By His quiet He conclusively proved Himself
to be the true Lamb of God.
As such we salute Him this morning.
Be with us, Jesus,
and in the silence of our heart,
let us hear the voice of Thy love.
Morning & Evening ~ Charles Spurgeon
He was beaten, he was tortured,
but he didn’t say a word.
Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered
and like a sheep being sheared,
he took it all in silence.
Isaiah 53:7
(THE MESSAGE: The Bible in
Contemporary Language 2002)
If there’s any activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the imagination, I can’t think what it might be. In running, the mind flies with the body; the mysterious efflorescence of language seems to pulse in the brain, in rhythm with out feet and the swinging of our arms.
The Faith of a Writer by Joyce Carol Oates
We all love a good story, don’t we? Whether the story is true or make-believe, a well-contrived story, with well-developed characters, full of drama, heroes, and villains galore delight us whether we are young or old. Stories are essential for growing our imaginations and enlarging our compassion for others. Many if not most stories are designed and constructed to teach a life lesson…how to live happily or not. And I think the reason we enjoy a good story from time to time is because stories have the ability to instruct us without judging us; stories give us a safe platform to explore the world through the eyes and ears of others.
Whether these others are real or fictional it does not matter, because stories of every genre become the fodder for our own belief system. And then we must look at our own story, because we are authors too. Authors of our own lives, writing each chapter, each scene, every moment of every day. Whether we realize it or not, our life is our story that will be read by those in our world (our family, our co-workers, our friends and associates). What lessons are we teaching? What lessons are we learning? How much of our story is based on fiction? How much is based on reality? As our own biographers, we have the authority to write and re-write our story each and every day…for better or worse!
There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. Maya Angelou
You’re writing the story of your life one moment at a time.
(from The HeartMath Solution)
Who says, “I Love Test Day”? No one ever! For most students, pop quizzes, tests, or final exams usually bring on uncomfortable physical symptoms like sweaty palms and upset stomaches. Athletes often experience similar physical discomforts when they are tested…on race day! Before I started entering running races, I never understood why anyone who runs for fun or fitness would willingly put themselves through the anxiety of running a race. Why would anyone sign up for such distress and discomfort? Well, fast forward a year and I’ve since entered over a dozen running races, and now I think I get the answer to that question. Runners show up for races like students show up for exams–to prove what they have learned…inside and outside of the classroom. Is it possible to look forward to these ‘exam days’ without dread and fear? I believe so; but only if you and I have properly prepared for the test by spending quality time in training or study. How do we know if we are ready for exam day? I know I am ready to be tested when I have confidence…confidence in the quality of my training or my study time. This assurance is not a feeling I try to muster or hope for in order to fake myself out. I either know for certain that I am ready or not; if there is any doubt in my heart or head, then I most certainly know that I am not ready; my sweaty palms and upset stomach is evidence enough. To be tested on the race route, in the classroom, or in our everyday lives, creates something like a finish line for us. The finish line is the terminus of a training cycle or academic semester. It is the culmination of all the days and weeks we have spent absorbing and synthesizing knowledge, whether that knowledge is physical, psychological or spiritual. If we embrace our test days as opportunities to consolidate and prove our training, then we can face the finish line with a confident smile on our face and cheerful exuberance in our heart.
Definition: revolution (n.) a sudden, complete or marked change in something
Whether or not we like it, growth (physical, mental, social, spiritual) requires revolution; a change in direction or movement or thought. There can be no progress, no creative flow, no gains in health or fitness without change. It is notable too, that all of creation, both visible and invisible, is designed to thrive in the realm of change. The seasons and their regular permeations support the growth cycles of all living things in the seas and on the land. Our bodies are best nourished when we eat those foods that grow in season; a diet limited in variation is a diet destined to promote disease and ill health.
The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new. Socrates
In the realm of education, business, and fine arts, the finest programs mosaic curriculums across a spectrum of specialties and fields of concentration to promote students who are flexible in thought and process. A similar approach is used when designing a comprehensive exercise program. The best plans are those that integrate a mixture of activities that encourage the building of strength, cardio-respiratory endurance, flexibility, and balance into our physical bodies.
Loss is nothing else but change, and change is Nature’s delight. Marcus Aurelius
If change is so central to how the world turns, then why do we so resist it? Why do we insist on becoming set in our ways? If change is integral to growth, and growth is the essence of vitality, then surely we must revise our perspective on this inevitability or suffer stagnation and regression in every area of our life. If we have breath to breathe, then it’s not too late to adopt a positive mindset towards the changes we face in life.
If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
Wayne Dyer
Simple things like choosing a new genre in regards to the types of books, movies and activities in which we engage can prime and supercharge us for new areas of learning and creativity. One thing is for certain in life, that change visits us all with alarming regularity. While some may say that all change is not necessary to growth, I would rather submit that all change is our invitation to choose growth and even perhaps a small revolution!
