The fruits of the spirit...and adventure

Just posting a link here to some interesting posts on living out the fruits of the spirit by Lisa McKay, who I don't know
but is the friend of a friend
and whose husband is a friend of my daughter's boyfriend
and somehow Los Angeles connects with Vanuatu connects with New Zealand connects with Guernsey connects with Los Angeles
and all these connections just make me want to travel
and have great adventures even though I should think about retiring from my job...

I just have to figure out what those adventures will look like.

Letting go...

This is a season, for me, of long distance grief. A friend who lives thousands of miles away is in the last few days of her life, as her dear husband and family and friends accompany her on the last steps of her journey to heaven. I know she will be with Jesus soon, but, I regret to acknowledge, that barely lessens the pain.

Indeed, I almost feel guilty. As if the 'joy set before' her should obliterate the pain of suffering and all that accompanies dying.

It doesn't. While death itself holds no fear for a Christian, it is the process of getting there that is so painful for us all, dying or living. As Woody Allen said: “I'm not afraid of death; I just don't want to be there when it happens.”

(And I wonder if more has been written about death - the only certainty in life - than about anything else except, perhaps, love, which is the most important thing in life. Because Jesus IS love.)

I am far away. Lyn is - was, perhaps, even as I write - a dear friend who reached out to all who knew her with love. I didn't know her well enough, close enough, dearly enough to comprehend the completeness of her love, but feel privileged to be journeying with her, albeit at a distance, in these last times of her life on earth.

But it hurts. And if it hurts for me, I can not even BEGIN to imagine how it hurts for her beloved husband and family.

And once again, I live, uncomfortably, with the reminder that life on earth is temporary. 
I live with fear and apprehension.
Fear of loss.
Fear of suffering.
Fear of grief.

i have not fully grasped the 'joy set before' me.

So I know that, in fact, the only way out is to pursue knowing and loving God. It is only in the struggle and the rest and the silence and the talking that I can begin to grasp how 'wide and long and high and deep' is Christ's love for me and mine and all those others.

As Whitney says: "We crave happy. He craves holy."

I need to keep a perspective. That death is not a 'storm of life'. It is not trouble that comes when we don't expect it, a difficulty to surmount or work through.

Death is an inevitability, to be accepted, planned for, embraced.

Life is to be lived in preparation for death.

And so I know - oh how I KNOW - that Lyn has done this. I think of others who have gone before and shown the way, too.

And I am encouraged to "Run to God’s Word. Look for opportunities to see God at work. Pray, expecting to hear from heaven. Tell about God’s faithfulness. Commit to the process, knowing that He who started a good work in you will be faithful to complete it…"

I am still puzzled as to how we can hold pain and joy in our hearts simultaneously. Bittersweet does not even come near it.
I fear to write a comment on Lyn's facebook page - who knows which words will be helpful and which will cause more harm?
All I can do is pray for comfort and ease and close encounter with our Lord.

In the eye of the storm

I've been closely following the monster super cyclone Pam, as it has wreaked more havoc and destruction in Vanuatu than any of us should have to bear.

The devastation numbs the heart and mind.

As I looked closely at the infra red satellite imagery, as Pam bore inexorably down on the tiny island nation, I noticed the eye of calm in the middle. Where wind barely was. And yet on its edges was the worst of the storm - winds of up to 200mph. Unimaginable.

And so is life. I spent the morning in a seminar examining 'Growing With God in Difficult Times'. Graham Archer from CPAS led us to examine our responses to different life crises.

I felt as if I was in the eye of the storm. Because, as I considered how, at times, I feel unbearably crushed, I took heart from the apostle Paul's own experiences which were, in fact, far worse than mine: "My friends, I want you to know what a hard time we had in Asia. Our sufferings were so horrible and so unbearable that death seemed certain. 9 In fact, we felt sure that we were going to die. But this made us stop trusting in ourselves and start trusting God, who raises the dead to life." 2 Corinthians 1:8 - 9

We listened. We talked. We considered the many, many survival mechanism we humans use to respond to a crisis.

