reading list 1: the good and beautiful god

today i will start reading james bryan smith's "the good and beautiful God" - i saw this during my last visit in OMF and the book just called out to me.

i've always wanted to develop and grow a stronger, closer and more intimate relationship with God so hopefully, in getting to know Him more... i will attain that and in the process, also have a deeper understanding of who i am and what my purpose in this world is.

***

i was watching the news earlier and i couldn't help but be affected by the tragedy that has befallen our brothers and sisters in japan. numerous lives have been lost, while many others have been changed in ways that none of us could ever explain nor give justice to.

tragic. unfair. crazy. we can call and curse this natural disaster for the destruction it has brought. we look up at the heavens and ask "why? how could this happen? where's God in all of these?" - i don't think we can really blame ourselves for such feelings BUT if we look closer, we can see that it is in trying times that God is able to work His glory... it is when He draws out His plans for His people and gives them the initiative / push to return to Him and live out His words.

going back to the news report, it will be good to somewhat change our perspectives a bit. see the lesson and the inherent good in the situation. after all, we hear about heroic acts of normal individuals. we see and read about citizens and countries alike doing all that they can in order to be of service and offer assistance to their brethren. we see faith in action. we see joy amidst pain and suffering. most important of all, we see and are given a flicker of hope and belief in the resiliency of the human spirit. the fight for survival is not easy but with God at our side, nothing is impossible.

beloved

re-posting this because i think it's something i need to tell myself and everyone else:

Over the years, I have come to realize that the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity, or power but self-rejection... When we come to believe in the voices that call us worthless and unlovable, then success, popularity, and power are easily perceived as attractive solutions. The real trap, however, is self-rejection... as soon as I am rejected, left alone, or abandoned, I find myself thinking: 'Well, that proves once again that I am a nobody.'

Instead of taking a critical look at the circumstances or trying to understand my own and others' limitations, I tend to blame myself - not just for what I did, but for who I am. My dark side says: 'I am no good... I deserve to be pushed aside, forgotten, rejected, and abandoned...'

Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the "Beloved.' Being the Beloved expresses the core truth of our existence. I am putting this so directly and so simply, because, though the experience of being the Beloved has never been completely absent from my life, I never claimed it as my core truth. I kept running around it in large or small circles, always looking for someone or something able to convince me of my Belovedness. It was as if I kept refusing to hear the voice that speaks from the very depth of my being and says: "You are my Beloved, on you my favor rests...'

We are the Beloved. We are intimately loved long before our parents, teachers, spouses, children and friends loved or wounded us. That's the truth of our lives. That's the truth I want you to claim for yourself. That's the truth spoken by the voice that says, 'You are my Beloved.' - "Life of the Beloved" by Henri J.M. Nouwen

thought for the day

A person that has a "happy spirit" does not easily get tired
and is always disposed to do good.

We've been created for a greater purpose,
so don't let yourself fall into things that remove the beauty
of your God created heart.

Instead, let the peace of God guard and protect it.