Purity

Once again, I am a cheater, but I've been thinking about purity and what God desires from us... here's a thought from George MacDonald to think about. Powerful words.

"It is the nature of God, so terribly pure that it destroys all that is not pure as fire, which demands like purity in our worship. He will have purity. It is not that the fire will burn us if we do not worship thus; but that the fire will burn us until we worship thus; yea, will go on burning within us after all that is foreign to it has yielded to its force, no longer with pain and consuming, but as the highest consciousness of life, the presence of God. When evil, which alone is consumable, shall have passed away in his fire from the dwellers in the immovable kingdom, the nature of man shall look the nature of God in the face, and his fear shall then be pure; for an eternal, that is a holy fear, must spring from a knowledge of the nature, not from a sense of the power. But that which cannot be consumed must be one within itself, a simple existence; therefore in such a soul the fear towards God will be one with the homeliest love. Yea, the fear of God will cause a man to flee, not from him, but from himself; not from him, but to him, the Father of himself, in terror lest he should do Him wrong or his neighbour wrong. And the first words which follow for the setting forth of that grace whereby we may serve God acceptably are these-"Let brotherly love continue." To love our brother is to worship the Consuming Fire."

Don't let your eyes... Part II

Since I wrote that last post, I have been bombarded by similar thoughts in the form of quotes. To share a few with you...
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This quote is one that's hit me before, but this rendition is thanks to my friend Kathryn: This is from Braveheart, when Robert the Bruce is talking to his father. His father is a man who does whatever to keep his power, wealth, status etc. Robert is struggling with whether he wants to fight with William Wallace or should sell out to keeping status, wealth etc.

Robert is heartbroken, because he has betrayed William in the last battle. Robert's father says "All men betray. All men lose heart."

Robert, with tears in his eyes and great strength in his words immediately shouts back to his father -

"I don't want to lose heart. I want to BELIEVE."

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The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.

–Eleanor Roosevelt

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God calls you to the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.

–Frederick Buechner

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The soul has greater need of the ideal than the real. It is by the real that we exist, it is by the ideal that we live.

–Victor Hugo

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Thank you, oh wise ones =). Maybe I'll have something original for you tomorrow.

Don't let your eyes...

Don't let your eyes become accustomed to the dark.

This is something Shane Claiborne quotes at the end of his book "Irresistible Revolution". It's originally from a song, but I'll have to get back to you w/ more info on that. It struck me though as I was reading, because I struggle sometimes with wondering if I'm an idealist in certain situations, if I have unrealistic expectations of what could be. If you know me sort of well, you might believe this is far from the truth... accountants tend to be realists, and I do take on that role at times mostly to balance out the company I'm with. But really, I have all sorts of ideas and expectations for what can be done. I half-joke sometimes when people ask me what I really want to do with my life (since I'm pretty sure accounting isn't it) that I want to evenly distribute the world's resources. But really, I do. Granted the role I can have on a large scale may be small, but the role I can have small-scale could be huge. Educating a community can go a long way, especially if it's done in a culturally-sensitive way.

But the point is... I think a lot about idealism, and how to find a balance between having a vision for what could be but still being content... contentment w/o complacency is a difficult thing. My recent conclusion is that it's ok to be idealistic, b/c God has bigger plans for this world than I could ever ask or imagine (Eph. 3:20). We may be living in the dark, but we don't have to let our eyes grow accustomed to it. It's ok... and good (!) to envision and work for a better world.

Another thing Shane says in his book is that if you are frustrated or discontent, consider that a blessing. You have been given vision, and your responsibility is to do something about that.

So I make it my goal to "not let my eyes become accustomed to the dark". This world is full of darkness, but God IS light, and brings light to the world. So we should not be content in the dark.

Only the beginning...

As an introductory entry, I feel I should first explain the title of this blog. This verse from Proverbs 2 is one of my favorites, and I see it as a lot of "ifs" to be turned into "whens", but He is the only One worthy to be searched after. The "then" is not so much a milemark to be reached, as a beautiful vision that is continually unfolding as we sit close to His heart and know Him more.

This blog is not to show progress as much as to show a journey, a I know it is only the beginning of that journey. I am thankful for the bits of insight gained as I search after Him, and hope that you, my friends, will share your insights with me. After all, according to Socrates, "An unexamined life is not worth living". Forgive me if my "insights" stray to thoughts, or quotes, or lyrics... many times I feel I gain much more from the words of others than from my own thoughts. But this is my attempt to share with you what touches me, challenges me, makes me grow, or sends me crawling back before the throne of the Almighty God.