Life, Liberty, and Superman Sheets...

 http://danieldenardo.blogspot.com/search/label/Christianity

"...as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possesing all things."

-2 Cor 6:10

The image is sparse, marked by the absence of excess.  The bed of an orphan in Jamaica.  Underneath is a small suitcase, containing this child's all, and on top is a single bed sheet, a Superman sheet, no less, betraying the profundity in the simplicity of the scene.

The photographer suggests paradoxically that this child is wealthy beyond words, not because of what he has, but because of Who he knows, because of Who knows him, and loves him, and because of the lives of the people surrounding him who personify this Love.  The intrinsic value of his life consisting in things not temporal, not easily found and not easily taken away. 

Unwarranted is the scaffolding of the superflous that holds up so many of our lives these days, our structures compromised and weakened for all the leaning we've done on shaky supports and surrogate strengths, excess at every level and the forgotten freedom of simplicity.

We observe with our Western eyes this child, this "less fortunate" one, a day in whose life has been valued at "the price of a cup of coffee", and our hearts fill with pity (what room there is left for pity)...

...but I wonder, as the message of the rickety bed with the singular suitcase and the Superman sheet seeps into my soul...

.........Who is the more pitiable?............

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"And THIS IS LIFE, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent."

-John 17:3

Table in the Wilderness

It's dry, It's dusty, this once lavish land has withdrawn its waters, and we are left, bewildered, parched, in need of a path where there seems to be no path, wandering, weary, worn......Jesus........we are left, we are lost, all the means that seemed so certain, all the ways that seemed so sure, gone, dissipated, dissolved...and we are left, destitute...depleted...drained of all life......

Then let Me be your Life.......Will you take hold of My hand now?  Now that all else has deserted you in this barren place?  Will you know the One Who does not change when all else has shifted like these sands beneath your feet?  Will you hear Me knocking now, and will you at last open to Me, now that there is silence, now that the din of competing deities have stranded you here?  Will you let me be Your Way where there seems to be no way?  In your frailty will you take hold now of My strength?  Will you let Me Love you now, now that all your fickle followers have gone and your lovers have left you loveless?  Will you draw from Me now that all other wells are dry?  Will you finally come to this Table?  My Love, will you finally come?

"Ho!  Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat!  Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.  Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy?  Listen diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.  Incline your ear, and come to Me.  Hear, and your soul shall revive; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you."  -Isaiah 55:1-3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKB9bGtr5rw

Another time around........

I guess you could say I was a bit of a religious gypsy back in the day.  I definitely got my feet wet where Faith was concerned...I'm one of those people who took the long way Home (is there any other way?), been there, done that, got the rosary, the yarmulke, the incense, what have you...And while I'm settled in a little more simplicity these days, there are a few little gems that I kept from my 'travels', one of which came to my attention this past week, as I remembered that it was the beginning of the Jewish New Year, Rosh H'Shanah, which began on Friday at Sundown, and, as one can never have too many new beginnings, do-overs, second, third, and fourth takes in life under their belt, I thought, "Why restrict myself to just one on January 1st?".  Don't know about you all, but I can make a lot of mistakes in the space of three hundred and sixty five days and when I found out there was this extra "Get-Outta-Jail-Free" card, just there for the taking, without having to wait till you got alllll the wayyyyy arounnnnnd the board to January 1st, you better know I jumped on it!

'Course, this means making a whole new list of New Years Resolutions...and there's the rub...I still haven't lost the ten pounds on my list from almost nine months ago, I seem to be as disorganized as ever, despite the annual vow to do better, and the quest to "be the person your dog thinks you are" has all but flown out the window (actually, I'm pretty sure my dog just thinks I'm the domestic help, so I'm giving myself that one, albeit on a technicality).  So how would any promises I make to myself now be any different than the ones I make on regular ol' New Years Day? 

I'm thinking since this is the Jewish New Year I'm celebrating, I might get a vicarious nod from the Man upstairs, a wee bit o' help from the angels above, Heaven putting it's shoulder to my little wheel of fortune and what not...

So I think I'll keep the weight loss one, the perpetual plan I have to lose ten pounds before I die, to have someone tell me, just once in my life, "Oh Honey, aren't you getting a little too thin?" (let it be noted herein that if you are the bearer of this benediction, I will, with gusto and without hesitation, kiss you right on the mouth).

Beyond that, I'm setting aside all other cliche commitments, and going for broke.  With the Power that Be behind me, I'm not wasting anymore time with paltry petitions and propositions.

Instead I'll ask for Chrysalis, for wings to fly, for freedom

I'll ask for fountains flowing deep

with laughter here to drown in

I'll ask for mountains, for mountains moved

I'll ask for loved ones' healing

I'll ask for wonders and mercies new

His faithfulness revealing

And Though brash and brazen it may be

I'll ask for one last measure

I'll ask His heart

I'll ask His all

I'll ask to be His treasure

Happy New Year, Everyone,

Good luck to us all this time around.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRQr_X-cG4Y&feature=related