Tag: faith

Transcendent

On By Charis PsalloIn Uncategorized6 Comments
Day's End
Day’s End

Well here it is past midnight, again.

It’s time to let go of this day, but I don’t want to let go. I want to squeeze more out of it.

Hey, God! I still have questions! I don’t understand what your plans are in regards to this flood thing. My kid’s house has a big old “UNINHABITABLE” sign slapped on it now after 8 feet of sewage-contaminated river water swamped everything they worked so hard for and has left nothing but a mess and a huge mortgage. What now? This waiting, waiting, waiting is getting a little hard on the nerves, not just for them (and us) but for everyone in their town. I know you promised to never leave your children destitute or begging for bread, but I’m watching my grandkids having to let go of their beds, their bikes, their books, their clothes -everything that is familiar. I’m watching my son and daughter-in-law who are the hardest-working, most giving people I know, just standing by, unable to do any more work, feeling exhausted and discouraged with nothing left to give and no home to go home to.

This is hard Lord. I would appreciate some answers about now.

And as I try to figure out  how to help them -and can’t do it- I am reminded that God promises to give peace that passes understanding. God is not logical. Neither is he illogical. He is supra-logical, transcendent. He cares about our minds enough to protect them with his peace, but his peace requires a bit of letting go of our own right to understand.

Don’t worry over anything whatever; tell God every detail of your needs in earnest and thankful prayer, and the peace of God which transcends human understanding, will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6,7)

Elisabeth Elliot wrote, “Waiting on God requires the willingness to bear uncertainty, to carry within oneself the unanswered question, lifting the heart to God about it whenever it intrudes upon one’s thoughts.”

To tell you the truth, I would be rather disappointed in a God who is no smarter than I am.  The most intellectually wealthy folks on earth (and I’ve known a few) have trouble squeezing their brains through the eye of the needle as much as any rich man’s stuff-laden camel. Brains are not enough. In fact our heads tend to get stuck in narrow places or throw our balance off when they become too big. Unless we are willing to jettison not only some of our stuff but our need to comprehend the eternal repercussions of any event right now, or at least submit that need to the One who can see the whole big, B-I-G picture, there is no peace.

The peace that passes understanding leaves our understanding in the dust.

You have brought me through so many tough, tight places, Lord. I will remember and honour you by trusting you and going to bed now -in peace.

July Sunset
July Sunset

P.S. It will be interesting to see how you get us out of this one.

Always Something

On By Charis PsalloIn Flowers, Photography8 Comments

Delphinium There Is Always Something
Delphinium
There
Is
Always
Something

There is always something to be thankful for.

 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.

Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 

Then you will experience God’s peace,

which exceeds anything we can understand.

His peace will guard your hearts and minds

as you live in Christ Jesus.

(Philippians 4:6,7)

There is always something to be thankful for.

Steeples

On By Charis PsalloIn Mountains, Photography2 Comments
Steeples
Steeples

This mountain range is called The Steeples. I love the name. Steeples point to the transcendent and remind us to raise our eyes above the dailiness of life to something greater.

At least that’s what I understand the architectural metaphor to mean.

Alas, I must admit that like a lot of other people who have been given the opportunity to forgive some of the institutions operating under many of those towers, at times disappointment causes me to lower my head in embarrassment. In fact, I avoided them for a quite a while. Buildings may express aspirations, but it is Christ himself living in the heart of his followers that enlivens those expressions. Without love they are simply stones, wood, nails, and glass. Without love there is more joy found in a field of wild grass than in a group of other members of the body of Christ.

Without love the steeples silently point to thin air.

Lovers point to Love.

“So I [Jesus] give you a new command: Love each other deeply and fully. Remember the ways that I have loved you, and demonstrate your love for others in those same ways.  Everyone will know you as My followers if you demonstrate your love to others.” (John 13:34,35)

Without love, it’s all a gong show.

