Love

You love to the degree you're willing to sacrifice for the one you love. -- Fr. John Corapi

I would say that if you do not understand who God really is but claim to worship Him, you are actually worshiping a false God.

God is love, but what is love? It is NOT feelings of attraction or lust. God is LOVE and so HE defines love, His actions ARE love, His works are from love and can be no other. If He allows suffering, it is love, that motivates Him. If He allows us our free will it is because of His love. To love is to be like God. Love lays down ones life for another, love sacrifices all for the beloved.

God gave us His very best, His ONLY BEGOTTEN(not made) Son. He allowed Him to suffer and to die, for us.

To call the silly selfish desires that we have to keep someone ours so that we might feel good is not love. Love desires what is best for the Beloved.

I have a friend that God called called to Him recently, This was out of God's love. And though her husband suffers loss and her children miss her dearly, this too is love.

My most popular post

About a year and a half ago i was on a futile search for the name of a song that i loved. I thought the name was from the Chorus You made me alive, But it is not! The song is called Gift of God made popular by Justin Rizzo. I have found that many people all over the place have been searching for this song also, which says to me that it has a real anointing of the Holy Spirit on it. So since I have had more hits for that original post, than any other on my blog, i am reposting the song here.

Enjoy!    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLelQGoQlqs   

UNBELIEVABLE!

Is Ritual and Ceremony Important to God?

I was challenged over Christmas by a family member who said that ritual and ceremony were not important to God, only your relationship to Him is important. .

Let's just look at our relationship with God. If I treat God at least the way that I treat my beloved friends and family, I would find out more about Him. What are His habits, likes and dislikes, what kind of information do I have to base my relationship with this all-important person in my life?

Well I have the Bible and some other early writings of people who knew Jesus Christ first or even second-hand. If I start in the Bible, in the Old Testament i come to places where God specifically called for ritual and ceremony, He ordered a place of meeting, at first a tent, then later a building or temple. He also ordered statuary and vessels for the ceremonies. He proscribed the way that He was to be worshiped and adored in the tent or temple. Hmmm. Well, you ask, I thought Jesus did away with all that stuff?

Let's look at Jesus, He went to the temple and he had a Bar-Mitzvah, and he read his Half-Torah. He went to the temples first to preach until they threw Him out. He kept passover, we know this for certain and He honored the local marriage Ceremony with his presence also.

What about His followers did they seem to think that ceremony and ritual was now passe"? Well when we look at our earliest record of Jesus followers they risked their lives to get together for mass(breaking bread together).

I would conclude that in my relationship with Jesus Christ, I better get on board and embrace Ritual and Ceremony.

Let's Digress into Humor a Bit

Because laughing is supposed to tighten up stomach muscles!!! lol

The Fat Man's Prayer

Lord, my soul is ripped with riot,
Incited by my wicked diet.
We are what we eat, said a wise old man,
And Lord, if that's true, I'm a garbage can!
I want to rise on Judgment Day, that's plain,
But at my present weight, I'll need a crane!

So grant me strength that I may not fall
Into the clutches of cholesterol.
May my flesh with carrot curls be sated
That my soul may be polyunsaturated.
And show me the light that I may bear witness
To the President's Council on Physical Fitness.

At oleomargarine I'll never mutter,
For the road to hell is spread with butter.
And cake is cursed, and cream is awful,
And Satan is hiding in every waffle.
Mephistopheles lurks in provolone,
The devil is in each slice of bologna,
Beelzebub is a chocolate drop,
And Lucifer is a lollipop!

Give me this day my daily slice -
But cut it thin and toast it twice.
I beg upon my dimpled knees,
Deliver me from Jujubees.
And my when days of trial are done
And my war with malted milks is won,
Let me stand with the saints in heaven
In a shining robe - Size 7!

I can do it, Lord, if you'll show to me
The virtues of lettuce and celery.
If you'll teach me the evils of mayonnaise,
The sinfulness of hollandaise
And pasta a la milanese
And potatoes a la lyonaise
And crisp fried chicken from the south!
Lord, if you love me, SHUT MY MOUTH!

Victor Buono

The Barrow Wight

I listen to the singing of the Barrow Wight

As I lie helpless upon the slab

The Cold seeping up from my feet

Into my heart, fogging my brain

I reach across to my best companion

Upon the slab next to me

But cannot see him, or find his hand to grasp

I cannot remember the song

To summon the fellow in the Bright Blue cap

Long years of Westernesse lie upon me

The bright jewels scattered about are useless baubles

With no sun to illuminate them

In this Barrow Mound

S

The Bed of Pain

God speaks to us in many ways, one of them, noted in scripture, is The bed of pain.

I have been home for over a week with severe Bronchitus. It is very similar to the time I had pneumonia. I have been stuck in the house, alone most of the time, with no one to talk to but cats. Now cats ARE wonderful companions but they are a little bit selfish and lazy. They never bring me breakfast or lunch or any other meal in bed, or any of the other accouterments of a good nurse.

So, as in most of my life, if there is a significant change, i look up and say "Why God? What are You doing? What do you want from me?".

This time HE took his time letting me know(or was it me not listening...). But I am starting to get the message, that He wants more of my time and to make some course corrections.

I really wish i was not so dense and heard His voice without the "bed of pain" but I am not....Sigh...