God is all around, his messages are everywhere

Public toilets are probably the last place anyone would search for salvation, or anything else for that matter. If they are decent enough the worst one would find are cubicle doors and walls riddled with obscenities.

One day I needed the bathroom while in Sanlam centre, and as usual the inner door surface of the cubicle was covered with an array of handwriting styles and marker textures- though no obscenities were to be found- only a door full of proclaimations of the glory of God. Different personalities could be seen in what each individual clearly felt is significant.

Not a single negative remark had been added and several things could be taken from this:

1. God is anywhere and everywhere. His presence can be found and gained where you least expect it.
2. We can find support in the words or actions of strangers.
3. When people are alone, by themselves, they are less likely to deny thhe things that are good and wholesome. If those words were in a public place it may have been interrupted by vulgarities, yet here, where its pretty much themselves, this door, and the toilet pot, the only need they feel is to contribute. Which shows that deep down inside everyone there's a desire for God and what is good.

Ultimately, while the world around us can leave us feeling despondent, there are miracles all around us that is there if only we look, acknowledge, and appreciate it. God is all around us, and he can especially be found in the people around us.

Sometimes it seems like they go too soon, like they don't fight. Dylan Thomas's most famous poem expresses that feeling of despair

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieve it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Forwarded to me by my friend Vashti, something I thought I should share

Layman's 10 Commandments.

Someone has written these beautiful words.
Read and try to understand the deeper meaning of them.

1. Prayer is not a "spare wheel" that you pull out when in trouble, but it is a "steering wheel" that directs the right path throughout life.

2. Why is a car's windshield so large & the rearview mirror so small? Because our PAST is not as important as our FUTURE. So, look ahead and move on.

3. Friendship is like a BOOK. It takes a few seconds to burn, but it takes years to write.

4. All things in life are temporary. If they are going well, enjoy them, they will not last forever. If they are going wrong, don't worry, they can't last long either.

5. Old friends are gold! New friends are diamond! If you get a diamond, don't forget the gold! To hold a diamond, you always need a base of gold!

6. Often when we lose hope and think this is the end, God smiles from above and says, "Relax, sweetheart; it's just a bend, not the end!"

7. When God solves your problems, you have faith in HIS abilities; when God doesn't solve your problems, He has faith in YOUR abilities.

8. A blind person asked God: "Can there be anything worse than losing eye sight?" He replied: "Yes, losing your vision!"

9. When you pray for others, God listens to you and blesses them, and sometimes, when you are safe and happy, remember that someone has prayed for you.

10. Worrying does not take away tomorrow's troubles; it takes away today's PEACE.

Faith moves mountains,
But you have to keep pushing while you are praying

-Mason Cooley

It's been so long since I wrote, and I must apologize for the neglect. Perhaps my neglect is noty such a bad thing- it means I have been busy, it means God has been good to me. While I'm too busy breathing and living it means God has been good to me :).

Today however, is Ascension Day, and this is where I find myself being drawn back to.

Ascension Day commemorates Christ's Ascension into heaven. It takes place on the Thursday which is the 40th day after Easter. It is on this day that Jesus ascended into the clouds after appearing to many of his disciples. We see in the Gospel of Luke and in the Acts of the Apostles that Jesus led them out of the Mount of Olives and instructed them to wait for the promise of the holy spirit. Once Jesus has ascended two angels appeared, and declared to them that Jesus would return in Glory.

Essentially, Ascension Day is a symbol of the second coming, reminding us that our Jesus is alive and that he will return to us in Glory.

Doesn't this say something about the way in which we live? We should live in anticipation, we should live well, we should live wholesome lives so that when he comes, we will be waiting expectantly for our saviour.

Maybe the second coming will come as a mass-encounter, as we see it in the Revelations, or perhaps we all encounter our own 'second coming', when our time comes to go to the eternal home, and there,
coming down from the clouds is our saviour, waiting to take us home.

Ok, this has gotten a bit depressing, basically, lets live it up, lets choose to be happy, let us appreciate all that we have and let us be the light in the world, so that when He does come, there will be some light waiting for Him.

The Darkest hour comes before Dawn

And so I have decided that I will no longer make direct posts, I will now create posts in document forms and then COPY+PASTE!!

