If only they knew...

I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves." 
--Harriet Tubman

I first heard that quote when I was a child. It gave me chills, and I felt something powerful begin to stir inside me. I had been awakened. 

As young as I was, I knew there was injustice in the world. It made me furious. There was fire in my bones and I didn't know what to do with it. Now I'm old enough to do something about it. I'm now holding a firehose, and it's filled with fire, and I'm determined to live in the most freedom possible, and to make sure others do, as well.

I recently moved houses. My new place came semi-furnished, and the process of exploring the cabinets and closest throughout the house was an adventure. There were unexpected finds, such as a baby stroller, (won't be needing that anytime soon...), two coffee grinders (oh, happy day!), and a cabinet full of old, ratty towels. As I slid my hand along the shelf above my sight-line, and said towels, I hit a book. I pulled it out, and it was a biography...of Harriet Tubman.

Thank you to whomever left it. I was just thinking that I need a summer read. It is a sign of a new season. I'm very much looking forward to seeing how reading it inspires me, and how that inspiration takes form...

Freedom and Liberty

There is a difference between being free and living in liberty.

(Two incredible men taught me about this: Steven De Silva, and Shane Mandl. Google them...they're awesome!) 

Freedom is having chains removed, or the cage unlocked; liberty is choosing to live in freedom, to leave the cage and never go back.

Freedom from eternal separation from God, sickness, torment, poverty, and so much more, was purchased for everyone through the blood of Jesus on the cross. We were released into fullness of life through His resurrection from the dead.

So the cage is open for all of us, but choosing to acknowledge the fact that, without Jesus, we are dead, spiritually, and slaves to our past, our desires, our addictions, our failures and the consequences for our wrong choices and the wrong choices of people who have hurt, abused or used us, is not something everyone chooses to do.

When we admit our need, and acknowledge that Jesus holds the keys, He unlocks the cage; He removes our shackles. (Revelation 1:17-18; Isaiah 53:1-6)

The horrifying thing is that so many remain in the cage. They remain trapped, victims to their past and their mindsets from their previous lives. The truly hilarious thing is that they blame their stuck-ness on the devil. 

Don't get me wrong, the dark side is very real, as is the fact that the devil hates everyone. But it's no longer God versus the devil; God is far more powerful, the Bible is clear that Jesus defeated the devil at Calvary, and has been the Lamb who was slain from the beginning of the world, so He knew the end of the story before the beginning, including Adam and Eve's choice to abdicate their authority to rule and reign on the earth to...the devil. 

So since Jesus has now unlocked your cage, and has paid the price for you to live in liberty, and has given you authority over the world, the flesh and the devil, (John 16:33; Romans 6, 7, and 8; Galatians 5), it's your choice to live in the cage with the door open, or to spread your wings and fly...or be a lion...a free lion...or whatever! It's time to leave the zoo!

Thoughts on studying sacred texts and...loving God, people and yourself...

This is what I started pondering yesterday, as I was thinking about the references I was making to the Bible in yesterday's post:

Sacred texts are often taken out of context. It's my pet peeve, whether it's the Bible, the Torah, the Quran, or the Bhagavad Gita. I'm a HUGE advocate of reading your own sacred text and devoting yourself to studying it as much as you are able. The point of continual study is that the mind takes time to assimilate information, but it also takes time for the head knowledge to make it's way to one's heart, and into their daily practices and belief systems.

I think this principle was, and is, best demonstrated by Rabbis, who study the original language and then text, to the point of memorization, and take the command to meditate on these things day and night, (look it up...it's all over the Old and New Testament...until it reached their heart and into their daily interaction and practice.

Hebrew scholars and Rabbis do this to their credit. The only downfall is that some, (not all), think they can earn righteousness and salvation through study, meditation and religious practice. That is truth in tension: In so doing, one should ask oneself if one is loving God with all one's heart, mind and strength, and loving one's neighbor as oneself. Jesus said He did not come to abolish the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them. Devotion can become misguided if it is self-centered, or for the purpose of self-justification, rather than relying on Christ for justification, salvation, righteousness, and wholeness.

