Christians are Christlike: none deserve the name of Christians that are not so, in their prevailing character....The branch is of the same nature with the stock and root, has the same sap, and bears the same sort of fruit. The members have the same kind of life with the head. It would be strange if Christians should not be of the same temper and spirit that Christ is of; when they are his flesh and his bone, yea are one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17), and live so, that it is not they that live, but Christ that lives in them./Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Character
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Wedding Day
"Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the Church. /Ephesians 5:31-32What is this mystery? What is the wonder of what will happen today?
This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel....that through the Church the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. /Ephesians 3:6, 10When two incompatible people (made so by sin) are brought together in marriage, and by God made compatible through Christ Jesus, God's infinite wisdom is put on display. And today, God's wisdom will be made famous in mine and H's life, and then, when the real trouble comes in our life together, God's fame will truly resound as sweetly and clearly as the bells that ring today.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Salut!
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
December 24th, 2012, 11:31 pm
I have been privy to ponder as of late. And ponder is indeed a verb apropos to times like these. As my mind thinks on the events of life that have led up to now, I have found myself nothing but grateful. I am a lucky one indeed. God has showered me with gifts: loving parents (including soon-to-be-in-laws, joyful Christmases, an incredible bride (8 days!). I have also marveled at the incredible way lives are weaved together on this earth.
The winds are changing, and the sails are being stretched to new heights and angles. This is a good thing. Amidst it all I am reminded that we exist for a very simple reason, and that by God's grace we were given the power to do it.
Sure, this might have been a pagan holiday assimilated by the Catholic Church to "convert" non-Christians, but I'll never put down remembering as a bad thing.
Merry Christmas!
The winds are changing, and the sails are being stretched to new heights and angles. This is a good thing. Amidst it all I am reminded that we exist for a very simple reason, and that by God's grace we were given the power to do it.
Sure, this might have been a pagan holiday assimilated by the Catholic Church to "convert" non-Christians, but I'll never put down remembering as a bad thing.
Merry Christmas!
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Encouragement
It's such an incredible thing to find myself now doing what little I can to help others through the inevitable should-I-really-be-studying-this crisis that I so recently journeyed through (with the help of others too). I really am so glad that I struggled (and still continue to struggle sometimes) with my decision to immerse myself in the study of music for my baccalaureate degree. I have been forced to really understand myself and my volition, for living an apathetic lie is waste of time.
And so I encourage you, too, to wrestle. Wrestle with your mind. Wrestle with your soul. Wrestle with God. Through the strife and strain you will come to understand yourself as a human, and you will find yourself humbled, which is the only thing humans should be. You will be forced to defend yourself, you will be forced to know your weakness (and you will be forced to come to the disheartening conclusion that we often waste precious energy defending parts of ourselves that really should be done away with), and you will be forced to feel your opponent, knowing your opponent as well as yourself (for often your opponent is yourself). You will understand what is truly important, and the things which are stronger will dominate the things that are weaker. You will find yourself pruned. And like a vine after winter, you will bloom stronger and sturdier than before come summer.
Take heart, for it is in the crucible that the measurements are drawn, and the contents are purified. And do not avoid the crucible for the sake of ease and comfort. For living an apathetic lie is a waste of time. Once you understand yourself, you will finally be able to release yourself for the sake of others, and that's where the real work begins.
And so I encourage you, too, to wrestle. Wrestle with your mind. Wrestle with your soul. Wrestle with God. Through the strife and strain you will come to understand yourself as a human, and you will find yourself humbled, which is the only thing humans should be. You will be forced to defend yourself, you will be forced to know your weakness (and you will be forced to come to the disheartening conclusion that we often waste precious energy defending parts of ourselves that really should be done away with), and you will be forced to feel your opponent, knowing your opponent as well as yourself (for often your opponent is yourself). You will understand what is truly important, and the things which are stronger will dominate the things that are weaker. You will find yourself pruned. And like a vine after winter, you will bloom stronger and sturdier than before come summer.