We pray; search the Bible for wisdom and comfort; read other Christians' wisdom in books and blogs;
We face up to the implications, or we 'park' the problem until we can deal with it;
We rationalise, thinking it through;
We look back at past difficulties, looking at how God has carried us through

And so we seek the prayers of others; try to see the problem as a growth or ministry opportunity; get on with life, hiding in busyness; and we fight worry and anxiety, fear and stress.

And I learnt. I learnt of the crisis of pain and fear, physical and emotional. And how important, in it, it is to give myself

• time
• information
• the opportunity to talk.

And when the crisis comes, it brings with it the crisis of meaning, of identity. If I am ill/unemployed/bereaved...then who am I? Do I matter any more? Am I worth the same amount as when I can write a list of my achievements and 'possessions' - even relationships?

• then the only solution is in the spiritual disciplines: prayer, fasting, reading, worship...

The crisis of death invites me to keep in perspective who I am: remembering that we pray that the 'body of Christ will keep us in eternal life'. ETERNAL life.

And then there is the crisis of life. The criosis of living NOW, of keeping close to God, in difficulties, and in calm. 

Because life is cyclonic. We find ourselves on the edge of the storm where there is barely a rustle of wind to disturb our peace; or caught up in the maelstrom, as difficulties seem to grow, like the winds, ever stronger; or even in an unnatural calm and peace when right in the middle of it. But everywhere, throughout the storm, GOD IS THERE.

We need no satellite image to remind us.

This I know...

I know there is more to life than the eating and drinking, the everyday living.

More than the friends and the family and the ‘whatever I fancy’.

More.

I know there is hunger for deeper reflection and ultimate connection.

For knowing and purpose and certain direction.

Soul.

I know that religion just means belief in something/Someone superhuman:

too big for me to understand, imagine or even remotely adequately explain.

Belief.

I know Jesus the man was a definite person who lived and died.

Roman history tells us so: religion does not mean imagination.

Jesus is real.

I believe Jesus when he said (and still says) there is more to come, better to come.

I believe him when he tells me how to live for a better life, a happier life.

Contentment.

So I try to live according to his words in the Book. I so often, often, fail to do so well.

Yet they are still the benchmark, the yardarm, the starting and the ending point.

The Word in The Words.

Living well under pressure

We’ve all been there: we’ve lost the car keys, can’t find a favourite scarf, the phone rings as we’re rushing out the door and then we get to work and realise we’ve left our lunch behind! The pressure builds as easily as a kettle on the boil and there’s no escaping it.

I had a day like that which began less than twelve hours after I jotted down this title. Computer glitches, covering lessons in my ‘catch up on marking and admin time’, misunderstandings with colleagues...the pressure piled up until I nearly burst into tears. Nothing, of course, like my friend Lisa in Tanzania whose journey home included a flat battery, crazy driving from other road users, a man who pretended he had been injured by their car, riot police at the border crossing and a forest fire near their home.  And nothing like the pressure that so many people endure daily all over the world: just the pressure of finding food for the day occupies the minds of many.

Still, it feels real and overwhelming to us.

Paul knew pressure well.

(2Corinthians 11:23 – 27 I’ve worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death’s door time after time. I’ve been flogged five times with the Jews’ thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I’ve been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, I’ve had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I’ve been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I’ve known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather.)

Finally, imprisoned in Rome, having suffered too many beatings and misfortunes to count, he handles the pressure so admirably that we would do well to pick up some tips from him.

So what does he do?

1.       He prays for others.

Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart. I am so pleased that you have continued on in this with us, believing and proclaiming God’s Message, from the day you heard it right up to the present. (Philippians 1:3 – 5)

2.       He looks for the benefits in his situation.

My imprisonment here has had the opposite of its intended effect. Instead of being squelched, the Message has actually prospered. All the soldiers here, and everyone else, too, found out that I’m in jail because of this Messiah. That piqued their curiosity, and now they’ve learned all about him. Not only that, but most of the followers of Jesus here have become far more sure of themselves in the faith than ever, speaking out fearlessly about God, about the Messiah. (Philippians 1:12 – 14)

3.       He doesn’t worry about what other people are doing.

So how am I to respond? I’ve decided that I really don’t care about their motives, whether mixed, bad, or indifferent. Every time one of them opens his mouth, Christ is proclaimed, so I just cheer them on! (Philippians 1:18 – 21)