What if I speak in the most elegant languages of people or in the exotic languages of the heavenly messengers, but I live without love? Well then, anything I say is like the clanging of brass or a crashing cymbal.  What if I have the gift of prophecy, am blessed with knowledge and insight to all the mysteries, or what if my faith is strong enough to scoop a mountain from its bedrock, yet I live without love? If so, I am nothing.  I could give all that I have to feed the poor, I could surrender my body to be burned as a martyr, but if I do not live in love, I gain nothing by my selfless acts. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3 The Voice)

But, bless God, I have seen love starting to awaken in the big C Church (the one all believers are a part of and not just the folks who go to the building on the corner.) I have seen those who are willing to lay down their lives for others. I have seen less-than-perfect people get over themselves and rise to care for each other, to pray, to watch and wait, to give, to serve, to raise others up. I have seen, with my own eyes, folks who haven’t spoken to each other in years forgive and reconcile their differences. I have seen families torn apart by separation change and sacrifice for each other, encourage each other and see each other the way God sees them.

Only God could do this. This kind of love points to Him more than any building -or any mountain- ever could.

God is good.

Desert

On By Charis PsalloIn Photography5 Comments
Desert
Desert

“If you don’t die of thirst, there are blessings in the desert. You can be pulled into limitlessness, which we all yearn for, or you can do the beauty of minutiae, the scrimshaw of tiny and precise. The sky is your ocean, and the crystal silence will uplift you like great gospel music, or Neil Young.”

-Anne Lamott

 

 

 

 

Windows

On By Charis PsalloIn Man made7 Comments

“Memories are the key not to the past, but to the future.”

― Corrie ten Boom

Fort Steele, B.C.
Fort Steele, B.C.

 

So even to old age and gray hairs,

O God,

do not forsake me,

until I proclaim your might to another generation,

your power to all those to come.

(Psalm 71:18)

Multiplication

On By Charis PsalloIn Flowers, Uncategorized2 Comments
Multitude
Multitude of consolations

When my anxious thoughts multiply within me,

Your consolations delight my soul.

(Psalm 94: 19)

Consolation Prize
Blessings Multiply

In school we learned that in the physical realm for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

I wonder if, in the spiritual realm, for every anxiety there is an equal and opposite consolation available.

I wonder if there is, hidden in every adversity, an opportunity for greater blessing.

I wonder if, in His grace, God allows some losses in our lives knowing that His justice requires the one who comes to steal, kill, and destroy to pay back many times over what he took.

Now that’s multiplication.

Be still in the presence of the Lord,

and wait patiently for him to act…

 The wicked plot against the godly;

they snarl at them in defiance.

 But the Lord just laughs,

for he sees their day of judgment coming.

 (Psalm 37:7, 12,13)

Seek the Lord.

Seek the Lord.

Seek the Lord.

And wait.

This is going to be good!

Save

Save

Save

Pure Grace

On By Charis PsalloIn Fields, Mountains, Photography, Water3 Comments
Watering
Watering

I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him. (Romans 12:3  The Message)

Tam o'shanter Creek
Tam o’shanter Creek

From Within

On By Charis PsalloIn Photography, WaterLeave a comment
Flowing Down
Flowing Down

On the last day, the biggest day of the festival, Jesus stood again and spoke aloud.

Jesus: If any of you is thirsty, come to Me and drink.  If you believe in Me, the Hebrew Scriptures say that rivers of living water will flow from within you.

Jesus was referring to the realities of life in the Spirit made available to everyone who believes in Him…

(John 4:37-39a The Voice)

From Dawn to Dusk

On By Charis PsalloIn Photography, SkyLeave a comment

From my deck this evening:

See You Later
See You Later

Hallelujah!

You who serve God, praise God!

Just to speak his name is praise!

Just to remember God is a blessing—

now and tomorrow and always.

From east to west, from dawn to dusk,

keep lifting all your praises to God!

(Psalm 113:3  Msg)

In Peace I Will Both Lie Down and Sleep

On By Charis PsalloIn Photography, Water3 Comments
Dusk on Kootenay Lake
Dusk on Kootenay Lake

In peace I will both lie down and sleep,

for You, Lord, alone

make me dwell in safety and confident trust.

(Psalm 4:8)

It is vain for you to rise up early,

To retire late,

To eat the bread of painful labors;

For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.

(Psalm 127:2)