The Making of a Community

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  • Breathe…

    Sprit. Wind. Breath. Soul.

    And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Gen 1:2

    In a recent study of Earth Science i learned that the winds that blow across the planet are what moves and divides the firmaments as well as influence the currents and storms that move the storms and oceans.

    And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, (rather interesting considering he later cursed the ground) and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

    I wish i could find it now that i want to pass it on… there was a video i saw recently that talks about the word Yahweh (the Jewish spelling, “Yhwh”, uses no vowels) is actually the representation of the sound of God’s breath. My connection is that when he breathed into us the breath of life, his breath, he breathed into us the same “Sprit” that moved across the face of the deep, the same “Wind” that separated the firmaments, the same “Breath” that gave us life, our “Soul”, the Holy Ghost and with each breath that we take we are to be returning praise to Him.

    At the time of the triumphal entry the High priests were rebuking Jesus to tell those shouting Hallelujah and praising him to tell them to stop. Instead he rebuked the leaders.

    I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out. Luke 19:40

    After his resurrection, Jesus appeared into a locked room among his disciples.

    ‘Peace to to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed of them, amd said to them, ‘Recieve the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any they are retained’. John 20:21 – 23

    He showed himself alive for 40 days before his ascension. He told them he would “baptize them with the Holy Ghost” soon and gave them their commission.

    …you shall receive power, after the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Acts 1:8

    Then then the day of Pentecost…

    …suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

    And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

    And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

    Acts 2:2 – 4

    The Spirt of God spoke through them just as His Spirt can and will speak through the rocks if we do not praise Him.

  • Faith

    Daily writing prompt
    What’s your favorite word?
    View all responses

    My mom would say “shit” is my favorite word. I know its my go to frustration word because it is usually the perfect definition of where i find myself too often. And, usually, deep in it.

    I would say my favorite word is “faith”. Every day, after every “shit storm”, there has to remain faith that there is another chance of things becoming different. Without it we would never have the hope in the future to pick ourselves up, dust off, and take the next step.

  • Bette Midler

    So many times you have been the words in my heart. Thank you.

  • Criticism…

    Daily writing prompt
    What personality trait in people raises a red flag with you?
    View all responses

    They say the thing that bothers you the most in others is the thing you struggle with but don’t see in yourself.

    My family have said some things that have made me aware of being critical. I never thought of it that way. I always thought i was picky or just wanted better of myself and those around me. Isn’t that where criticism starts? We judge something, anything and find it lacking.

    I’m insecure enough. No wonder the idea that another is looking that closely at me or anything and everything sets me off. I KNOW that i am lacking. I really don’t want it pointed out to me UNLESS it comes with ideas on how to improve. No one wants the problems in themself pointed out. We know better than anyone our flaws. I, personally, welcome solutions.

  • Today is the day…

    Do you have people in your life that have been there for years. Decades. No matter what, its all about them except when its a crisis and then, most of the time, they’re there for you in that moment. But in their day to day lives you wonder if you even enter their thoughts.

    How long do we wait? Are we waiting or “tolerating” their behavior while we wait for the change? Why are we waiting? How much time do they truly need? How long do we “coddle”?

    Jesus said, ” Today is the day of salvation.” Today. Not tomorrow or next week or decades from now. We have no promise of tomorrow.

    When he called the disciples he said, “follow me”. He didn’t give them time to think about it. Decide. Now or he walked away.

    So we’re back to those we “tolerate”. They’re lazy, slothful and self-centered. They always put you at the end of the choices; job, family, others, cats. God is not even on the list. Excuses. Maybes. Never commitment.

    How much more time and energy are we going to waste. Purge! Drop the baggage of all those you are dragging (yes, dragging!) along. They obviously don’t care for you. They’re not seeking God. The haven’t changed. They don’t want to change. Face the facts!

    No where did Jesus tell us to carry those not willing to walk. He told them, “pick up your cross and follow me.” There is an example of for carrying someone else cross but HE didn’t ask us to it, but we do need to be willing to carry someone else’ cross. But is that cross their sins? Their indifference? Their resistance to change? Jesus nailed our sins to the cross. The cross itself is not our sins. It is an alter.

    Something to think about.

  • How To Share An Egg by Bonny Reichert

    Bonny knew her father was a Holocaust survivor, and she knew he wanted her to write his story one day, but she couldn’t quite look that much pain and tragedy in the eye and get to writing. This book is her story, a woman who grew up under the shadow of her father’s experiences, but […]

    How To Share An Egg by Bonny Reichert

  • Shadows On The Ice: The 1972 Andes Disaster (Graphic Novel) by Bertocchini, Diette & Nino

    On the 13th October, 1972, a plane going from Uruguay to Chile carrying a rugby team crashed in the Andes, leaving the survivors to try to survive for weeks, unsure if anyone was or could come to rescue them. Intense cold, hunger, thirst and despair gripped the team, as they resorted to eating the dead […]

    Shadows On The Ice: The 1972 Andes Disaster (Graphic Novel) by Bertocchini, Diette & Nino

  • Seeking Martha

    Sisters

    Mary and Martha were sisters and, as all sisters are, with very different temperaments. While Martha was all busy in the background doing this and that, Mary appears to be doing nothing. Yet, Jesus said she had chosen the better part. The implication? It is better to sit at the feet of Jesus than to be bustling around, worried about all the little details. Or is that what he’s saying?

    While he never told her specifically to sit down, wasn’t God always telling us in scripture to, “Be still and know that i am God”? I say there is a time to sit still and a time to be bustling about. We need both temperaments.

    I personally am of the “sit and do nothing” temperament. I read, study, mull it all over, research and put it all together. In that process there are times i do all the background busy work. I need to find something mindless to do with my hands, everyday tasks, loading the dishwasher, backing bread, vacuuming. But i would much rather someone else do all that. I want to walk, wear out my body and force myself deeper into my head. I need to breath and hear the sounds all around of God talking to me as i put all the parts together.

    I need Martha. I will gladly sit and discuss all that is rambling in my head and by helping you to understand what i have discovered it helps me clarify it even further. Many times while talking to another things come out of my mouth that are so profound to me that i am amazed because i didn’t even know that i knew that information and i know it is God speaking through me.

    We need each other in whatever capacity we are able to walk, with whatever temperament we have, with all our different skills and communication levels. God is the creator of all the diversity that exists among us. We are each part of the body that has a function; a purpose. We many be sisters but we are ONE body in Christ.

  • Words

    The biggest part of communication is the words we use. Problem is, words come from everywhere. We think ahead of the “someday” conversation and edit it every time we hear, read or think something new with all those lovely new words. I’m learning the most important part to any conversation is the commitment to those words.

    If you’re afraid to talk because you think you’ll say something wrong at least write it down somewhere. You can go back and read it over again and again and edit but it would be saved. One day, even if you never speak those words, you will find that a story has unfolded; blossoming into something beautiful.

  • Identity

    Who am i really?

    Welcome to my life! I am taking the first steps in my blogging journey. Since the scariest step is the first one, i would say … I am on my way!

    As an artist i would say im not very good with conversation and that is really what blogging or writing of any sort is all about. Communication.

    I have some personal quirks that make my writing even more of a challenge. I have dyslexia. I don’t spell well or use “creative spelling,” hate contractions, punctuations and I have recently been diagnose as Adult ADHD and on the Autism spectrum. (This stuff wasn’t in our medical purview when i was growing up.) I go slowly and at a very irregular pace and I’m easily distracted. Did i miss anything? if i did it will become apparent immediately (spell check is helping already! All those little red squiggly lines!! so distracting.)