Our world has become a place where the shallow swim is much preferred over a life of substance, depth, true service. When did a message of power; provoking of buried emotion, thought, reflection within…and compassion for another, become less than the ultimate desire? To be e
xchanged for skating through effortlessly with no cesspools of accountability, raw self-reflection, or emotional integrity stirred? Seems the general population prefers to skate on the thin ice of topical life rather than see the veracity of depth within. We deem the best movies, books, and lives, those which provide a quick moment of bliss over those which provoke emotion, thought, and most important of all…a call within to change. To change for the better, to change us towards vulnerability with others in all honesty of what’s within. To change towards the stir within we are called to when a powerful testimony is shared; to then serve at the provoking of such emotion, to do something within our own selves to be better, to be more giving and loving…to then share the like with others.
We see the shallow swim as the one to win the award while the powerful messages are glossed over, covered and given labels such as “too intense, taking too long to process, causing pause…” in a world where the immediate supersedes veracity of character and integrity. When something takes time to process, we toss it aside in order to move on with our busy lives. Taking time to pause is somehow deemed a negative. How is anything encompassing of true meaning in such a world?
Even our Savior, Jesus Christ, took time every day to pause, to reflect, to listen.
The question: what are we afraid of? What is worse, living in a reality of no accountability, no responsibility, no depth of character, ethics, integrity, true service and therefore love? Or, processing through the raw truth of every part of who we are and what we have to offer? When we deny such, we deny the unity of the world that is ours for the receiving. We deny the very characteristics of what defines us as human, which makes us relatable to each other and bonds us together in love. When we replace substance and humility with momentary bliss and amplify the fleeting that merely makes us feel good for a moment, we all lose. We lose love, we lose service, we lose connection, we lose healing; we lose blessings that God is waiting to extend. We lose who we truly are, all of who we are, all of what we have to give and are called to receive.
The world then becomes gray while the brilliant colors that are available to each and all, are submerged underneath the thick cloud of what we believe is protection. The authentic life is missed and the depth of blessings is never known or met, extended or received. The unity we trade for avoidance of honest, raw emotion and truth, makes us empty shells at best and arrogant, prideful, uncaring possibilities of what could have been. We therefore, walk around with no true purpose or meaning…as a vapor of what we were created to be and to extend, for the advancement of His kingdom and for His glory…and ultimately, for our best.
His excellence that is within each that He created becomes a distance speck on our hearts that is covered over by thick darkness so we can avoid pain. At least we convince ourselves that not facing all of who we are, in the raw honestly of who we are, spares us from suffering. What futile and vast energy it takes to keep the very things that unite us all, in the dark so we can have a superficial smile and ‘feel good’. Do we really? Honestly?
Does the wood of a fire not sing when the match ignites it? How much more exquisite our song should we yield to our own pruning and vibrant growth to follow.
______________________________
www.elizabethchalker.org
www.helpelizabeth.net
We see the shallow swim as the one to win the award while the powerful messages are glossed over, covered and given labels such as “too intense, taking too long to process, causing pause…” in a world where the immediate supersedes veracity of character and integrity. When something takes time to process, we toss it aside in order to move on with our busy lives. Taking time to pause is somehow deemed a negative. How is anything encompassing of true meaning in such a world?
Even our Savior, Jesus Christ, took time every day to pause, to reflect, to listen.
The question: what are we afraid of? What is worse, living in a reality of no accountability, no responsibility, no depth of character, ethics, integrity, true service and therefore love? Or, processing through the raw truth of every part of who we are and what we have to offer? When we deny such, we deny the unity of the world that is ours for the receiving. We deny the very characteristics of what defines us as human, which makes us relatable to each other and bonds us together in love. When we replace substance and humility with momentary bliss and amplify the fleeting that merely makes us feel good for a moment, we all lose. We lose love, we lose service, we lose connection, we lose healing; we lose blessings that God is waiting to extend. We lose who we truly are, all of who we are, all of what we have to give and are called to receive.
The world then becomes gray while the brilliant colors that are available to each and all, are submerged underneath the thick cloud of what we believe is protection. The authentic life is missed and the depth of blessings is never known or met, extended or received. The unity we trade for avoidance of honest, raw emotion and truth, makes us empty shells at best and arrogant, prideful, uncaring possibilities of what could have been. We therefore, walk around with no true purpose or meaning…as a vapor of what we were created to be and to extend, for the advancement of His kingdom and for His glory…and ultimately, for our best.
His excellence that is within each that He created becomes a distance speck on our hearts that is covered over by thick darkness so we can avoid pain. At least we convince ourselves that not facing all of who we are, in the raw honestly of who we are, spares us from suffering. What futile and vast energy it takes to keep the very things that unite us all, in the dark so we can have a superficial smile and ‘feel good’. Do we really? Honestly?
Does the wood of a fire not sing when the match ignites it? How much more exquisite our song should we yield to our own pruning and vibrant growth to follow.
______________________________
www.elizabethchalker.org
www.helpelizabeth.net
@purplebu77erfly
