suicide

posted on postsecret this morning:

Dear Julie,

Thank you for sharing your inspiring story.

Like you, I have felt hopeless at times too. During those moments it’s important to remember that there is always someone, a family member, friend, or stranger on a phone line who cares and is willing to listen.

I find it so moving to hear from people like you who look back on the dark and painful times in their lives and are thankful that they did not kill themselves. However, in America, we do not often hear stories like yours. People rarely talk about suicide.

For every homicide committed in the US, two people kill themselves, but you will not see that truth reflected in national newspapers or on the local television news. Suicide is America’s Secret.

Julie, I am sure that your story has not just inspired me. I hope others, like you, will find the help that is waiting and share their stories too.

Be well,
-Frank

canada, part 4 – church

tonight was a fantastic evening of praise and fellowship. it’s always wonderful to travel thousands of miles and find there are people who God is touching and working through.

while most of the group engaged in visits today, I stayed at the building to help prepare for tonight’s service, making powerpoint presentations. my hope is that what was done was a blessing to all who were able to be there.

i was reminded of a song today and the words were particularly poignant:

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
‘til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand

than the man who tries to subdue himself…

No one undergoes a stronger struggle than the man who tries to subdue himself. This should be our chief employment: strive to overcome ourselves and gain such a mastery that we daily grow stronger and better.

Because many people spend more time and effort in becoming educated than in living properly, it happens that many, therefore, go astray and bear little or no fruit.

If we were as diligent in uprooting vices and planting virtues as we are in debating abstruse questions, there would not be so many evils or scandals among us nor such laxity in monastic communities. Certainly, when Judgment Day comes we shall not be asked what books we have read, but what deeds we have done; we shall not be asked how well we have debated, but how devoutly we have lived.

Thomas a Kempis

for i will forgive their wickedness…

“…and remember their sins no more…”

It’s hard for me to believe God remembers my sin no more. Perhaps it’s because I remember my sin so well, or because other people remember my shortcomings and view me in light of them. Maybe it’s because I have such a hard time forgiving others – let alone forgetting what they’ve done and saying that it never happened.

And when i sit with someone and am prepared to share with them all my failures and weakness – I squirm a little when they say tell me those things don’t matter – I feel uncomfortable with the idea of forgiveness, of pardon, of justification.

I have so much to learn about how God works. I can’t understand Him. And in those moments when i see a new picture of God, I feel afraid – afraid because I see a new picture of how far I have to go.

“No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
saying ‘Know the Lord!’,
because they will all know me.”

May I know and practice the depths of your forgiveness, O God.

my journey – part 35

Jesus spent a lot of time in boats.

Maybe that’s why I like them so much.

We journey across life, each in our own boat,
in an ocean of powerful forces we don’t understand.

Good sailors use the wind and the waves,
they don’t create them.

How often do I sit in my boat,

sails raised,

and blow with all my might,
hoping to move along.

at the national prayer breakfast, bono mentioned the advice he received from a wise man:

“Don’t ask God to bless what you’re doing,” he said, “rather jump on board with what God’s doing, because it’s already blessed.”

So often we look around us seeking God’s blessing in our lives for whatever little pet project we have right now, instead of looking around for what God is already doing, and becoming involved in that. So often I’m guilty of trying to make things work out on my own, instead of seeking God’s will and following His plan.

My hope is that each of us will look around us in our lives for the work of God around us, that we would all constantly jump on to what He is doing, and that in the process we would both be a blessing to others, and be blessed ourselves.

pet peeve of the day.

Not to complain, but this has definitely come up as an issue the past two weeks in church services i’ve attended: language usage.

Now I understand that no one speaks with perfect grammar all the time. I am certainly guilty of bad english usage as much as the next guy, but if you’re going to depart from your normal pattern of speech while praying just so that you can sound smarter or more formal, I would appreciate if you do it correctly.

With that in mind, I thought we might have a refresher course on what certain archaic words mean, and their usage:

1. Thy or Thine – Thy and Thine are possessive pronouns in the genitive case. Correct usages: Thy word, Thy chair, Thy heart, thy grace. Incorrect usages: Thy art, Thy bring us, Thy formed the world. Thy should be used in place of the more common word “your” – and let’s not get started on the proper usage of “your” as compared to “you’re”. ex. sentence: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

2. Thou and Thee– Thou and Thee are pronouns, thou being the nominative case and Thee being the objective, functioning as both the dative and accusative. For those of you who are counting, the nominative case marks the subject of a verb while the objective case functions as the target of the verb. Correct usage: “We beseech thee.” or “Thou art great among all Gods.” or “Thou hast provided …”