Tag Archives: Bible verses

*Light*

‘There lies the fastness of Southern Mirkwood,’ said Haldir. . . ‘where long the hidden Enemy had his dwelling.  We fear now it is inhabited again, and with power sevenfold.  A black cloud lies often over it of late.  In this high place you may see the two powers that are opposed one to another; and ever they strive now in thought, but whereas the light perceives the very heart of the darkness, its own secret has not been discovered.  Not yet.’ (395)
The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

~*~

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
John 1:1-5

~*~

Just a friendly reminder that Haldir is awesome!

Happy Saturday!

Digging Potatoes ~ a true story

November 27, 2016

She was always in danger on carpeted steps, being particularly good at slipping on them, but she had forgotten how steep these were.  She braced her arms on the walls.  The unfamiliarity made her start.  Had she expected the basement to remain untouched, unchanged while the little girl who had played there grew into a young woman?  She stared into the room she remembered best.  She could not find the light-switch, but she did not really need it.  The white shelves showed dimly, and the pale carpet, and she knew it was full of flowers.  That had not changed–she could see their shadows in the dark.

She felt the carpet through her socks, and touched the shelf she had once found a dead snake under while she was playing hide-’n-seek.  She looked under it again instinctively, as if she expected the withered skin to still be there.

Had the flowers been real, they would be only wilted straw by now, but she knew they remained as bright and dewy as they had been all those years ago.  Yet still, the room felt dead.  Not thick with death and decay, but with a quiet peace; like a slumber so deep nothing could arouse from it.  She almost sensed the cobwebs in the dark corners, and she could feel the dust motes swirling peacefully in the air without any beam of light to illuminate them.

The house was haunted by a thousand phantoms to her.  Not ghosts to make your flesh crawl, but happy children playing and bright Christmas trees.  A rowdy group chased each other around the garden and the small house; a little boy good-naturedly scolded a little girl for stepping on an onion; the little girl groped through the unlighted basement and squeezed under a shelf full of silk blossoms.  She showed her siblings a dark blue snake skin.

There were things she would remember from the drive home, after she tore herself away from the sleeping room full of flowers.  Golden cornfields, rust-colored leaves, a gray pine tree, a red barn, a black horse, a hundred rows of leafless trees, the grief in her heart.  She had expected the pain to feel different.  Less–a dull ache; or greater–a deep, throbbing pain and a rush of tears.

Not this chill, peaceful worry that made her heart feel empty.  Something whispered in her mind, like an echo wandering in the emptiness.  The hole should feel dark, but it was full of color.  Crinkling red wrapping paper; navy blue sweaters; green gardens; dun, earthy potatoes; powdery, black soil.  A painting of an ocean wave, all indigo water, and dark rocks, and white foam.  Shiny-orange Cheeto-dust clinging to her sticky fingers; chocolate-minty candies; a hot, greasy cheeseburger.  A light warmth filled her empty heart; the sorrow cut deeply, but the past was filled with happiness.  Her aching heart held a single memory in that moment, and she would carry it with her forever.  She almost smiled–a quiet smile that is filled with tears in itself–through the pain.

The highway whipped past under her tires and the flowers slept in the dark, their veiled colors seared in her aching mind forever.

December 5, 2016

She had know it would happen, but somehow it still surprised her.  Somehow she had not expected it so soon.  She had guessed it for so long, she had been so sure; but not now, not like this.  She had thought she had felt the full weight alone in the dark room, inhaling the musty, lightless air.  But pain could cut deeper still.

~*~

And in that moment, I realized it could.

My senses were dominated by the taste and smell of salt, but the tears never fell.

The moment I came face to face with death, and felt pain wrench my heart until I thought I could hardly breathe.  I thought I could imagine wounds, describe pain, without ever really feeling it.

But I never truly imagined this–this quiet, tear-washed peace.

And even while the pain twists my heart inside out and my eyes ache to cry, I’m holding on.  I’m believing.  I’m believing that there is hope.  And hope makes all the difference.

I believe he loved me.  I hope he knew how much I admired him.  I hope he knows.  I know how much he loved me, and I know where he is; and I believe.  And I hope.

I cannot say death is the end, or that reality is bitter, while I believe in what He did.

I believe Death need not be proud, for it is “only the beginning” (Counted Worthy, page 228); I believe in the cross, but I believe in the empty tomb and nail-scarred hands that are warm with life.  “It is a bitter adventure if it must end so” (The Hobbit, page 243), but I will not believe this is the end.  I will keep believing.  I will hold hope in both hands, and I will believe.  I will praise the Giver of life and the Author of salvation, when my throat is too choked for words.

God, You are good.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 15:13

 

The Kingdom of Light

“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.  And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints of the kingdom of light.  For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

-Colossians 1:9-14

Who is a God like You?

Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance?  You do not stay angry forever, but delight to show mercy.  You will again have compassion on us; you will tread out sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.  You will be true to Jacob, and show mercy to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our fathers in days long ago.

-Micah 7:18-20

Happy Easter!!

Jesus Christ is risen!

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Our King is more powerful than death!  Is that not worth celebrating?

Happy Easter, everyone!

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here; he has risen!”

-Luke 24:5, 6

 

P.S. Sorry I didn’t get any more of The Sacrifice posted–we were pretty busy on Saturday!  Busy in the Spring-break, lying-around-on-the-couch-with-my-siblings, going-to-movies way. 🙂  Anyway, sorry I never got it up, I’ll catch up on Tuesday.  Or maybe you could twist my arm into posting tomorrow. . .

Good Friday

Today is quite the day, isn’t it?  Am I the only one who thinks it’s perfect that Good Friday landed on March 25th this year?  One real, one imaginary anniversary, that celebrate the triumph over evil.

The day love won.

But the reality of love is the cross.  Tears–pain–darkness–blood–sweat–grime–wood splinters in your skin.  God is love, and He loved us even when it meant abandoning His son to torture and death.  To love someone is not to be made happy by them.  It means choosing to hang on and never let go, and let them drag you through things you never wanted to experience and don’t know how to handle.  Loving people is painful. —My Valentine’s Day post

We say Valentine’s Day is the day we celebrate love.  But I think that it is today.  Today, that true love was revealed to mankind.

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command.  I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business.  Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”

-John 15:13-15

The Word Made Flesh

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. . . The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

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-John 1:1-5, 14