4.       He gives practical advice to those in his care.

Meanwhile, live in such a way that you are a credit to the Message of Christ...Stand united, singular in vision, contending for people’s trust in the Message, the good news, not flinching or dodging in the slightest before the opposition. Your courage and unity will show them what they’re up against: defeat for them, victory for you—and both because of God. (Philippians 1:27 – 28)

5.       He keeps his focus.

As long as I’m alive in this body, there is good work for me to do. If I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I’d choose. Hard choice! The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can think of nothing better. But most days, because of what you are going through, I am sure that it’s better for me to stick it out here....

There’s far more to this life than trusting in Christ. There’s also suffering for him. And the suffering is as much a gift as the trusting. You’re involved in the same kind of struggle you saw me go through, on which you are now getting an updated report in this letter.  (Philippians 1: 22 – 24, 29 – 30, The Message)

6.       He was humble.

If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. (Philippians 2:1 – 5, The Message)

7.       He offers help.

Paul couldn’t help himself, but sent others to help. I plan (according to Jesus’ plan) to send Timothy to you very soon so he can bring back all the news of you he can gather. Oh, how that will do my heart good! I have no one quite like Timothy. He is loyal, and genuinely concerned for you. Most people around here are looking out for themselves, with little concern for the things of Jesus. But you know yourselves that Timothy’s the real thing. He’s been a devoted son to me as together we’ve delivered the Message. As soon as I see how things are going to fall out for me here, I plan to send him off. And then I’m hoping and praying to be right on his heels. But for right now, I’m dispatching Epaphroditus, my good friend and companion in my work. You sent him to help me out; now I’m sending him to help you out. He has been wanting in the worst way to get back with you. Especially since recovering from the illness you heard about, he’s been wanting to get back and reassure you that he is just fine. He nearly died, as you know, but God had mercy on him. And not only on him—he had mercy on me, too. His death would have been one huge grief piled on top of all the others. (Philippians 2:19 – 27)

So what about us?

Let us:

Pray; 

          look on the bright side; 

                    keep focused on Jesus, not worrying about what anyone else is or isn’t doing; 

                                give help and advice.

Practical ideas? Over to you!

Godly advice

I love godly advice. I soak up the wisdom and experience of others, longing to hug it so closely that it becomes part of my DNA.

Yet more inspiration today from a woman who has been married nearly 50 years. It is wonderful advice on how to live...I'm not as far on in life stages as she is - empty nesting, but no grandkids yet - yet I found myself nodding in recognition at ". . Practicing simple things, like grace before meals, gathering with community, worshiping each Sunday and saying ‘thank you, thank you, thank you’ — to God, to one another, to anyone who offers help or kindness throughout our days. And learning to say ‘help me, help me, help me’ with less embarrassment, more humility and a surer sense of our own need.

. . . Knowing, deep down, that the biggest and best moments are not at all what we thought they would be when we were in our 20′s and 30′s. No. More often than not, it is the smallest, most common and least sensational moments that bring the heart-sighs, the teary-eyed smiles, the down-to-your-toes sense of satisfaction and delight. ...the angle of the light as it hits the window pane in the kitchen; the sound of the fountain burbling in the night air; the knowing look across a crowded room when it’s time to turn for home and bed.

. . . And of course, realizing in new ways that there will be an end to this life we share. 2015 will be our 50th. How is that even possible, we say. It was only yesterday, we remark. We’re still so young, surely we are, we insist!

The mirror, the creaky joints, the nightly handful of pills tell us otherwise, of course. Yet in the center of ourselves, we are still every age we’ve ever been, aren’t we? Our over-confident 20-something selves, our over-tired 30-something selves, our over-drawn 40-something selves, our over-joyed 50-something selves and our over-done 60 and 70-something selves – we’re all here. And even though the years ahead of us are fewer than the years behind us, we’re looking forward to every single one."

I am reading Anything by Jennie Allen. About how to give everything to and do anything for God. What an adventure - I don't even feel as if I've begun yet.


