WITHERED

Have you ever bought flowers for someone (or yourself?? So sad...) You know how the flowers comes with that packet of stuff that you are supposed to put in the water after you find a vase to put them in. So then, why do you put the stuff from the packet into the water?? Well, we have figured out that when we pick flowers we are actually killing them and the stuff in the packet that goes in water is like flower life support. The only problem is that their condition is terminal; when we cut the flowers from their roots we are killing them. It is kind of weird that people seem to enjoy flowers so much that they would kill them. In short, the upside is that flowers bring a little beauty into the house; the downside is that you have to ultimately kill the flowers. Every flower that is cut from its root will eventually wither and die - even with the flower food.

At the Hectic pace that life moves today it is easy to find ourselves feeling a little disconnected or maybe cut off. We often times will neglect the importance of being connected altogether. It's easy to become so busy with the business of life that we cease to really live; we don't notice that we have been living disconnected lives. By the time we realize it we have neglected our soul for so long that we have done some serious damage; our soul is withered - like a flower cut from its roots.

Have you ever looked into the face of someone who has withered on the inside. You can see a loss of hope, and purpose, you can sense neglect, and lack of direction. Without connection to a source of strength we also will wither and die, maybe not physically but our soul will certainly shrivel to nothing.

What do we do? Jesus put it this way, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers..." Jesus gives life to our soul. Jesus at the center of who we are gives a whole new level of meaning and purpose to everything we do. We no longer work and live for ourselves, but for something - someone - greater than we are, and somehow that gives us a new level of meaning - gives life to our soul. It would be like that flower growing an entirely new root system. It gives new life. We go from withered, shriveled, and empty, to healed, healthy, and whole.

The wholeness we feel that comes with success lasts only as long as the success lasts - it is temporary - like the food you give a flower after it has been cut. As the flower food does not bring life or wholeness to the flower so success or anything else does not bring true wholeness to us. This is true for anything we use to help us feel healed, healthy or whole. Jesus came that we could have life and have it to the full.

So the next time you buy flowers at the store or just put some freshly cut flowers from the yard in a vase, ask yourself how you may have cut yourself from the true source, and perhaps how you have tried to use a temporary source to help you feel alive...

Just a meandering thought...

Autumn

The Autumn rains are falling,
leaves are shedding their green
streaks of yellow and orange
and the rains are falling.

In the air a slight chill
the chill makes the air seem clear
seems cleaned by the change of the seasons
there's a chill in the change in the air

The tide of green recedes
leaving a shore of orange and red
soon will be a barren shore
the green recedes, the color breaks through

But for now the autumn rains are falling
the air is clear and clean
the colorful shore remains
and life is good...

Just a thought...

Change

Taking a look outside today it is easy to see the change of the seasons. This really is my favorite time of year. The trees are gushing with color. It seems as if the colors drip off the trees and lie in puddles on the ground just beneath these fountains of golden hues. There is a slight nip in the air and at just the right time you can step outside and smell the smoke from the chimneys.

The ancient Celts believed that this was a magical time of year when the border between this world and the next was at its thinnest. They believed that at certain times and in certain places the two worlds would overlap. They believed it was possible to pass from this world to the next in these places of overlap. Our present day celebration of Halloween has its roots in this belief event hough the holiday is nothing of what it was in the prehistory of the British Isles.

So this time of year is filled with all kinds of magical changes. The leaves are brightening, the temperature is dropping, the sweaters are coming out, there is an occasional frost on the ground. This is the kind of change that I enjoy. However not all changes are so pleasant. In fact for most of us change is very unpleasant and sometimes even painful. It has been said that all change is loss. When something changes it is no longer the same (I know this is terribly obvious) but since it is no longer the same there is a part of us that mourns the loss of things as they were. We cannot go back. We cannot get it back. We have lost it.

Mourning the loss of things that change is an important process in coming to grips with the fact that things have changed. We sometimes watch a video from several years back, or click through pictures from a time gone by and we think of what it was like. We feel sad that those times have come and gone. In those moments we are experiencing a kind of mourning. Change has taken place and we feel a sense of loss.

Life is change. And so if we live long enough we will experience the loss of change and the need to mourn that change. The scripture reminds us that God does not shield us from experiencing these sometimes difficult times in our lives or the emotions that go with them. Intimacy with Jesus does not exempt or insulate us from the hurt of change even when it is not our choice. Intimacy with Christ tells us that no matter what the changes that come our way, no matter what the loss is that we feel; the veil between our world and His is never closed. He is as close as the mention of his name.

The Ancient Celts were close. They believed they had access to the "otherworld" twice a year, around the Spring and Autumn Equinox. What we know is that through Christ we have access to the "otherworld" by simply calling His name. Even though the pain of loss does not go away, somehow knowing that someone is there makes it a little more bearable.

Just a thought...