tho’ much is taken, much abides… August 28, 2007
Posted by admin in : Christian Life, Life, Quotes , add a comment…Come, my friends,
‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in the old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal-temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Ulysses - Alfred Tennyson
As I read this poem by Tennyson, the line “tho’ much is taken, much abides” stands out. It’s been a difficult time, and the words at the end - “to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield” have a sense of perseverance and determination about them. How does this apply to my life as a Christian? What does it say?
On August 15th, my dad died. He was 89, and yes that’s a great age, but still, he’s gone!
Tho’ much is taken, much abides.
After the funeral, what then? People think you’ll be OK. The world goes on. But it doesn’t.
Tho’ much is taken, much abides.
It’s been a hard year for work, times of very little, and uncertainty about the future.
Tho’ much is taken, much abides.
My children are growing up fast, next year my eldest will start work, he may leave home.
Tho’ much is taken, much abides.
Friends are having difficult times, it’s hard to see the end. It’s hard at times to have faith.
Tho’ much is taken, much abides.
I am now the oldest generation of my family in this country.
Tho’ much is taken, much abides.
Sometimes, only sometimes, it all seems to difficult. Then God moves in small ways.
Tho’ much is taken, much abides… To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
forgiveness… July 18, 2007
Posted by admin in : Books, Christian Life, Life , add a comment“To relinquish the hold that the past has on us requires a conscious choice and, paradoxically, requires no strength, only courage. It necessarily involves forgiveness, not just of those that have hurt us, but also of ourselves, for the myriad mistakes, shortcomings and wasted opportunities that mark our lives”
“Forgiveness and justice are not incompatible goals. We can hold people accountable for their behaviour without imagining that evil exists only outside ourselves, or that life is as simple as we have been led to believe”
“Forgiveness is an act of letting go, of relinquishment. It is not something we do for others; it is a gift to ourselves”
Gordon Livingston ‘ And Never Stop Dancing ‘
We can hold on to hurts, pain, and disappointment caused by others in the hope that one day, somehow, they will pay, or we will get back at them. Forgiveness does not change the situation, it does not let the other off, it does not diminish responsibility. Forgiveness, correctly understood, frees us from a lifetime of backward looking, of wondering and hoping that things could have been different. It sets us free.
life is difficult… July 9, 2007
Posted by admin in : Christian Life, Quotes , add a comment‘Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult–once we truly understand and accept it–then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.’
M Scott Peck ‘The Road Less Traveled ‘
henri nouwen quotes…
Posted by admin in : Christian Life, Quotes , add a commentHenri Nouwen was a Dutch priest, author, and spiritual thinker. He had an unusual capacity to write about the life of Jesus and the love of God in ways that have inspired countless people to trust God more fully. Here are some quotes from his many works that I have found helpful.
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‘The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing… not healing, not curing… that is a friend who cares.’
‘Somewhere we know that without silence words lose their meaning, that without listening speaking no longer heals, that without distance closeness cannot cure.’
‘When we become aware that we do not have to escape our pains, but that we can mobilize them into a common search for life, those very pains are transformed from expressions of despair into signs of hope.’
our greatest fear… July 6, 2007
Posted by admin in : Christian Life, Life , add a comment‘Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond imagination. It is our light more than our darkness which scares us. We ask ourselves – who are we to be brilliant, beautiful, talented, and fabulous. But honestly, who are you to not be so? You are a child of God, small games do not work in this world. For those around us to feel peace, it is not example to make ourselves small. We were born to express the glory of God that lives in us. It is not in some of us, it is in all of us. While we allow our light to shine, we unconsciously give permission for others to do the same. When we liberate ourselves from our own fears, simply our presence may liberate others.’
Marianne Williamson in ‘Return to Love: Reflections on a Course in Miracles‘
only bad things happen quickly… July 5, 2007
Posted by admin in : Christian Life , add a commentGordon Livingston, in his book “Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart“, writes
‘When we think about things that alter our lives in a moment, nearly all of them are bad: phone calls in the night, accidents, loss of jobs or loved ones, conversations with doctors bearing awful news. Virtually all happiness producing processes in our lives take time, usually a long time.’
Its true - much of the worthwhile changes in our lives take a long time, and as such we may not even notice the changes. We are an impatient people, we want a quick fix, we can’t wait for months to see change. We need to learn patience, we need to learn perseverance, we need to stick with people when others fall away because they are tired of waiting. We must not give up!
acceptance…
Posted by admin in : Christian Life , add a commentWe cannot transform our lives, unless we allow them to be transformed by that stroke of grace. It happens; or it does not happen. And certainly it does not happen if we try to force it upon ourselves, just as it shall not happen so long as we think, in our self-complacency, that we have no need of it. Grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness. It strikes us when we walk through the dark valley of a meaningless and empty life. It strikes us when we feel that our separation is deeper than usual, because we have violated another life, a life which we loved, or from which we were estranged. It strikes us when our disgust for our own being, our indifference, our weakness, our hostility, and our lack of direction and composure have become intolerable to us. It strikes us when, year after year, the longed-for perfection of life does not appear, when the old compulsions reign within us as they have for decades, when despair destroys all joy and courage. Sometimes at that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness, and it is as though a voice were saying:”You are accepted. You are accepted, accepted by that which is greater than you, and the name of which you do not know. Do not ask for the name now; perhaps you will find it later. Do not try to do anything now; perhaps later you will do much. Do not seek for anything; do not perform anything; do not intend anything. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted!“ If that happens to us, we experience grace After such an experience we may not be better than before, and we may not believe more than before. But everything is transformed. In that moment, grace conquers sin, and reconciliation bridges the gulf of estrangement. And nothing is demanded of this experience, no religious or moral or intellectual presupposition, nothing but acceptance.
Paul Tillich - ‘The Shaking of the Foundations’
This extract from a sermon by Tillich touches on something that we talk about a lot in our churches, but I wonder do we really understand what Tillich is getting at here, and even more, do we understand what it means to be truly accepted by another person. The overiding thought is that we need to believe that God accepts us. In some areas of the Christian life, we really need to just understand some things ‘by faith’; there is no earthly comparison. My thought is, with acceptance, can we understand the concept of this without experiencing it, in an imperfect way, from others created in the ‘image’ of God? What is it that hems us in; that prevents us just being our real selves with other? Why do we live as we perceive others expect us to live? Can the grace of God, by some divine act, break through and allow us to know that we are OK?