I rushed to reach the other side,
Of the mist and the clutter.
But pain held me back
Held me back in its covers.

There is no hurry.
There is no rush.
To solve the riddle,
To unmess the mess.
There is no deadline,
To meet as you work through
Your brokenness

So embrace your pain.
Grieve well the hurt.
Lament the sorrow.
Grieve well
To heal well.

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The post Grieve Well to Heal Well first appeared on Stirrings in my soul.

So should I love

Deeply,

With all my heart and soul?

Loving demands.

So should I love

Selflessly,

With all I have and am?

Loving can be painful.

So how can I love

Deeply and selflessly?

How can I love well

Courageously

Without feeling undervalued

Or taken advantage of?

How can I love

Like Jesus –

With no expectations

And no strings attached?

How can I love

Like the great Lover

Freely,

No questions asked?

Loving well is a gift

To the other.

I can love

With all my heart,

And all I have

Only when

I have received

Deep love from the Lover,

Only when

I have loved

Myself well.

Loving well,

Detached from the longing to be loved,

Sets me free to love

Deeply,

Selflessly,

Courageously,

and

With all of my heart.

Jesus loved well. He could do that because, ‘…Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people.’ John 2:24 St. Ignatius of Loyola calls this detachment. He writes, ‘ Our disordered attachment to outcomes gets in the way of loving God, others and ourselves. … Choosing detachment means loving what is.’

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The post Loving Well first appeared on Stirrings in my soul.

But
You were rejected,
You were unloved.
Your friends did not recognize you,
Your brothers despised you,

I did not see you.

The poor in spirit,
The weak and the weary,
The mourners and the hungry,
The thirsty and the meek,
The persecuted –

They recognized you
They loved you
They received you
They did not despise you.

So

Grant me Lord
The gift of poverty,
The gift of pain,
Of tears,
Of insufficiency,
And persecution

That

I may not pass you by.

Photo by Alexander Mass: https://www.pexels.com/photo/hands-of-man-and-woman-20219829/

The post The Ache first appeared on Stirrings in my soul.

Where I am held

My gaze struck

My rush paused.

Lead me into wonder filled curiosity

A longing to know

Deeply

Relationally

Le chal (lead me)

Tu le chal
(you lead me)

ki
(so that)

Meri saanse tham jaaye
(my breath is stilled)

Kuch samay ke liye hi sahi
(even for a little while)

Tujhe nihaaroon mein
(I will gaze at you)

Le chal
(lead me)

Tu le chal
(you lead me)

To stunned wonder

And wonder filled curiosity

Tu le chal mujhe.
(you lead me)

That I might be like a child again.

Photo by Vaiva: https://www.pexels.com/photo/spider-web-in-close-up-photography-13691366/

The post Stunned Wonder first appeared on Stirrings in my soul.

I speak that over myself and the others,

You are good enough.

Receive this word

You are good enough.

We are precious.

We are unique.

We are image-bearers

And there is simply no other

Like us.

We take a step forward.

Then wonder

Am I good enough?

Then we take a step backward

Convincing ourselves

That surely someone else

Can do it better.

The truth of the matter is

That we are the only ones

Who can speak, do or be

What needs to be said, done or be.

There is only a you.

There is only a me.

I still hear,

“You are not good enough.”

Was that the voice of a parent,

or a teacher,

a sibling,

or a religious leader?

The One who created you

says you are good.

The One who knitted you

in your mother’s womb

Loves you.

The Lover of your soul

looks at you with love

So

Take His hand

And believe

You are good enough

Speak it over yourselves,

Over your daughters and

Over your sons.

Speak grace and courage

Over your husband,

Over your wife.

That we will all live life to the fullest

And be the persons we are created to be

We are good enough.

[ When I use the words good enough, I refer to our incomparable value and potential as unique human beings created by a loving God.]

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The post Good Enough first appeared on Stirrings in my soul.

A world that exists

In Him

Through Him

And

By Him

We live in a God-soaked space

Where He is,

He was,

And

He will be.

We hold our questions of life

Of suffering,

Of pain,

Of treachery,

Betrayals and deception,

In this God-soaked world.

We hold them before Him.

We hold our angers,

Our incredulties,

Over the extent of wicked words,

Evil deeds,

We hear and see

In the best humans

In our God-soaked world.

We hold these before Him.

We live in a God-soaked world

We exist in Him,

Through Him,

And

By Him.

We hold our questions,

Our angers,

Our incredulities,

And our pain

With – Him

In this God-soaked world.

We are held.

Acts 17:28 For in Him, we live and move and have our being. (Bible)

* I first read this idea in Dallas Willard’s book Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering our Hidden Life in God where he writes about our world as God-immersed and God-bathed. On similar lines, Chris Webb has written a life-giving book titled God-Soaked Life: Discovering a Kingdom Spirituality. I recommend both the books.

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The post God-Soaked World* first appeared on Stirrings in my soul.

In your presence.

I hold my peace

Before you.

I listen to your still

Small voice.

In my silence,

I listen.

I hold my silence

Before you.

I know you are here

In this space.

I turn my worries

Into prayers

And hold my silence

Before you.

I hold silence before you

Because of your goodness

And your love.

I lay my pain in that silence

And let your calm

Fill my space.

I am silent with you

This is too precious to me

I love you

And

I am loved

As I remain

In silence

With you.

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The post Silence of the Soul first appeared on Stirrings in my soul.

When we stand with

Another in pain.

We stand on holy ground

When we stand

With friends who love

In the presence of a hating world.

We stand on holy ground

When we are in the midst

Of trees

And chirping birds

Or flowing water.

We stand

On holy ground

When we see

God

Present, Holy and Active

On that Holy ground.

Photo by Hrishav Jha: https://www.pexels.com/photo/moody-sunlit-kitchen-in-delhi-india-29887876/

The post Holy Ground first appeared on Stirrings in my soul.

I feel the joy in your heart
When I discover
What you already knew

I hold the love in your eyes
When I become aware of
The plans you have for me

Oh you are good
You are good
You are good to me.

All of my life
I am discovering
Your goodness for me.

I am in you.
I am held by you.
I am
Because You are.

And

You are good to me.

Photo by David Bartus: https://www.pexels.com/photo/light-inside-chest-box-366791/

The post Unearthings first appeared on Stirrings in my soul.

To arise means
To get up.

To smile means
To set aside pain

But the weight,
The burden
And the ache
Makes it hard
To leave,
To get up
And set aside.

So why not
Hold on,
Rest,
Lay down.

Hold on
And fly
Intertwined in the arms of God.

Rest
With a smile
In His embrace.

Lay down
And arise
In His green pastures.

He is with us,
He is for us.

He never leaves us
Nor abandons us.

He understands
Our frailty,
Our weakness.

He will
Meet us
Right where we are.

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The post To Fly first appeared on Stirrings in my soul.