Passages...

Sometimes, God puts certains songs, passages, or quotations in my path continually to remind me of truth or encourage my steps. Here is a sampling of a few that have given me smiles and helped me through this semesters.

"Roam", B-52's

Fly the great big sky

See the great big sea

Kick through continents

Bustin' boundaries

"Big Country," Big Country

I'm not expecting to grow flowers in a desert

But I can live and breathe and see the sun in wintertime

"Compassion," Henri Nouwen - this is an excerpt from a book I've been reading in the West Bank - seriously one of my favorites of all time!

"In our time, so full of cruel persecution, it is understandable that we ask ourselves if we would be able to undergo the severe suffering we read and hear about. We wonder how to prepare ourselves for it and often concern ourselves with a future into which we project many horrors and tragedies. But if our primary concern were to listen carefully to God in our lives and to discern his will for us here and now, these worries would prove to be unjustified and distracting. Much of our inner restlessness, nervousness, and tension is connected with our worries about the unknown future. Sometimes we try to alleviate these worries by far-reaching plans. But our work for the future should not be based on anxiety, but on a vision of something worthwhile in the present. When our schemes for a new world are only an expression of our unhappiness with the present, we risk engaging in what Thomas Merton called "organized despair."

Obedience is listening to a voice that speaks to us today and allowing ourselves to feel the loving care of God in our present lives. Obedience is giving full attention to what the Father says to us in this very moment and responding lovingly to what we perceive, because God is our loving Father in whom nothing that is not love can be found. Apprehension, fear, and anxiety cannot sustain themselves in his presence. Fear always creates distance and divisions. But in the presence of God fear melts away. 'In love there can be no fear, but fear is driven out by perfect love' (1 John 4:18)

Thus, when we pay careful attention to the loving presence of God, the suffering to which we might be led will never darken our hearts or paralyze our movements. We will find that we will never be asked to suffer more than we can bear and never be tested beyond our strength. When we are led by love instead of driven by fear, we can enter the places of greatest darkness and pain and experience in a unique way the power of God's care. Jesus' final words to Peter are the strongest affirmation of this truth. After having asked Peter three times, 'Do you love me?' and after having been assured three times by Peter of his love, Jesus said, 'When you grow old you will stretch out your hands, and somebody else will put a belt around you and take you where you would rather not go' (John 21:18). Although Peter did not desire it, he was led to the cross as Jesus was. But because it was love and not fear that led him there, the cross was no longer a sign of defeat, but a sign of victory."

1 Thessalonans 1:3 - I studied 1 Thessalonians this semester

"...your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ."

- these words, written by Paul, describe the lives of the Thessalonians who he loves dearly and desires to encourage through this letter. This passage encouraged me especially at the beginning of the semester when I greatly needed perspective.