusting, when I cannot see the land.

Isn't it safer to stay where the water hits the sand? 

Perhaps,

but the most peculiar sea-creatures aren't found there.

We can't have one without the other

The depth without the waves

The fun without the wisdom

it's a continual journey of discovery and change

Whilst bringing along the laughter

I like to think of the Ocean as being alive

always moving

always reflecting

contained by gazillions of tiny droplets,

unified,

projecting one thing,

the Ocean

One without the other, we cannot have

For there would be no ocean

or life to be shared

If the droplets represent individual lives,

Lets say The Ocean represents LOVE

Love as in,

Relationships

Friendships

Family

Love as in LIFE

Truth

Reality

Eternity

Love. Life. Truth.

One and the same

Droplets. Ocean

People. Life

waves. depths.

Love. God

God Loves People

Together it's the Ocean

Alone, it'll be an evaporated drop of water

This was random, unreliable, and all over the place… I know… and I feel I'm still in the "waves" season of life anyway, so I have no real idea what its like out there...but just remember one thing:

I'm pretty sure Life and Love involve Risk and Trust… 

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... :)

Dear Don

Dear Don (papa Addis),

Your leaving… it came too soon. But you left a legacy… your daughter. I know her, I love her and I am a better person because of her. And through her I loved you too. She told us many stories about you… about your ideas, businesses, guns, shoes, and her interesting conversations she'd had with you. Her love and care for you and her closeness to you was something I sought after. Don't you worry about her, she is in good hands. I so wish I could have met you on this side of time. Thank-you for always asking about her friends. Not every father cared like you did. Your life was not in vain, your life will never be forgotten. You made an imprint on the hearts of many, even those who never had the honour of really knowing you. Its people like you, who live lives like yours that are the true heroes in our world. Committed father and husband. Always loving. Placing your family before yourself. 

You are forever loved,

see you soon

Tamara (the Pakistani one) 

xxx