Take heart, for it is in the crucible that the measurements are drawn, and the contents are purified. And do not avoid the crucible for the sake of ease and comfort. For living an apathetic lie is a waste of time. Once you understand yourself, you will finally be able to release yourself for the sake of others, and that's where the real work begins.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Pathways
Yesterday saw the first reading of the music for P's and my video on Creation. Composing is fun, and in it I'm learning that I really am nothing but an amateur. And it's such a humbling event for somebody else to read your composition.
I read articles like this. And think about composers such as this (woops, rather this I suppose, though the previous probably still composes better than I), and I realize just how much I have to learn. I'll keep learning, don't you worry, I just wonder sometimes if I'm studying hard enough.
I'll just keep swimming...or walking...or, for me, marching probably...
Ah, yes. I'm a piano performance major now. And also still a music education major. Herein is the proof of my sado-masochism.
I read articles like this. And think about composers such as this (woops, rather this I suppose, though the previous probably still composes better than I), and I realize just how much I have to learn. I'll keep learning, don't you worry, I just wonder sometimes if I'm studying hard enough.
I'll just keep swimming...or walking...or, for me, marching probably...
Ah, yes. I'm a piano performance major now. And also still a music education major. Herein is the proof of my sado-masochism.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Thanklitude
My thoughts are tangling into a sticky mess in my head. It's time I straighten them out (and not here). Once upon a time I journaled...
Posts are far and few in between on this blog, and not necessarily because I want them to be (though we are better defined by our actions instead of our words), but because I am so overwhelmed that I don't know where to begin. It's the same feeling as looking at a blank sheet of staff paper and writing whatever I want for whatever ensemble I want.
Impossible. We need guidelines. Like children.
And so, two days will find us in the American national holiday of Thanksgiving. I've been meditating on thankfulness lately and have found myself overcome with so much...stuff. In community groups we just finished the final T in APTAT, which is (you guessed it) "thank." And I've been given so many things in the past few months in relation to my upcoming nuptials, my upcoming thesis, my upcoming senior recital, and my upcoming "next chapter" of my life (and graduation is visible on the horizon too). I am only humbled.
I don't think of myself as someone who has much to offer (an ironic statement for somebody who keeps a blog). And I am certainly changing my mind in that I know anything about anything. It seems the further along I move in my studies, the more I realize that I have no knowledge at all about anything. At least, nothing in comparison to what it is I need to learn. The world is such a big place. And that's just the world. I quote E. E. Cummings, "There's a hell of a universe next door. Let's go."
And so I am incredibly thankful. I am thankful with a weight that puts me on my knees, and I fall on my knees knowing that's where I belong. Grace rains. Grace reigns. Sure the semester is stressful, and one could nearly calculate my stress in proportion to the length between posts, but it really fades into oblivion when I consider how much has been given to me.
I mean, for goodness sake, I'm posting ramblings on the internet. These are the things that move me to tears.
Posts are far and few in between on this blog, and not necessarily because I want them to be (though we are better defined by our actions instead of our words), but because I am so overwhelmed that I don't know where to begin. It's the same feeling as looking at a blank sheet of staff paper and writing whatever I want for whatever ensemble I want.
Impossible. We need guidelines. Like children.
And so, two days will find us in the American national holiday of Thanksgiving. I've been meditating on thankfulness lately and have found myself overcome with so much...stuff. In community groups we just finished the final T in APTAT, which is (you guessed it) "thank." And I've been given so many things in the past few months in relation to my upcoming nuptials, my upcoming thesis, my upcoming senior recital, and my upcoming "next chapter" of my life (and graduation is visible on the horizon too). I am only humbled.
I don't think of myself as someone who has much to offer (an ironic statement for somebody who keeps a blog). And I am certainly changing my mind in that I know anything about anything. It seems the further along I move in my studies, the more I realize that I have no knowledge at all about anything. At least, nothing in comparison to what it is I need to learn. The world is such a big place. And that's just the world. I quote E. E. Cummings, "There's a hell of a universe next door. Let's go."
And so I am incredibly thankful. I am thankful with a weight that puts me on my knees, and I fall on my knees knowing that's where I belong. Grace rains. Grace reigns. Sure the semester is stressful, and one could nearly calculate my stress in proportion to the length between posts, but it really fades into oblivion when I consider how much has been given to me.
I mean, for goodness sake, I'm posting ramblings on the internet. These are the things that move me to tears.
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