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"Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad." -Proverbs 12:25

"Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad." -Proverbs 12:25
Midnight Blue (1963): Jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell featuring Stanley Turrentine on tenor saxophone, Major Holley on double bass, Bill English on drums and Ray Barretto on conga. Midnight Blue is one of Burrell’s best-known works for Blue Note Records. In 2005, NPR included the album in its "Basic Jazz Library", describing it as "one of the great jazzy blues records".

He said, She said...

"You are not designed for everyone to like you - Wise Man Phil


FRAGILE: Sting, Yo Yo Ma, Dominic Miller & Chris Botti


Monday, February 28, 2011

Me and my Circle

Circle: a closed plane curve consisting of all points at a given distance from a point within it called the center: equation: x 2 + y 2 = r 2.




"Let architects sing of aesthetics that bring Rich clients in hordes to their knees; just give me a home, in a great circle dome where stresses and strains are at ease." 
-R. Buckminster Fuller

On March 5, 1963 two men, Arthur Melin and Richard Knerr, developed a product that was inspired by their observation of Australian children twirling a wooden hoop around their waste during gym class. The product that Melin and Knerr patented in 1963 was marketed by Wham-O earlier. 

The product, after it was patented, sold 25 million in the first four months on the market.

The product was a toy, and the toy was the "Hula Hoop".

 Get it girl...

The reason for my little history lesson on the hula hoop is because of a speaker I had the privilege to hear speak at our church yesterday. The speaker, Dan Seaborn, shared with us that while watching his wife hula hoop in their bedroom one evening (easy now... she was exercising... serious) he was reminded that all of us have our own personal circle we operate and exercise in every day. 

And while all of us have our own circle many of us like to observe others in "their" circle. We like to comment and opine on their situation and how we could fix them, and their problems, if only they would listen to us. 

Think spouses, kids and friends alike and you will get my drift.

We are all so ready to jump in another person's circle and fix them and their situation.

We as humans think everyone else has the problem and if they would let us counsel them that we could eliminate their issues. Many of us think this way while having more issues than Sports Illustrated... I include myself when I say many.

Our attention needs to be on our own faults, not on the faults of others.

With that being said, the only way we can identify, acknowledge, and change our faults is with the help of God.

James 1:5 states; "If you need wisdom- if you want to know what God wants you to do- ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent you asking."

We all need wisdom.

And we all can have it... all we have to do is ask.

We have to ask and believe.

James 1: 6 continues to say: "But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind." 

Isn't it funny that our children, when they are in their early elementary years, believe everything their teacher says and then when they get to junior high they think their teachers are idiots? The reason for this is because they begin to doubt what they are being taught and who is teaching it. I blame the parent for that, but that is a topic for another day.

But whether it is the parents or not what does begin to creep into our children's head is doubt. 

The point here is when we ask God for wisdom we have to believe that God is who he is and that his promises in the scripture are just that... they are his promises to us.

We cannot do it alone and God knows this. He will provide us with giving us his helper in the form of his holy spirit.

The Greek word for Holy Spirit is Parakletos (par-ak'-lay-tos) which literally means "one who consoles, one who intercedes on our behalf, a comforter or an advocate."  

God will actually provide for all who will invite him into their life a counselor, a comforter and an advocate.

All we have to do is ask. 

I will say it again... all we have to do is ask

The last statement is so simple, but so difficult for most of us to do. I ask myself why?

I find myself often fascinated by what, and who, we invite into our circles. Many of the inhabitants in our circle cause so much pain and misery. We often invite poor relationships, addictions, arrogance, ego, jealousy, work, material items and poor counselors to name few. And though I do prescribe to the theory that experience, expertise and authority, when teamed together, can move us closer to the truth and improve our reality, whatever that truth may be, the fact still remains the same for me that it is only through the guidance of God's almighty hand do we realize real truth in our lives. In the end, we invite everything else in why not invite God in.

When we invite God into our circle then, and only then, will we see the truth. 

Mercury Falling

In the 1996 song "I Was Brought to my Senses", penned and sang by Sting on his Mercury Falling album, Sting shares with us these words:
 

I walked out this morning
It was like a veil had been removed from before my eyes
For the first time I saw the work of heaven
In the line where the hills had been married to the sky
And all around me
Every blade of singing grass
Was calling out your name
And that our love would always last
And inside every turning leaf
Is the pattern of an older tree
The shape of our future
The shape of all our history
And out of the confusion
Where the river meets the sea
Came things I'd never seen
Things I'd never seen

When Sting wrote this song he was referring to a lover that had changed his perspective and changed the very way he looked at things. The prospect of a loving relationship with his lover gave his life clarity, purpose and meaning.

Love has a way of doing that to us.

But when I hear those words I think of how point on that description is when we invite God into hearts. A veil is truly removed from our eyes and for the first time we see things that we have never seen. 

We begin to see how things truly are.

Finally, it is my hope that the next time you see a kid playing with a hula hoop that you picture yourself standing with a circle around you. I hope you process for a moment your circle and what you currently have in it with you. And once you're reminded of the circle that encompasses you and your life, be mindful of God and invite him into your circle. Ask for his help, his protection, his peace, his favor and finally ask for his wisdom.

You will not be disappointed.



sbb  28.2.2011
1151




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