That said, many Christians...and believe me, I was raised in the Church from before I was born...memorize huge portions of scripture, especially as children, for some sort of prize, and then stop there. I was mildly horrified the other day, as I sat in a bookstore cafe, listening to the discourse between two local pastors "studying" the Greek new testament. One was older, and obviously trying to teach, or "mentor" the other, but whose pompous attitude and semi-abusive tone almost made me simultaneously want to vomit and whack him over the head with his own Bible! (...if you haven't already noticed, I have a HUGE justice "button.") This man was "studying" to look smarter than someone else, instead of taking the sacred words of our Savior, the Living Word, and ingesting them through study from head, meditation of the heart, and assimilation into his soul.

What made it all the more distasteful to me is that he was "trying" to act fatherly! In no way was he reflecting the heart of the wonderful, Everlasting Father (Is. 9:6) whom he was studying...and teaching! (...and very obviously not through example!)

So. Basically, if you're relying on your study to give you an identity, make you look better than someone else, save yourself, or make yourself righteous, then stop. Just stop. Studying sacred texts for such reasons is prideful, pitiful, and pointless. As always, love is the most important factor. Jesus said we need to LOVE the Lord our God, (...not serve, study, or prove ourselves worthy of...), and to love our neighbor...as ourselves...

(Lev. 19:18; Luke 12:30-31)

Oh. Can you see the future posts coming on this one?!?!

Yes. You must love people...but you must love yourself first...

I will be writing on this soon...I can feel it...and it's part of my personal journey, so yes...future posts forthcoming...

Testimony time, and ten questions...

Today was a very, very good day. 

It started with an exciting meeting with new friends. I can't wait to share with you the fruits of what we discussed. (Watch this space??!!)

Later in the day, I met with more new friends, and heard from an old friend that somehow, a $900+ medical debt she'd been paying on monthly was somehow lost...as in there is no more record of it in the system. "Sorry for any inconvenience, ma'am, but we can't find it anywhere. I guess you don't have to pay on it anymore..."

 [GLORY HANDS! ***does happy dance for friend***] H A L L E L U J A H.

I felt a bit like doing a Q and A this evening. I chose the one from Inside The Actors Studio, though I know it comes from somewhere else. Allegedly, Proust is famous for answering these questions...at least that's what Google says. I think Siri's tired, otherwise I'd ask her...

So here are my answers. I'm curious-- what are yours? Comment below! 

P. S. I have a hard time choosing a single answer to most questions, so I'm limiting myself to 2 answers for each question... xoxo.

1. What is your favorite word?     Negotiable.

2. What is your least favorite word?    It's a derogatory curse word aimed at women.

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?  Very. Expensive. Perfume.  (...and hot weather!)

4. What turns you off?  Monotony and bad manners.

5. What is your favorite curse word?  Shit.

6. What sound or noise do you love?  Streams, small fountains, and the ocean...

7. What sound or noise do you hate?  My alarm.

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?  Aerial artist (circus); tv travel host/writer.

9. What profession would you not like to do?  Anything involving the DMV, or local and state government.

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly gates?  Since Heaven does exist, I hope I hear "Welcome home, daughter. Well done."

...this NEVER happens...!

That moment when you're in the coolest hipster coffee house, full of cute lumber-sexual boys with cute man buns (...like the kind in your hair...obviously!), and girls with perfectly penciled-gelled-highlighted brows...

...and your intestines decide to explode.

This NEVER happens...!

(...except in kindergarten, like five times...and you actually crapped your ever loving pants in public.)

Most of my worldly possessions of any worth (You know...the ones with the partially eaten forbidden fruit inlaid on some portion of their exterior...), are strewn about the table...and are all fully functioning at the same time...it's a great day.

...until suddenly.

So you casually re-cross your legs, thinking it must have been a false alarm.

...and then do it again, because it obviously wasn't, but blue-flannel boy in the corner has been looking at your..computer(?) repeatedly for the last half hour, and you're not about to ask him to watch your things for you...

...and then you're like...

...FROCK it...I'm goingto$HIPmypants...

So you casually stand, as if your brand-name athleisure shoes were actually Jimmy Choos, and glide, giving blueflannelboy, and Timberland-ad-barista-man your best runway face, to the infernal-ever-loving-washroom...ardently hoping to God, (...because in this moment, you're certainly glad there's One to hope in...), that. You. Make. It. In. Time.

(Addendum: The mission was a success. All ships made it successfully into appropriate maritime boundaries and limits.)