Lysa Terkeust has some good advice and a great prayer. Adapted from Dr. Louis H. Evans’ Marriage Prayer for Bride and Groom. - See more at: http://proverbs31.org/devotions/devo/a-wedding-prayer-a-marriage-prayer/#sthash.GYs93TCP.dpuf

Catching up on reading - part 1.

Being laid up for the last couple of days with what my mother would have called 'a feverish cold' - I refuse to call it 'flu - has at least given me the opportunity to catch up on some reading.  No TV in this house, the radio - even Radio 4 - tiresome at times: that left the Kindle. And a book.
The first book I read has been sitting by my bed for a couple of months. A Spacious Place by Alie Stibbe aims to help "Christian women take stock of the past; re-evaluate the present and look ahead to the future as they face the second half of life and all the challenges and opportunities it will hold."
I was a bit scared to read it.
The second half of life - which, for me, almost means Life After Retirement which is looming within the next few years - seemed, in my mind, to be peopled with Old Grey-Haired women. Yes, I know it sounds ageist, but only in relation to myself. I'm not yet old enough, wise enough or mature enough to fit the category. I'll certainly be old enough one day, but wise or mature enough? I doubt it.
Alie dispelled THAT idea in the first few paragraphs. Immediately, retirement notwithstanding - and she is further away than I am - I gained a sense of excitement. The second half of life is "a time when there is more room for all the things that were put on hold for child-rearing, when some of them, at least, can be rediscovered and begin to develop into their full potential, and a time to think about taking up something completely new."
I read it all in one go. I loved Alie's honesty as she shared her experiences while encouraging me to 'look the past in the eye.' I loved the second chapter: title, Laughing at the days to come. A 'word' my husband gave me when we barely knew each other. (He didn't know me very well. I do love to laugh - often at the most inappropriate moments - but I also have Doom and Gloom capability with the best of them.)
The third chapter dealt with 'Anxious thoughts and offensive ways' and the fourth 'The panini generation'...(you've heard of the Sandwich Generation: women whose lives are sandwiched between 'so-called' grown-up children and caring for ageing parents? Sandwich is too mild a term apparently - not just squashed, but toasted as well. Finally, chapters on work and encouragement that 'the second half of life will afford you the opportunity to be all that God intended you to be.' Fullness of life indeed.
I could go on: but if I did, I would probably just have to quote large chunks of this book: small, just over a hundred pages long, but absolutely packed with wisdom and inspiration. I have begun to reread it slowly, prayerfully, carefully. It will form the core of a morning away which I am organising with a group of friends. Because yes, it's aimed at a particular group of women. But I think that anyone will gain insight and encouragement to take stock and move on, wherever they might be. Grey-haired or not. (I'm hoping she will write the Book of Retirement soon, too. Everyone tells me how wonderful retirement is but I don't believe them. Yet.)
A Spacious Place: what a gem.

Whatever you do...

A few weeks ago, Colossians 3:22 - 25 had been on my mind, as I  neared the end of the Good Morning Girls study on Colossians:  "Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favour, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,  since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favouritism."

The Message puts it like this:  "Servants, do what you’re told by your earthly masters. And don’t just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you’ll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you’re serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn’t cover up bad work."

Ultimately, whatever we do is for and in obedience to God...life is about how we work this out!And this was my 'verse for the day', following on from Colossians 3:23: Romans 13:1 [Submission to Governing Authorities] "Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God." 

Ultimately, whatever we do is for and in obedience to God...life is about how we work this out! 

I do try to do this. I do try to be 'the best I can be'.  Yet, at the end of a busy day, a busy week, I find myself wondering where God was during the day as I scurried around, trying to work cheerfully and without complaining, 'doing' and 'being' but, seldom 'praying'. And I find myself wondering how I can bring my prayer life into my working life, to find connection with Jesus in all the humdrum and crises and joyous moments....

Moving on...