This is after I just created a (might I add, very heartfelt) post, and the webpage decided to close down 'to save data' to compliment whatever other ridiculous budget it was on. I was upset to say the least. I started crying, because at 1:44 am, when you have completed some thing you have been wanting to, and it slips out of your hands, you're exhausted and tired and just cannot fathom why some things happen the way they do. But now that I am thinking about it, it may just have given me an 'oomph' or a message possibly lacking in my post.

The original post told of an older couple that we met tonight, sitting across from us in McD's, and how the unfortunate seating arrangements of the minute new building forced strangers to meet and discover that they shared not one but two problems.

Basically the post was to remind us that we are not alone in this world of tribulations. Tonight between the four of us it felt like a mini-mass in McD's as we re-assured each other that God has a way, a time and a reason. Each reminded the other to pray, to keep the faith. God guides us, even when we don't realise it. This is why, when we intend on going to Nando's, God sends us to its greasier equivalent.

Tonights meeting I imagine was to help us, but moreso to help that pair, to let them know that yes, God is still their, just hang in there. There are others like you who share your frustrations and who he will send your way to encourage you to stay strong.

But isn't that the point of the Lenten journey anyway? To observe the pain that Jesus had to endure, not necessarily the physical agony, but the betrayal?
But then too, after his crucifixion, God raises Christ to power!

Do you see the analogy here?

As we carry our crosses, some so different and some so disturbingly the same; as we go through traumas physical and emotional, it does not last forever.

Our Lord is with you every step of the way. If he brings you to it, he'll bring you through it.

Lets open our hearts now, as we near the end of lent. Prepare for the sorrow as we approach Good Friday. And remember that no sooner has he fallen and been crucified, has his father - Our Father- raised him in Glory!

Remember that the darkest hour is before dawn. And when you pray, pray for others facing the same challenges as you are. They too, need comfort in these trying times.

"I shall then show forth Thy praise, Serve Thee all my happy days; Then the world shall always see Christ, the holy Child, in me"

The gifted Russ Blassoples, who has so far been the person to be the most impressionable on me with regard to spirituality, has reminded me of the child. Children. Being childlike. In a post he speaks about when Jesus told the story of people pulling gloomy faces to show that they are fasting, and he explains how he hopes that Jesus would have been pulling these faces when telling the story to children .

This makes me think that we forget sometimes that the children in our world are going to be tomorrows adults and that they too need spiritual guidance. We should not just leave them to do 'kiddy things', we need to remember that as adults and as leaders, we have a responsibility to share our spirituality with them. That doesn't mean we must say 'No TV!' for the next month, this is not punishment. This simply means that we should share stories with them, open them up to spirituality so that they may accept it when it is time and so that they there is somewhere to go, somewhere to turn to when they feel at a loss.

Teach children to pray, if only at night before they go to sleep, or at the table before they eat. And perhaps, we have lost touch with our faith somewhat. life is an ongoing struggle and sometimes we may feel despondent. Maybe if we take on the mission to introduce spirituality to our children, a niece, a friends child, or a neighbours child, we will rediscover our own faith as we are reminded of what it is like to be childlike, to be open and eager to learn.

In any case is it not true that we need to be childlike to enter His Kingdom? Let us remind ourselves what is like to be childlike, trusting God.

Gentle Jesus, meek and mild,
Look upon a little child;
Pity my simplicity,
Suffer me to come to Thee.

Fain I would to Thee be brought,
Dearest God, forbid it not;
Give me, dearest God, a place
In the kingdom of Thy grace

Lamb of God, I look to Thee;
Thou shalt my Example be;
Thou art gentle, meek, and mild;
Thou wast once a little child.

Fain I would be as Thou art;
Give me Thine obedient heart;
Thou art pitiful and kind,
Let me have Thy loving mind.

Let me, above all, fulfill
God my heav’nly Father’s will;
Never His good Spirit grieve;
Only to His glory live.

Thou didst live to God alone;
Thou didst never seek Thin own;
Thou Thyself didst never please:
God was all Thy happiness.

Loving Jesus, gentle Lamb,
In Thy gracious hands I am;
Make me, Savior, what Thou art,
Live Thyself within my heart.

I shall then show forth Thy praise,
Serve Thee all my happy days;
Then the world shall always see
Christ, the holy Child, in me.