we all want to be noticed by others

I know my blog has been kinda quiet lately. I guess that's a good thing. It means I'm at peace inside. I often use writing to work out angst in my heart. So no angst......less writing.

Thanks for being faithful to check in.

Here's a link to a columnist that I love. He really speaks of heart issues that all of us experience but often don't know how to put into words. This column particularly spoke to me. Maybe it will to you, too:

http://www.ronrolheiser.com/columnarchive/archive_display.php?rec_id=384

Happy Advent!

Dressing Up

The end of one of today's readings (from Romans 13: 11-14) says, "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh."

Do I consciously do this every morning as I start my day? Do I "put on" Christ? I need to be more diligent about doing this daily.

The problem is.....to put Him on, I either need to take self off, or put Him on over self. And too often I kinda like my self to show. Self is comfortable. It's easy. It's like a pair of jammy pants or broken-in blue jeans. I like the admiration I get for self sometimes. I want to take credit.

But the cool thing is.....if I'm diligent to put on Christ, it's a natural consequence that I make no provisions for the desire of the flesh. Because it's Christ I wear then and not myself. Self and all of its desires are left in the hamper. And even though I don't get credit, I'm more attractive to more people because God is love.

So I hope you don't see "me" tomorrow. I hope you see that I have dressed up and put on Christ.

Cross Standard

With the feast last Sunday of Christ the King, and a women's conference I attended last week about being the daughter of the King, and watching a movie about Joan of Arc last week and the second Lord of the Rings movie (whew! long sentence), I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be a daughter of the King. And Kingship. And His kingdom.

I get to meet the King someday, maybe sooner than later. And this is not a stranger King, this is a King that I know!

And I got to thinking .....how do I want to dress to meet the King (hypothetically speaking, of course)? Would I want to be dressed in my fanciest, finest clothes, or would I want to be in my battle gear, my coat-of-arms, bearing His standard?

I was thinking that I would like to meet Him in my battle gear bearing his standard. And then I read this quote from the book, "The Secret Diary of Elisabeth Leseur." It is taken from a letter she wrote to her godson on the occasion of his first communion. She says,

"You ought not to be a laggard in the Christian army, but one of those stout-hearted leaders of men who encourage others and plant their standard--the cross--more or less everywhere in the world and in the souls of men."

Whoa. In my image of meeting the King, I'm carrying the standard in the form of a banner. But of course the King's standard is the cross. He promises us suffering for His sake on this earth. And we share in the suffering of Christ as the church militant.

It's just a more humbling image. I still want to bear his standard. But do I have the strength to bear it to the end if it is a cross??

One Alone

We all long to be fully known and fully loved. Often we are disappointed and struggle with the conflicting emotions that ensue.

I found this quote in my devotion time this morning that encouraged me yet again toward God. Perhaps it will encourage you:

"We know that even our nearest friends enter into us but partially, and hold intercourse with us only at times; whereas the consciousness of a perfect and enduring Presence, and it alone, keeps the heart open. Withdraw the Object on which it rests, and it will relapse again into its state of confinement and constraint; and in proportion as it is limited, either to certain seasons or to certain affections, the heart is straitened and distressed.

If it not be overbold to say it, he who is infinite can alone be its measure; he alone can answer to the mysterious assemblage of feelings and thoughts which it has within it...

Life passes, riches fly away, popularity is fickle, the senses decay, the world changes, friends die. One alone is constant; One alone is true to us; One alone can be true; One alone can be all things to us; One alone can supply our needs; One alone can train us up to our full perfection; One alone can give a meaning to our complex and intricate nature; One alone can give us tune and harmony; One alone can form and possess us."

------Venerable John Henry Newman

A Fun Family Dance

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9604479452