I've been greatly challenged recently by a relationship.  Tried my best to 'fix' it, continued to be as gracious and loving as I could - yet to no avail.
I know I cannot change anyone else's actions, thoughts, feelings.
I do know it.
Yet I live in hope. I find myself saying:'Maybe if I... this time perhaps she will...I wish...'
Nothing seems to change.
A friendship, dying for some time, now seems dead.
Then I read these wise words from Susan Lawrence, drawing the analogy of a transplanted tree which then died,:

"When have you tried to grow something where it doesn’t belong? If you’re like me, just about anything you plant doesn’t survive regardless of where you plant it, but think beyond plants…

When have you continued a relationship that’s unhealthy? Taken a job that drains you of your energy and talents? Committed to volunteer out of guilt instead of passion and service? Rationalized behavior or attitude you know isn’t appropriate?

We’re often planted in imperfect soil for a season, awaiting transplant. Isn’t that what life on earth is? It’s imperfect, and we make sacrifices. We deal with less than ideal situations at times…and yet we begin to feel at home where we’re only intended to temporarily live. Be careful of creating stubborn root systems in temporary soil.

Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times. Mark 4:8 (NCV)"

Trying to continue to 'grow' my dying relationship has to stop.
A lost friendship isn't something to mourn over. Nor are missed opportunities, past mistakes, difficult times.
Life is for living. Leave the past, move on in the present to the future.
Moving on.

Also on that theme, I was reminded of these useful tips for choosing how I spend my life - time, energy, emotion - by Karen Ehman. When Life is Too Loud for Quiet Time, People-Pleasing + Passivity - Overcommitment,  Activity or Eternity and finally and most usefully: What's a Too-Busy Gal To Do?


Here are nuggets of wisdom: 
Every need isn't necessarily your call.
Make it your policy to pause.
Walk away and don't look back.
Don't take on more than you can pray for.
Live your priorities.
Stop second-guessing yourself.

She quotes from Renee Swope's book A Confident Heart:

“I know all of life is screaming for your time, but instead of giving your divided attention to many good things, commit to setting aside time each week to walk through the process of finding God’s things for you. A confident-in-Christ woman wants to know who God created her to be.  She is comfortable saying “no” to some things so that she can say “yes” to living the life God wants her to live.  She is intentional and secure about pursuing the spiritual purpose God has for her.”

Doesn't that sound like moving on?

Life breaks

Great post over at (in)courage on Life Breaks: Bella says:

"Life breaks.

Life wounds.

This world swirls with tragedy that can pull us down, bend our human bodies, and break our spirits.

And still, through it all, God stands.
He stands willing to take all of the brokenness and raise it into something beautiful.

He stands willing to take back the sinner, to hold the brokenhearted, to comfort the lost with words of love.

He stands strong for us when we are weak.

He saves from the flood.

He saves from the fire.

He saves, because he loves.
In this world we will always be hurt. We will confront cruelty and injustice. We will be beaten down by circumstance and by pain.

The world is designed to injure.

So we look to the heavens for comfort.

And He is there, always.

He has not promised that life will never hold deep and bitter things. He has not promised us that loss won’t touch us, or that we won’t become lost.

What he has promised is that in all things, and in all circumstances, He will never leave us.

So we fear.

And we worry.

And we wait out the storm.

Because we are human.
And He watches,
and waits,
and saves.

Because He is God.
Life breaks.

But as long as we hold tight to Him, we never will."

Life breaks. BUT GOD MENDS.

One Thousand Gifts

Something to think about...


One Thousand Gifts
A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

Published by Zondervan
Available wherever books are sold

Come join the community taking the dare to LIVE FULLY
http://www.onethousandgifts.com
http://www.aholyexperience.com

And a recommendation about The Mosaic Bible on Faith Barista...

My life as a home...

Notes from the most recent ladies breakfast...

The Home: an analogy  

Theme: a house symbolises each of us.

Roof: covering, protection.

The name of the Lord is like a strong tower – the righteous shall run unto it and be GLAD!

 Proverbs 18:10  ¹⁰ God's name is a place of protection—    good people can run there and be safe.

May our homes be roofed with God’s name and His protection.

Walls: represent safety  and security.

Door: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.   Matthew 7:7-8 (New International Version)

As we think of the Door, let’s also of the door of our hearts, praying that it may always be open and welcoming to God.