Two days ago I wrote about how an early morning run triggered some mindful introspection when I jogged into the sun’s warming rays and how my absorbing the warmth of the sun transported me to another place… mentally…and how my thoughts spilt over in every direction, just like the rays of the sun. Today as I revisit that run it occurs to me that the positive energy I enjoyed from that ‘warming moment’ was the result of my decision to engage those uplifting thoughts and ideas and make them my own even for those few fleeting moments. While I was exercising my body, I was also exercising my mind. Even now when I re-connect with those thoughts and ideas, I am warmed, I am encouraged, I am challenged…to become the very best that I can be…in my body and in my mind. Today I read a blog by Dr. Caroline Leaf, a cognitive neuroscientist with a PhD in Communication Pathology who specializes in Neuropsychology. She says that “our brains are designed to reflect the mind.” To me this means that if our mind absorbs (receives, learns, assimilates, understands, or latches onto) ideas and thoughts, then we will eventually reflect (project, imitate, emulate, repeat) these thoughts upon our brains; thereafter our brains respond to our thoughts and transfer our thoughts into our bodies. So, if our brains reflect our mind, which is always changing, then our brain is also capable of change or growth, which in scientific terms is called neuroplasticity. And if our brains can change by our mere choosing of thoughts, then it seems that we can ‘change our lives for the better’ one thought at a time. The choice is ours and ours alone ~ we simply decide ~ or not which thoughts to think.
The early rising sun quickly warmed by back and legs as I jogged up the winding town site road. The black running tights I wore readily absorbed the sun’s rays as the welcoming heat transferred its energy into my legs; my pace quickened; and my thoughts turned upward in thankfulness.
I pondered the effect this absorbing heat produced as it collected in my body and in my mind. How it triggered a cascade of thoughts for me to play with as my feet moved in sync with my breath. What else can I absorb throughout the day to cause my body, my mind, such a delightful quickening, such awareness? Can what I absorb also be reflected? If so, what am I reflecting?
Isn’t a reflection a mirroring of what is on the other side? If I absorb helping benefits from the sun’s rays, is it possible for me to reflect those same benefits in my life onto the life of another? If that’s possible, then the quality of those things I absorb should be carefully chosen. Those things I listen to, those thoughts I think about, those things I do are the reflections of what I have absorbed over the course of one day or many days, are they not? Doesn’t a true reflection simply mirror its own image? What do you think?
Our life is what our thoughts make it. Marcus Aurelius
Happy Valentine’s Day! Enjoy your loved ones today…and give yourself a hug too! Whether or not we feel it or believe it, our Creator is LOVE, and LOVE made all things in LOVE and for LOVE. And since we have been created in LOVE, we fulfill our destiny and purpose each and every day when we love the ONE who created us and when we love the OTHERS placed within our lives. Be careful then, how you live and how you love. Is your love life authentic? Or are you loving with the ebb and flow of your emotions? Not sure? Then you might want to review the definition of TRUE LOVE as defined by the AUTHOR of LOVE.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language)
It’s nearly Valentine’s Day and everywhere we look we are reminded to actively engage our loved ones; whether we buy flowers or candies or cards to express our love, wouldn’t the world be a happier place if we lived ‘in-love’ every day of the year? Is that even possible? I think so…but we have to make loving others our primary intention for every day. Here are some wise words from other’s which can help us to better live our lives in LOVE:
John 3:16 For God So Loved the World That He Gave…
No matter what your idea of heaven is ~ heaven on earth is about love ~ the biggest, most powerful, all-encompassing love you can imagine.
Marci Shimoff from Love for No Reason
For true love is inexhaustible; the more you give, the more you have. And if you go to draw at the true fountainhead, the more water you draw, the more abundant is its flow. Antoine de Saint-Exupry, 20th Century French writer and aviator
Love only grows in the world when we all share love. Love only grows by giving, by being broken and given like bread. We all only get more of the lives we want by giving away bits of the lives and love we have. Ann Voskamp ~ The Way of Abundance
By its very design, the physical heart is made to give and to receive. It takes blood in from the body through one side and then pumps it out from the other, circulating it throughout the body. A healthy and open heart center does the same thing with love. It sends love out into the world and receives it in equal measure; it keeps love in circulation. Marci Shimoff in Love for No Reason
Where there is love there is life. ~ Mahatma Gandhi
This morning I was considering the fundamentals of strength training and how weight training plans are designed to build strength into our muscles and our physical body. Weight training jargon always uses ‘sets’ and ‘repetitions’ to describe how many times an exercise participant should lift, push or pull a given amount of weight to obtain the desired fitness outcome. In weight training, muscles can be trained for power, or strength or endurance. The amount of weight used and the number of sets and repetitions varies depending on the participant’s goal. For some unknown reason (maybe inspiration?) when I thought about how many sets and repetitions are required to build endurance in our muscles, I immediately thought about a question that St. Peter once asked Jesus: “How many times do I forgive my brother who has wronged me? Seven?” (Matthew 18:21-22). In weight training, seven times (or repetitions) is the range that a participant would use to build power in their muscles: fast, ballistic, scary big muscle power. In a sense, Peter was flexing his big, powerful ‘faith’ muscle by suggesting a forgiveness repetition of seven times. He knew it took a lot of strength to forgive the SAME person, for the same transgression, seven times in a row; but his forgiveness building goal was too short sighted. It was a short term goal that could not overcome a long term problem. Jesus wanted to teach Peter something about endurance, because that’s what a repetition range of seventy times seven will build! Those kinds of repetitions are designed to build stamina into our muscles, wherever those muscles are located, body or soul. Realize this: the weight required to build endurance is LIGHTER THAN the weight required to build strength or power. Forgiveness repetitions are meant to be light enough that you can forgive those who transgress against you many, many, many times throughout the days, weeks, and years of your life. Some heavy forgiveness repetitions are required in every life too, but overall, if we practice high repetitions we lay a foundation to build strength into our muscles as well. So the next time you flex and extend your muscles, think about how this translates into your relationships:
FLEXING = receiving forgiveness ~ EXTENDING = giving forgiveness
Think...Feel...Be....BodyWise! 