Tag: change

Coldhearted

On By Charis PsalloIn Winter6 Comments

Advent begins

Long lay the world, in sin and error pining…DSC_0166 snow field soccer goals

And know this: in the last days, times will be hard.  You see, the world will be filled with narcissistic, money-grubbing, pretentious, arrogant, and abusive people. They will rebel against their parents and will be ungrateful, unholy,  uncaring, coldhearted, accusing, without restraint, savage, and haters of anything good. Expect them to be treacherous, reckless, swollen with self-importance, and given to loving pleasure more than they love God.

Even though they may look or act like godly people, they’re not.

They deny His power.

I tell you: Stay away from the likes of these.

(2 Timothy 3:1-5)

Apathy is not peace.

Pleasure is not joy.

Control is not order.

Tolerance is not love.

Self-sufficiency is not sufficient.

I ask no other sunshine, than the sunshine of Your face, oh Lord. Oh come, oh come, Emmanuel!

Some Thorns Come With Roses

On By Charis PsalloIn Art3 Comments
Some Thorns Have Roses
Some Thorns Come With Roses

IMG_3088 red rose

The very quality of your life, whether you love it or hate it, is based upon how thankful you are toward God. It is one’s attitude that determines whether life unfolds into a place of blessedness or wretchedness. Indeed, looking at the same rose bush, some people complain that the roses have thorns while others rejoice that some thorns come with roses. It all depends on your perspective. -Francis Frangipane

Thanks for What?

On By Charis PsalloIn Uncategorized4 Comments

plants ice 046

I’ll be honest, winter has always been a tough time for me. It’s like I feel grief for the flowers and trees that drop their dying leaves and petals. It seems, especially on overcast days, that all the colour has been sucked out of the world. I tend to stay inside on days like this, trying not to be envious of places that know perpetual summer. I know the winter is an essential part of the ecosystem, and snow can be pretty, but my flowers are dead, and I am sad.

When I was a kid I was taught to recite the verse that says, “In everything gives thanks for this is the will of God concerning you.” They told me that every bad thing that happened was God’s will for me. For many years I tried to bear pain and shame because I thought this is the life God chose for me, this is my cross to bear. Frankly it left me feeling more like God’s victim than his beloved child.

There are religious systems in the world that teach that everything that happens is fate doled out by god or gods, or is the result of punishment earned by sins in a former life. Some go so far as to teach that trying to raise yourself out of poverty by getting a better education, for example, is wrong because it does not accept fate. How can we pray for ourselves, or for others, when we call illness and poverty and broken hearts “God’s will?” How can we risk change or compassion when it appears God himself lacks compassion?IMG_5835 winter flower 2

I have found that when something seems like an insurmountable obstacle, it is wise to back up and see the bigger picture. In this case I needed to back up and see the bigger context of the passage this verse came from. I looked it up in several translations. Many made it clearer that “this” referred to more than “everything.” The Phillips version:

Live together in peace, and our instruction to this end is to reprimand the unruly, encourage the timid, help the weak and be very patient with all men. Be sure that no one repays a bad turn by a bad turn; good should be your objective always, among yourselves and in the world at large. Be happy in your faith at all times. Never stop praying. Be thankful, whatever the circumstances may be. If you follow this advice you will be working out the will of God expressed to you in Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:13b-18)

So what is the will of God?

Live together in peace

Reprimand the unruly (patiently)

Encourage the timid

Help the weak

Be very patient with all people

Help each other not to return a bad turn for a bad turn

Make goodness your objective

Be happy in your faith

Never stop praying

Be thankful whatever your circumstance (there is always something to be thankful for)

So the will of God is not degenerative bone disease, or rebellious children, or financial devastation, but a way of life that brings about change from the inside out.

See the bigger picture. Back up and look at scripture in context. If some verses appear to contradict the character of God, and who he has revealed himself to be through Christ Jesus (who said “If you have seen me you have seen the Father,) then it is worth searching the scriptures for their setting. In this case it is inconsistent with the character of God to ask his beloved children to thank him for everything evil thing that happens to them. He says we can be thankful in every circumstance though.

There is something about being in Christ Jesus that gives us the strength to have a thankful attitude and look for hope in the middle of a mess, knowing God has a solution for every problem, and invites us to ask him for it.

Thankfulness is a mindfulness of the love and goodness of God, even when our circumstances are dismal, even when winter hides the dormant flowers.

