My Lungs are Clay

My lungs are clay

My heart is lead

My jaw is tight

My eyes are dead

My memories

Are stinging bees

My future plans

Are fallen trees

The pain within

My gut profound

The chest contains

My hollow sound

My life is death

My sorrow great

My prison is

My only fate

Reality

The human brain can’t tell the difference between that which is real and that which is vividly imagined. Therefore, when we continually run a sequence of events through our thoughts, we’re choosing to re-create the same realities over and over again. The internal world is more important than the external world because it’s where we spend most of our time and because it’s what makes us who we are. So, if you don’t like the person you've become or the circumstances in which you find yourself, the only way to change them is through changing the thought processes of your brain.

Happiness

Happiness is not a direct result – of obtaining a particular object, experiencing a certain pleasure, or achieving a desired social status, but rather a by-product of making a wise choice. The pursuit of happiness is a delusion, fooling a person into a continuous state of depression by conditioning the individual to rely upon circumstances as a basis for determining personal contentment. Also, when happiness is seen as a future event or goal to achieve, the ability to enjoy the present moment is diminished. Therefore, my admonition is to focus on enjoying each moment as it arises and believing for the ability to make wise choices now that will result in desirable consequences later.

Obey

There is a four-letter word in the English language that no one wants to say and fewer want to hear. It's more socially unacceptable than the "F" word, more formidable than "shit," and less desirable than "work." The word is "obey." I cringe at the very sound of it.

In our modern, American society, where self-sufficiency and independence are among our highest values, the very thought of obedience evokes a particularly defensive reaction. Everyone wants to be the boss. No one wants to be the servant.

But our Christian faith calls us to a life of service, beckons us to obedience, and promotes a sacrificial love in the place of self-serving. However, the only way we can serve others instead of getting caught up in our own needs and our own affairs is to continually focus on improving our level of obedience to God, to His Word, and to the promptings of His Holy Spirit.

Contagion

Kindness is contagious, so is negativity. Smiles and frowns flow through the atmosphere like warm and cold fronts circling the globe. Sometimes they cause clear skies. Sometimes they cause a storm. When attitudes collide, the fallout can be disastrous. Sometimes there’s a tornado warning. Sometimes we get caught in a flash flood. All the time, we need to pay attention to the energy within our environment so we can evacuate when signs of trouble surface or hunker down and take cover when the unexpected hits.

The Side of the Road

I’ve heard the story of the good Samaritan so many times. And each time I’ve thought to myself, “Of course I would stop and help a stranger if I saw someone bloodied and lying on the side of the road.” But how many times have I seen someone looking despondent and not stopped to lend a listening ear? How often have I been so caught up in what I was doing, that I didn’t reach out to make someone else feel loved and appreciated? How many times have I been too busy to even notice how someone else has been bloodied by adverse circumstances or beat up by frustration or fear? The meaning of the parable is not just to teach us who our neighbor is, but how we are to treat those we come into contact with every day. We rarely happen across those in need of major medical care, but we often pass others in need of spiritual care. How many more times will we continue to pass by on the other side of the road?

Grown up

When I was a small child I didn’t have a care in the world. I trusted my father to provide for me. I trusted my mother to comfort me. All I had to do was rest, play, and do as I was told. Now that I’m grown, why do I have to make everything so complicated? Why do I take on the cares of the entire world? It’s too much for me. I need to focus on the things I can actually do something about instead of fretting over everything else that is outside of my control. But I guess it’s easier to shirk my personal responsibilities when I’m too busy trying to run the lives of everyone else. But what has caused me to change so much? Why am I no longer trusting and free? Why do I not trust my heavenly Father to provide for me? Why do I not trust the Holy Spirit to comfort me? Why is it so easy to forget that all I have to do is rest, play, and do as I’m told? What happened between now and then that made me forget how to live? Moreover, what can I do now to help myself to remember?