"Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock..."
Matthew 7:24
Conversely, those who hear Jesus' words and do not heed them will be like the squirrels in my tree, whose house has been pretty much destroyed by wind and weather at this point! It looked like such a sturdy shelter for them, too, when they built it last fall. I marveled at them, racing up and down the tree with stuff in their little mouths as they added to the nest. It was big and looked like it belonged in the high-rent district. But now, months later, there's not much left of it. The baby squirrels have grown and gone and probably are making nests in other trees. The parents have retired and have moved into little squirrel care centers, I guess. What does this teach us about our own shelters? Besides the fact that we are all just passing through? It teaches us the importance of a firm foundation. Jesus gives us a firm foundation in how to live our lives as his followers. We can either do it or not, but his words are out there for us to heed (Matthew 25:31-46). I don't think a firm foundation can be based on fear or threat of punishment. Doing something to avoid hell seems like a sandy foundation to me. But doing something for another out of love and respect for the other, who is also a child of God, seems more sturdy and reliable. Jesus taught us to love and serve each other and that is as firm a foundation as we can find. Love, heidi
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Wisdom from Joan...
From TV show, Joan of Arcadia:
Joan to the Little Girl God: "The way I felt about Iris, it was so ugly. Why would you put those feelings in me?"
Little Girl God to Joan: "Everyone has a part of themselves they don't like, Joan. You carry it around like a weight. The lucky ones realize that when it becomes too heavy you can choose to set it down. That's when you can see things the way they really are."
For those who aren't familiar with the TV show Joan of Arcadia, it was on in the early 2000's and became a voice of wisdom for me when I was going through a hard time. Joan was a teenage girl, struggling to fit into a new high school and God would appear to her and make little suggestions for her. She only knew the person was really God when God would say her name. In this episode, Joan was jealous of a new girl, Iris. She said snarky things about Iris and surprised herself how icky she could be when it came to Iris. Through the episode, she got to know Iris a bit more and found how pained and difficult Iris' life had been. She saw Iris how she really was, and it brought her up short in how she felt. Wouldn't it be great if we could chat with God when things bug us? And God would give us great advice like this? There are times I surprise myself how ugly I can feel about things. Why do I feel so icky? Thankfully, I can pop in a DVD and there is the Little Girl God saying, "You carry it around like a weight...when it becomes too heavy you can choose to set it down." Good advice...Love, heidi
(If anyone is interested in watching Joan of Arcadia, the two seasons are available on DVD from Amazon)
Joan to the Little Girl God: "The way I felt about Iris, it was so ugly. Why would you put those feelings in me?"
Little Girl God to Joan: "Everyone has a part of themselves they don't like, Joan. You carry it around like a weight. The lucky ones realize that when it becomes too heavy you can choose to set it down. That's when you can see things the way they really are."
For those who aren't familiar with the TV show Joan of Arcadia, it was on in the early 2000's and became a voice of wisdom for me when I was going through a hard time. Joan was a teenage girl, struggling to fit into a new high school and God would appear to her and make little suggestions for her. She only knew the person was really God when God would say her name. In this episode, Joan was jealous of a new girl, Iris. She said snarky things about Iris and surprised herself how icky she could be when it came to Iris. Through the episode, she got to know Iris a bit more and found how pained and difficult Iris' life had been. She saw Iris how she really was, and it brought her up short in how she felt. Wouldn't it be great if we could chat with God when things bug us? And God would give us great advice like this? There are times I surprise myself how ugly I can feel about things. Why do I feel so icky? Thankfully, I can pop in a DVD and there is the Little Girl God saying, "You carry it around like a weight...when it becomes too heavy you can choose to set it down." Good advice...Love, heidi
(If anyone is interested in watching Joan of Arcadia, the two seasons are available on DVD from Amazon)
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