Lend a Helping Hand

Philip Yancey is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. I am currently reading "In the Likeness of God" which is co-written by Dr. Paul Brand. Dr. Brand was a leading leprosy doctor, and he uses his tremendous insight into how the body works to explain how the Body of Christ (the church) should work. While every chapter has given me pause, there is one story in particular that has stuck with me.
It is the story of a Frenchman named Abbe Pierre. He was a Catholic friar assigned to work among the beggars after World War II. As help was slow in coming, and most people were not interested in the plight of the beggars, he set about showing them how to do their tasks better. Then he led them to build a warehouse and start a business. "Finally, Pierre inspired each beggar by giving him responsibility to help another beggar poorer than himself...After years of this work in Paris, there were no beggars left in that French city."

Can you imagine the impact in our own city if each person set out to help someone poorer than themselves?

But get this - Pierre came to see Dr. Brand at his leprosy hospital in India because he had a problem:

" 'I must find somebody for my beggars to help!' he declared and had begun searching in other places around the world. It was during one of those trips that he had come to Vellore. He concluded by describing his dilemma. 'If I don't find people worse off than my beggars, this movement could turn inward. They'll become a powerful, rich organization and the whole spiritual impact will be lost! They'll have no one to serve.' "

Lyrical Musings

I've been pondering the following lyric from the new Switchfoot album...

"The shadow proves the sunshine"

from the song of the same title.

---

Also thinking about the following...

Welcome to wherever you are
This is your life; you made it this far
Welcome, you got to believe
That right here, right now
You're exactly where you're supposed to be
Welcome to wherever you are

Be who you want to be
Be who you are
Everyone's a hero
Everyone's a star
When you want to give up and you heart's about to break
Remember that you're perfect; God makes no mistakes

Snowbirds

Animals

At the end of a long day, I like coming home to my cat. Sometimes animals are so easy to be with compared to people. There are no politics to deal with. You feed them and play with them, and they love you. Simple as that.

Bloom

Little Princess

Contemplating

I like listening to music in my car. It provides the perfect environment for really listening. There is nothing else you need to be doing, aside from driving of course. You can't really do this at home, where it's hard to justify sitting on the couch doing nothing but listening to music for 1/2 an hour.
Lately I've had a worship CD playing in my car, and there's one song that's been cycling through my head over and over. It's a remake of a classic, called The Wonderful Cross. (Which is a bit of an oxymoron to me - but that's a whole other line of thought.)
The verse that I've been contemplating is this:

Were the whole realm of nature mine
That were an offering far too small
Love so amazing, so divine
Demands my soul, my life, my all

I wish I could somehow insert the track here, so that you could hear it, because it's so much more powerful than just reading the words. But nevertheless, it's the words that have captured my thoughts...

Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all

In the Know

"For I know the plans I have for you..."

Of course God knows the plans He has for you, but don't you wish sometimes that you knew the plans as well? I feel as though I am coming to the point of knowing...

More on this in the days to come.

Lobelia

Timepiece

Running

lacing up my shoes

perfect fit

anticipation

warm sun and cool breeze

legs pumping

lungs working

possibilities

everything is possible

everything is positive

exertion

and accomplishment

Good, Not Safe

Throughout the summer, Pastor Brad has been doing a series in church called "Got Wisdom?" and it has been fantastic. I don't typically take notes of the whole sermon because the complete text is posted online on our church's website (www.lakeviewchurch.com). I do, however, write down thoughts that stand out to me, that I want to take home and digest. As I was rummaging through my purse this last week I found a crumpled up bulletin from a couple of weeks ago, and the thought I'd written down jumped out at me and has been floating around in my head ever since.

"God is not safe, but he is good."

The sermon was based on the fear of God being the beginning of wisdom, and one of Brad's points was why we should fear God. That being - because he is not safe. When you look around at all that God is doing and has done, safety does not seem to be His main priority. But because he is also good, we can trust Him implicitly.

Not safe...but good.

Reflection

urban landscape

Winston's

geranium

Web Preserved

(I didn't take the original photo, but merely modified it)

Goldenweb

(I didn't take the original photo, but merely modified it)

...And if You Swallow One?

So...West Nile hey? I've tried to avoid mosquito bites as much as possible, but can you get West Nile from swallowing a mosquito? Say, if you were walking down the street and you had the (rather gross) misfortune of having one fly into your mouth and down your throat?
Just wondering...

2nd Avenue Sidewalk Sale

Today was the first day of the 2nd Ave Sidewalk Sale. I took my lunch hour to peruse the goods displayed all along 2nd Avenue, basking in the sunshine while meandering from booth to booth. I love street fairs. The sun, the music, the aroma of street meat...and the deals.
I found The Neverending Story on VHS. This was one of my all-time favorite movies as a kid, and I'm looking forward to watching it again. I'm sure it will be completely different from what I remember, as most things are when you experience them again as an adult. But nevertheless, you can't go too wrong with a $5 movie.
Also, I found a store selling used books for $1-$5, so I picked up a few. One of them was bought (almost) purely for name's sake - The Frumious Bandersnatch. Now if that doesn't peak your interest...

And that is how I enjoyed my lunch hour today.