a friendly conversation...

A little while ago I had a conversation (via instant messaging) with a friend which went something like this...

Friend: (asking lots of questions which they already know the answers to)

Me: You get my updates don't you?

Friend: Yep

Me: Then you know most of what I'm thinking about already :)

Friend: (laugh) true, but not all :p

Me: (laugh) true

       I just typed trust instead of true by mistake - it's strange what our brain tells us to do sometimes

Friend: Indeed! Now I am going to ask you a question from that point!

       How is your faith and trust in God atm?

 

Now there are a couple of things I'd like to mention which come up in this conversation.

 

• Truth and trust must often go together - if you do not tell the truth, than why would someone trust you?
• It is good to have friends who know when you're not telling the whole story - sometimes we have a tendency to hide some things away from others, pretend that everything is normal when perhaps it is not. Having friends who know you and can tell when you're not saying everything (even if you are being truthful!) is helpful to keep you being honest not only with others but also with yourself.
• It is mportant to have people you can trust who aren't afraid to ask the questions everybody else avoids - that last question is one that many people will often avoid, instead talking about 'things'. There are also many other questions which people are just afraid to ask, and sometimes they need asking! Having someone whom you can trust, that you can bare your heart to if you need, who is not afraid to ask those questions, is... well... good, healthy, wonderful, (insert word here).
• Sometimes things which seem like mistakes, are not - I typed trust by mistake but as a result I was able to realise just how much I can trust my friend, and just how much of a privilege it is to be able to have such friendships, which in turn provided you with this blog to read. It ended up being the beginning of something else rather than a scratch or an error. Sometimes it's like this with small things like this comment, and  other times it's with bigger things like life circumstances, but no matter what it is everytime something like this turns around unexpectedly it puts a smile on my face, joy in my heart, and brings praise from my lips to my Father in Heaven - as all good things come from above.

 

God Bless

Circumstances

I'd like to take a moment this week to have a little think about circumstance. This may sound like a strange topic, or it may not even sound like a topic at all. So first of all, let me clear up a few things.

 

Circumstance is a noun which comes from Old French and Latin words meaning 'to stand around'. The way in which I am using the word belongs to the meaning 'a condition or fact attending an event and having some bearing on it; a determining or modifying factor'.

 

Now each of us find ourselves in a different circumstance, but it is not different peoples circumstances which I would like to talk about but rather choose a specific event or activity and how the same person may approach or view it differently depending on their current circumstance.

 

I was thinking about the stars tonight (can you believe that is how I came up with this topic?!) and how they look. Now the stars will look different depending on our location, visual capability, proximity to large amounts of light, cloud cover, and other atmospheric conditions but it is not these different circumstances which I would like to focus on.

 

What I find interesting is how our emotions, our current frame of mind, or thought process can affect the way in which we view things. Imagine if you will, a clear night sky, with a bright moon, and a handful of stars dotted across the dark expanse staring down at you. In some circumstances, say you have had a wonderful day, or perhaps you have not had such a great time and are looking for something good - a ray of hope, those stars will look sooo bright - they almost take your breath away. Where-as in other circumstances, maybe you are feeling quite lost in life, or are just wanting the sun and daylight to come back, those stars will look so insignificant and the sky so dark - you may even feel like hiding from it.

 

That's it for my contemplation on circumstance, but if you are the kind of person who feels like the sky is overwhealmingly dark - what would you say if I told you that one day there will be no more darkness like that, and because we know that this day is coming we do not need to hide from the darkness now?

 

Just a thought. Questions and comments welcome.

 

God Bless

strange logic

Childhood is a strange thing. We often remember very little of it but many will claim it as one of the most precious things they have. It also can have a very large influence on how we perceive or understand the world around us, and the person we become as we grow.

 

Anyway, I thought I would share one thing with you that has had an influence on me as I have grown and the way I sometimes approach different situations in life.

 

It is a song. My Mum used to sing this to me (or hum, or whistle) when I was young to help put me to sleep. Most of the time it was just the tune but still the words have stuck with me always. It is about a man who takes such joy in playing his music he chooses to do that before anything else. One day another man comes along and listens to him playing out the front of his house while it is raining and suggests that the man should fix his roof (as it's leaking - a lot) on a dry day, to which the man responds that it does not leak when it's dry. It's a strange type of logic, another way of thinking, I think that is what I liked about it.

 

Arkansas Traveler

 

Oh, once upon a time in Arkansas,

An old man sat in his little cabin door

And fiddled at a tune that he liked to hear,

A jolly old tune that he played by ear.

It was raining hard, but the fiddler didn't care,

He sawed away at the popular air,

Tho' his rooftree leaked like a waterfall,

That didn't seem to bother the man at all.

 

A traveler was riding by that day,

And stopped to hear him a-practicing away;

The cabin was a-float and his feet were wet,

But still the old man didn't seem to fret.

So the stranger said "Now the way it seems to me,

You'd better mend your roof," said he.

But the old man said as he played away,

"I couldn't mend it now, it's a rainy day."

 

The traveler replied, "That's all quite true,

But this, I think, is the thing to do;

Get busy on a day that is fair and bright,

Then patch the old roof till it's good and tight."

But the old man kept on a-playing at his reel,

And tapped the ground with his leathery heel.

"Get along," said he, "for you give me a pain;

My cabin never leaks when it doesn't rain."

 

 

God Bless