God of all nations

our enemy is not our neighbor standing near or afar, but the lie that lures us to oppress each other

i make no apologies for the last three posts here simply being links to other blogger's posts.

you see sometimes it is the voice of the oppressor that needs to be heard, an oppressor broken when they have caught their reflection and seen what they are, what this system has made them to be perhaps, put into a role that they didn't ask for and which makes them sick when they see it for what it is.

this one is from jonathan and is a direct call to men.

i am intrigued that this conversation is happening across the water and wonder if there are any like voices here in the uk.

our culture has not just been male-dominant; it has been female-oppressive

from jeff, a follow up to jeromy's post

the wound that dare not speak its name

sexism

rabid dog

a little while ago i wrote that my husband had been diagnosed with a heart condition, the sypmtoms of which were potentially fatal (actually i'm not sure i spelt that out at the time, but anyway....)

anyway, here we are three months later, it has been a bit of a strange time, we've (well, he, but i felt i went through them all too) had various tests which have shown various things which i shan't bore you with, and the upshot of it now is that the aforementioned worrisome sypmtoms have apparently been medicated into oblivion, well kind of, which is good news, q (my husband) now has to up his beta blocker dose in order to completely get rid of all the irregularities of his heartbeat, eek, and now feels quite lightheaded - bearing in mind that his pulse is normally only just about 60 anyway and he's always suffered from low blood pressure, oh well.

i'm not sure how well i've coped with all the stress, you know, when stuff like this happens you always want to behave like one of those super spiritual people who float around in a state of perpetual bliss, knowing that God is 'in it with you', because you, being a super spiritual, already know that being a christian doesn't make everything rosy in the garden - well, i can tell you, that the 'God is in it with you' line, is also a hard road to walk, sometimes i don't really want God to see me when i've turned into the mother from hell, or am doing a rather good impression of a rabid dog, at that point 'God standing a little distance away' seems like a better option.

the worst bit is when you know that you are behaving badly and you still do it anyway, it's like an out of body experience, where you are thinking 'why am i saying that....stop saying that...stop doing that...just get your coat', hoping that normal service will resume sometime soon.

well, this is it i guess. this is what 'walking with the lord' actually means. just getting on with it, walking the path you have, sometimes well, sometimes not so, and still trusting that jesus is with you and wants to be, even with the rabid dog impression.

poppies

today we remember those who fell and are falling at the hands of war.

and i was suddenly reminded of a song that my dad taught me and which we used to sing, normally walking hand in hand along some leafy green river side, or heather soaked fen. it may seem like a strange song for a father to teach a daughter, but it obviously meant something to him, and i loved it, the poignancy and the point. i guess it taught me that war is never glorious, even when we might believe it must be engaged in for the greater good.

no, i'm not a pacifist, not consistently anyway, but i think i would like to be.

i found that old song on youtube (you can find everything on youtube) and the graphics which accompany it seem cuttingly to the point and say more than i can ever say about where we are today, with regards war and violence as a human global community.

so this is a tribute to you 'willy mcbride' and all those voiceless millions who have died, soldier and civilian, at the hands of our violence.

and i can't help but wonder now, willy mcbride
do all those who lie here, know why they died?
did you really believe them when they told you the cause?
did you really believe that this war would end wars?
well the suff'rin', the sorrow, the glory, the shame
the killin', an' dyin', it was all done in vain
oh willy mcbride, it all happened again
and again, and again, and again, and again

indeed

the shack

I want to share an excerpt from a book that I recently read which deals with, amongst other things, the nature of forgiveness.

the part I want to share with you is the part of the story where the main character must deal with forgiving the person who murdered his six year old daughter.

_________________________________________________

"So , does this mean," Mack was again a little angry at the direction of the conversation, "that if I forgive this man, then I let him play with Kate, or my first granddaughter?"

"Mackenzie," Papa was strong and firm. "I already told you that forgiveness does not create a relationship. Unless people speak the truth about what they have done and change their mind and behavior, a relationship of trust is not possible. When you forgive someone you certainly release them from judgment, but without true change, no real relationship can be established."

"So forgiveness does not require me to pretend what he did never happened?"

"How can you? You forgave your dad last night. Will you ever forget what he did to you?"
"I don't think so."

"But now you can love him in the face of it. His change allows for that. forgiveness in no way requires that you trust the one you forgive. But should they finally confess and repent, you will discover a miracle in your own heart that allows you to reach out and begin to build between you a bridge of reconciliation. And sometimes-and this may seem incomprehensible to you now-that road may even take you to the miracle of fully restored trust."

......."Help me, Papa, Help me! What do I do? How do I forgive him?"

"Tell him."

Mack looked up, half expecting to see a man he had never met standing there, but no one was.

"How Papa?"

"Just say it out loud. There is power in what my children declare."

Mack began to whisper in tones first halfhearted and stumbling, but then with increasing conviction. "I forgive you. I forgive you. I forgive you."

......"Wow!" he said hoarsely, trying to find any word that might describe the emotional journey he had just waded through. He felt alive. he handed the kerchief back to Papa and asked, "So is it all right if I'm still angry?"

Papa was quick to respond. "Absolutely! What he did was terrible. he caused incredible pain to many. It was wrong, and anger is the right response to something that is so wrong. But don't let the anger and pain and loss you feel prevent you from forgiving him and removing your hands from around his neck."

(william p young, the shack, pages 225-227)