Thankfulness allows us to walk by faith and not by sight. Thankfulness facilitates change; it reminds us that Jesus said he came to destroy the works of the devil, not glorify them.

day lilies pink rain drops flowers DSC_0094

Inarticulate

On By Charis PsalloIn Photography, Winter8 Comments

2 leaves snow DSC_0051If we rely on the Holy Spirit, we shall find that our prayers become more and more inarticulate; and when they are inarticulate, reverence grows deeper and deeper. -Oswald Chambers

See the Big Picture

On By Charis PsalloIn Black and white, Fields, Mountains, Photography, Sky, Uncategorized4 Comments

 

IMG_5692 Black Diamond hay mtnThere is something about this area on the Cowboy Trail in Southern Alberta that seems to catch my attention every time I drive through it. This photo was taken in the area between Longview and Black Diamond. So many times the sun burst through the clouds in a dramatic eye-catching display just as I approached Longview that one day I jokingly said to the Lord, “Are you saying something here?”  Immediately I got that “pay attention” feeling. Then it came to me -Longview -long view. Take the l-o-n-g view. See the big picture.

Sometimes we are so swamped in the dailiness of life it is difficult to see the big picture. Many of us, like so many high school and university students, still complain that we don’t see the point of learning a lesson that seems annoying and time consuming. “I want to be a film-maker. What good is algebra going to do me?”

When I was a child learning to play scales on the piano to the slave ship drumming of a metronome, I yelled at my mother that I saw no purpose to such a pointless exercise. I wanted to be a singer! I could see no possible application for this time-waster in my adult life. I knew even then I did not have the fine motor control it took to be a good pianist. Piano playing was not my gift. Too many accidental accidentals. It was utterly frustrating.

Eventually I became a singing teacher. I may have played a million scales and vocal exercises in my career. I never did develop good piano playing technique. I hired good accompanists for my students for exams and competitions, but in my studio I actually played the piano a lot more than piano teachers do.

Sometimes we go through lessons and testing that seems like a frustrating waste of time. I get the feeling the lesson I have been complaining about lately is a unit on perseverance and endurance. It’s not my favourite, but I hear the great teacher say, “Trust me. This will come in handy. I have a purpose in all this. Longview…long view…get it? See the big picture.”

 This is what the Lord says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies:

“I am the First and the Last;

there is no other God.

Who is like me?

Let him step forward and prove to you his power.

Let him do as I have done since ancient times

when I established a people and explained its future.

 Do not tremble; do not be afraid.

Did I not proclaim my purposes for you long ago?

You are my witnesses—is there any other God?

No! There is no other Rock—not one!”

(Isaiah 44:6-8 NLT)

Shaping the Future

On By Charis PsalloIn Mountains, Photography, Sky, Uncategorized4 Comments

 

3Mt. Baker form WildhorseJesus leads us into a place of radical grace where we are able to celebrate the hope of experiencing God’s glory.

And that’s not all. We also celebrate in seasons of suffering because we know that when we suffer we develop endurance,  which shapes our characters.

When our characters are refined, we learn what it means to hope and anticipate God’s goodness.

And hope will never fail to satisfy our deepest need because the Holy Spirit that was given to us has flooded our hearts with God’s love.

(Romans 5:2-5 The Voice)

Blameless with Great Joy

On By Charis PsalloIn Art, Flowers, Photography7 Comments

Posies 3 impasto

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling

and to present you blameless

before the presence of his glory with great joy, 

to the only God,

our Savior,

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

be glory,

majesty,

dominion,

and authority,

before all time and now and forever.

(Jude 1:24,25)

Love Lift Us Up

On By Charis PsalloIn Animals, Mountains, Photography, Water9 Comments

mt bernard osprey IMG_9382

If you looked at a map, and if there were prairie-style gridded roads crisscrossing British Columbia, you could see that Dutch Harbour on Kootenay Lake should be less than an hour’s drive from where we live.

But there are mountains in the way.

The drive actually takes several hours on a winding road favoured by motorcyclists, pokey trailer units and a few intimidated RV drivers from Manitoba looking for a place to turn around.

I wish it were closer. I love this place -the wind in the tall trees, the sound of the loons, the freshness of the cedar-scented air rushing down with the creek to the lake, the fish jumping in the early morning reflections of the glacier on the lake, the song my paddle sings…

I really shouldn’t complain, I know. In my grandparents’ day the trip could have taken weeks and would have provided enough raw material for the story-tellers to go on for months. Still, sometimes I wish I could just fly over these mountains, as beautiful as they are.

I hear promises spoken about the future, and they are wonderful, but sometimes the journey seems so counter-intuitive and there are so many things in the way. The road seems to take such a circuitous route that I wonder if I heard right. Like my grandchildren I want want to ask, “Are we there yet? Where is this place?”