Windows: Open to the fresh air of the Spirit

Chimney: Smoke is a sign of life. May my life show signs of the true Life which is Jesus who says I AM the Way the Truth and the Life

Is Jesus welcome in every room in our lives? Is he welcome in the room marked ‘Work’? The room labelled ‘Self-worth’? The room – maybe the attic – where we keep our failures?

May my life be a home

whose roof spreads God’s love

over all who enter it;

whose walls offer

God’s protection

whose chimney breathes

signs of warmth and life

whose door is always open

to the lost and the weary, and

whose windows are thrown open to the Spirit’s

gentle whispers.

Preparing for Christmas

Tidying  away the rubbish. Impatience, keeping the peace for the sake of it

Cleaning up having the honesty to face up to mistakes, failures

Decorating  doing the ‘extra’ stuff – inviting others round, going to an event to support a friend... 

How can this bring me closer to God?

Read a thought-provoking book recently. By a Christian, it was about responsible stewardship of the earth's resources - caring for the environment and so on.  Reminders about thinking of the impact of our actions, being careful, eschewing greed in all its forms - radical living.

I like being radical - in theory. In practice, it can be hard. Hard to make radical choices and harder still, quite often, to live with them. As far as recycling, conserving water, avoiding profligacy goes - not too difficult. Living in Africa does, unless one is extremely hard-hearted and selfish, sensitize one to the injustice and unkindness of living extravagant lifestyles in the face of extreme poverty.

Yet one of the most useful questions I came away with was: How can this (proposed or current) action bring me closer to God? I've begun to try to apply this to everything I do, think or say. Being intentional about my actions.

Drinking a cup of coffee - being thankful
Hanging out the washing - caring for the family
Going to work - praying for opportunities to share Jesus
Relaxing in front of the fire at home - sharing 'heart time'

My challenge is to see how much I can 'bring God' into my daily life. Which reminds me: it's just 'Practising His Presence', as Brother Lawrence has modelled for us.

Blogging here most definitely brings me closer to God: thanks for the time and the reminders, Lord!

A digression from the theme - freedom

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you. (Galatians 5:1)

Don't live by the 'oughts' and 'musts'.
Don't live by the fear of being found out.
Don't live as if under a cloud of disapproval.
Live freely.

Put yourself in a place where Jesus, the Christ, is as real as your best friend, your flatmate, your spouse, your child.
Put yourself in a place where you can listen, take good advice, and act.
Live in freedom.

The effects of sin on our bodies

Whew - this could be a long subject! I thought I'd start with Proverbs 14:29-31

A patient man has great understanding,
but a quick-tempered man displays folly.
A heart at peace gives life to the body,
but envy rots the bones. (NIV)

A sound mind makes for a robust body,
but runaway emotions corrode the bones. (The Message)

The mind, the heart... separate yet interlinked, at the core of our being. How to get a sound mind?

2 Timothy 1:7 says: For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline

Somewhere - maybe in the Good News version - I have read 'self-discipline' as 'sound mind'. God has given me a sound mind - which I need to discipline. Then my body will indeed be 'robust'!

Our responsibilities to the church

What does being part of the Body of Christ here on earth mean for us?

Ephesians 4:17 (New International Version)
From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

The Message puts it like this: We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love.

Imagine that. As the song puts it: Every breath we take, we take for you, Jesus.

Imagine being so close to him that I breathe in time, so that I scarcely know when I breathe and when he does. When I was first married, I used to lie against my husband's chest and try to breathe in time with him. I could only achieve it for one or two breaths - his lungs are twice the size of min - but when I did manage it, we seemed to breathe as one being, not as two separate people.

Then, admonitions like these become easy to follow:

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts...You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry... and so it goes on.
Ephesians 4: 17 - 18, 22 - 26

Joy - here and now

Life is for living. That's what a 78 year old man said recently, after his 87 year old wife, who suffers with Alzheimer's disease, had to be rescued by the police after her mobility buggy ran away with her. He makes sure she gets out of the house and is as active as she can be, because 'life is for living'.

Life is for living - joyously. I love this account in Acts 16, when Paul demonstrated that after he and Silas had been thrown into jail:

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"

The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household." Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God — he and his whole family. (Acts 16:25 - 34)

Filled with joy - because life is for living. Really living.