Strength from the Past

Tales of sadness echoes across the land
Weep! Man’s deeds has cause us woes
Wail! The future of the unborn is doom
Fear! There is no end in sight.
Misery is cast over the land
Man’s hold on sanity is shattered
Fear grips
As the ill wind of bad news
Streams through each air waves
Heralding tales of loss, death, depression, gloom
Fear takes a tighter hold.

Does this sound familiar? Do you see yourself in the picture? As the constant stream of financially depress news rings through the air waves, the heart of many faint from fear. Even those who have no reason to fear are afraid.

Why? Why the sudden dread? The world is in turmoil. This is not new, we have seen financial institutions collapsed before, and businesses go bankrupt, job losses and government inefficiencies have all happened before. This time things are much worse but they will still take their natural course.

We have seen it before and we’ve pulled through, countries, individuals, and institutions alike.

Doesn’t this tell us something? Life is a circle - what we are experiencing now will end some day. Why can’t we just wait it out?
Why can’t we be hopeful that we will pull through? Why can’t we believe that because we came out before we will come out again?

The media hasn’t made it easy, not a day passes without the grim tale of another victim. If watching and listening to the news causes you to fear, you can stop filling your heart with tales of doom and gloom, rather read and watch stuff that will enrich you positively.
This may not change the outlook of the world but it will make a difference to how you think and feel. (What you think determines how you feel). I am not suggesting that you run and hid simply choose what you watch.

I watch the news simply out of curiosity to find out the latest victim of man’s greed. It amazes me the extend humans sunk, just to amass wealth at the expense of millions of innocent people.

No wonder we fear!
As with most situations in our lives
We fear when we feel we have no control over what is happening in and around us.

We fear when we look ahead and glimpse a bleak future.
We fear when we use the present as a guide to the future.
We fear when we think we are about to loose all that we hold dear.

Our fears are not unreal, some are valid, but I think we can control them, yes we can. Maybe we can’t control what is happening around us, if your company goes bust there’s nothing you can do about that.
But you can choose to see being laid off work as an opportunity to start again or see it as the end of your working live, sign on and be unhappy.

As the saying goes “every disappointment is a blessing” the bible echoes that clearly Romans 8.28 “for we know that ALL things works together for good”

We can hold on to the hope that things will get better again. If there’s a time to look to the past, it is now, because we can look back and draw strength from the truth that we can come through individually and collectively:

Fear not
When the rough winds of adversity blow
And the scourging heat of the sun burns
The cold touch of winter grips,
But amidst the rocky planes of loss
One thing is sure
This too will pass!

© Deboo February 2009.

Pictures by "photobucket"

Unexplainable Love

That time of the year is upon us again. I think it’s really brilliant that a day is aside for “Love”. This is one language we all speak, the language of love. Love is the same to the Chinese, the Indian, the Africans, the Americans, the English, the Scandinavians, etc. Valentines’ is especially important when it falls on a weekend, because we have time to enjoy the day and ourselves.

Sometimes love is misunderstood when bequeathed and not reciprocated. I’ve seen people hurt from loving others but not receiving the same. It touches them in ways that defies explaining.

I’ve seen those who have given up fame, time and money for the cause of love. Those who have gone to great extent to demonstrated their love for others.
Love defies explaining, ask anyone in love they’ll tell you “I feel something but I can’t explain it”. This is one reason people are taken advantage of, abused and misunderstood because they love deeply and recklessly on a level that defies meaning.

Love sometimes appears foolish, I’ve heard people say don’t be a fool in love, open your eyes. I think what they are saying is, don’t love selflessly, unreservedly without expectations, don’t love the way you really feel, be vain, fake, or phoney.

Have you seen two people in love and think, No way! What is he/she doing with her/him? He’s 6.5” tall and she 4"short, he’s black and she’s white, he’s fat, she’s skinny and so on.

A parent who decides to keep a disabled child because of the love they have for the child. Or a child who decides to selflessly care for an old parent, despite their financial predicament, because of love. How do you explain these acts, we call them love but love itself cannot be explained.

All kinds of despicable deeds have been perpetuated in the name of love. How can a feeling so sweet cause so much pain, lust, anger, violence and hatred? How?
Our attempts to explain love have resulted in shameful and ugly deeds. We have given it reason, we’ve coated the very essence of love and transformed it to suit our own goal it was not intended so.

Straight from my heart is this charge for us to love God’s way (see top right hand coner): as he intended because that is what works every time. Any attempt to change it, explain it, reason it will undoubtedly fail.

Enjoy this peace dedicated to my hubby!

You unlock my heart with your smile that spreads across your face so tenderly,
You cast a spell on me when you gazed my way and sent a wink that spoke volume.
You ignited a spark in my loins when your hand held mine and walked me up the steps to love,
You froze my breath when I felt your lips on mine the first day we kissed.
You are the love sound that wakes me up daily,
Yours is the voice that I want to hear forever,
It holds sweet rings of endearment when you speak,
Yours is the light that streams through my window on a summer day,
And yours is the candle that lights up a dark grey night.
You took me to heaven when I am one with you.

© Deboo February 2008

Pictures by photobucket.

Snow

Hello and welcome to a wonderful snow day! If like me you are snowed in, unless you are a workaholic, it's a much needed day off work. So rather than sit and moan my inability to go to work (not that I did that), I decided to go for a walk in the snow! yes I did, with my Wellington boots, but I had to run back in because, down my end it was really pouring with snow and my boots weren't thick enough! While walking I thought to myself........

What is this!
Flurry, fluffy, fluster and still a beautiful sight
A beauty comparable to nothing
Indescribable,
But yet described as white as snow
Nay, it’s snow itself.

Its arrival expected, but the deluge a surprise
What is this that drops so quickly?
Covering my window sills.
Hedging us in
Snow, my friend
A welcome relief from
The news of woes that grips the headlines.

Yes, it’s snow, causing temporary mayhem on the
Roads, the streets, airports....
Still a beautiful sight to behold.
As children dance in it,
Tossing each other with balls of snow
No care in the world
Set free from the worries of
Adulthood
Snow though expected,
Still has the power to disrupt
And bring joy!

Let it snow! let it snow! let it snow!

Thank you Lord for the times and seasons!

© Deboo February 2009.
Pictures of my snow covered street.