I just want to get there, you know.

Today the old song, “Love Lift Us Up,” played in my head. I stopped to pay attention. When we spend time in God’s presence He is the one who lifts us up, who restores our youth like the eagle, who teaches us to soar over earth-bound things.  Hope is vision-led endurance. Without a vision the people perish. With it they keep moving forward, one step at a time.

Lord, show us your glory. Father, lift us up.

Love Lift Us Up

Who knows what tomorrow brings

In a world few hearts survive

All I know is the way I feel

When it’s real, I keep it alive

The road is long

There are mountains in our way

But we climb a step every day

Love lift us up where we belong

Where the eagles cry

On a mountain high

Love lift us up where we belong

Far from the world below

Up where the clear winds blow…

-Will Jennings, Jack Nitzsche, & Buffy Stainte-Marie

She Smiles at the Future

On By Charis PsalloIn Fields, Man made, Mountains, Uncategorized13 Comments

 

hayfield near bar u ranch

Strength and dignity are her clothing,

And she smiles at the future.

(Proverbs 31:25)

Can I be honest? For many years if I were to be asked who my least favourite Bible character was, it would have been that impossible “excellent wife” of Proverbs 31. She runs a perfect household, makes clothing for her family and half the town; she weaves her own bed linen, dabbles in real estate and farming and still has time to exercise and watch her husband collect accolades. It says she never let her lamp go out at night. Well, she’d have to stay up all night with a workload like that. At the time, when I was in a place where this scripture was used like a trudgeon by workaholic “ladies’ teachers” (the modern equivalent of Pinterest super-achievers) who said we could do it all if we were organized and disciplined enough, I was lucky if my kids’ socks matched and we could arrive anywhere within the same hour an event was scheduled to begin.

Finally one day, an older woman (with the teaching of kindness on her tongue) laughed at me when I went on a rant about the dreaded Proverbs 31 woman.

“She didn’t do it all in one day, dear! That was a life-time achievement award kind of speech. Relax. If God grants you health, life is not over when the kids go to college.”

Now that my children are grown I understand better. Those years with little ones and acting out teenagers seemed like they would always be my whole life. They were important years, and I beg young mothers to realize they go so fast and children can’t wait until you have time for them. They do come to an end (and I cried when they did).  You don’t have to accomplish your life’s work before you are 45. You don’t have to do everything on the same day, or even in the same decade! Leave something to look forward to. Relax once in a while. Take time to enjoy your life where it is right now. Be thankful for matched socks.

I have the time and freedom to pursue creative interests now. Instead of depression and exhaustion there is gladness because I am old enough to see how God delivered us from so many cliff-hanger episodes before. I can smile at the future.

And my light doesn’t go out at night -so I can find the bathroom.

IMG_5459 foot bridge leaves

IMG_5291 old walk

Captured by Surprise

On By Charis PsalloIn Photography, Winter6 Comments

IMG_5444 rain barrel leaves captured in ice

“The earth is art, the photographer is only a witness ”

― Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Earth from Above

The change of seasons is a vertical event in the mountains. We can watch the snow-line descend from the peaks, to the hills, to the valley. We can see it coming, yet we are somehow caught by surprise when ice and snow cover our own doorstep. The first snow that stays brings forth Facebook chatter like the queen has suddenly arrived unannounced. Skiers are thrilled, shovellers -not so much. (In these parts some folks complain bitterly about the cold and hazards of walking on ice. Others are giddy at the gleeful possibilities of ice fishing or skiing and being surrounded by pristine blue-white beauty.)

IMG_3666 Radium fresh snow

It amuses me that every year is the same; we can see it coming, but we are always caught off guard and need to dig boots and mitts and shovels out of their summer hiding places.

There are spiritual seasons too. We know there are changes in the air; we know there will be times for planting, and harvest, and times for rest. We can see cycles of learning and testing and play, and cycles of birth, growth and death ascending and descending the mountains around us. We need not be surprised, but we do need to be prepared.  The day adversity arrives, piled up like blizzard snow against the front door, is not the day to think about buying snow tires, or a shovel.

We need to seek the Lord in the good seasons of our lives as well as the tough times -because knowing that He loves us and holds our future in His hands is the main tool we have to have in an accessible place in our hearts to survive more difficult seasons. (He gives many others as well.) Those who understand that change is a constant can rejoice with every new thing, and when adversity descends like winter, they may even be able to strap on their skiis or grab their sleds and find the joy.

IMG_5546 snowy pond