Each of our lives is a stained glass window in the making. The most satisfying experience I have is seeing people embrace GodÕs plan for them, to begin to see something beautiful emerge from all the disjointed bits and pieces of their often severely troubled lives. IÕve collected a number of my own bits and pieces here, often broken fragments becoming part of the window of my life. Some dark. Some brilliant. Some warm. Some cold. I trust all will become something beautiful in the end.
I've long found writing scratches places just out of reach somewhere in my psyche. Amazingly, I often have friends, acquaintances, even total strangers tell me my words somehow scratch hard to reach places for them as well. Each of our lives is a wondrous tapestry in the making. The most satisfying experience I have is seeing people embrace God's plan for them, to begin to see something beautiful emerge from all the disjointed knots and loose end of their often severely troubled lives. I've collected a number of my own knots and threads here, often frayed ends becoming part of the tapestry of my life. Some dark. Some brilliant. Some fuzzy. Some gold. I trust all will become something beautiful in the end.
Often, our lives feel like a disjointed collection of drab glass, stone, and ceramic pieces. We wonder if thereÕs any purpose or plan to our lives. Has the artisan stopped working on our project and tossed us onto the shelf to collect dust? We think weÕve been thrown into the landfill as rubble. Sometimes our introspection thickens and we find ourselves in depression or a dark night of the soul. ThereÕs no gold or color any more, just a monochrome palette of black, white, and gray. We sense great loss and despair of ever regaining that which has been lost. Miraculously, itÕs in the midst of such times, we often find God doing amazing things in our lives. If we are yielded to Him, looking for His ways in us, we discover HeÕs building all sorts of things into our lives; He is creating a wondrous mosaic from the tesserae of our experiences. These essays represent some of the tesserae being assembled into my life image by the Master Artisan who makes no mistakes.
Through fourteen weeks of daily devotionals, she guides us to understand that God is in the ordinary. The simplicity of the everydayness of living can serve as pathways to God. Life-changing moments are rare. The everyday is where humanity lives. In looking at a variety of fragments, a new and different understanding of the value of the very ordinary may emerge in the God relationship and thus change the individual journey. "Audrey Brown Lightbody is, by nature, a true weaver! Her book is a woven tapestry of vignettes, reflections, poetry, and evocative questions ... a unique presentation of guided meditations which invite us to discover what of The Holy may be close beneath the surface of the 'ordinary' of our lives. A book to be kept near at hand, these readings will prompt fresh insights and inspiration over many occasions. For group reflection, as well as individual prayer, Ordinary Fragments is a rich and deeply engaging resource." -from the Spirit Group who shared the journey
A journal in recognition of the passengers whose lives were changed forever in a tragic bus-train collision and in memory of those who died. “David Gibson’s reality was altered in a moment on September 18, 2013. His eloquent and poignant requiem chronicles his efforts to re-orient himself to a world whose boundaries and reference points abruptly disappeared…he chronicles his experiences in a way that helps us understand the hidden struggle of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.” — Dr. Larry Cebulski, clinical psychologist.
Advice given when buying plants or trees is "Don't expect any blooms the first year. Fruit trees may require three years." I planted a slim brown stick in my yard and got nothing the first year except a thin brown stick with a few leaves on it. During its second season of growth and beyond, that brown stick grew to 7 inches in diameter and now produces wondrous 20 foot pink clouds each spring. In an ideal world we learn lessons the first time around. So often, as with daffodils and cherry trees, we need more time to get it. Winter, incendiary summer, a few storms, and unexpected late frost toughen us, giving us confidence to face whatever life has for us. We can then bloom where we are planted. We often don't have choices about challenges life gives us, but we have free-will in deciding how to respond to them. We can embrace the One who gives Wisdom to live life abundantly. May these vignettes inspire you to find pearls of learning and wisdom to be harvested from the depths of your own life.
In the Old Testament, God used Balaam's donkey to speak to him and protect him from great difficulty. I think in the Atomic Age God has used a small cat to speak to me many times. I don't hear a voice like Balaam, but the messages are just as loud. In a complex age fraught with distractions and dangers, we are in need of reminders of those times when we are about to stray into the abyss. I hear Puderd telling me spiritual life is found in simplicity and knowledge of God is found in quietness. Contentment is found in good friends, not good products. Trust and safety are really beyond our control and we can only have these if we trust in the One who is in control.
ItÕs been said, ÒI wonÕt remember what you did, or what you said. I will remember how you made me feel.Ó We live in our feelings. How we feel colors all our life experiences, good or bad. How is it one person will embrace something with rapturous delight while another experiences the same thing with absolute life sapping dread? How have I sat through intense turbulence on airplanes planning my funeral while others around me sleep soundly? Attitudes we bring to an experience in life will determine if itÕs one of catharsis or deadening fear. Attitude is everything in life. Life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% how I respond to it. When gratitude becomes the dominant emotion in our universe of feelings, we move from states of discontent, anger, frustrated perfectionism, even depression towards serenity, acceptance, peace, tranquility, well being. With gratitude, everything becomes a gift to be celebrated, a bonus. Daily doses of gratitude might even help you find your own hidden treasure.
Give me a pill and I'll feel better. Give me a drink so I'll forget. Give me a cig. It'll help my nerves. Ugh! I can hardly take a breath. Let me have sex, I need someone to love me. As a matter of fact, I can't get enough. What is your name? Oh, yes. I remember! Could you pass me my pills so I'll forget... And don't forget a drink to wash them down! —Excerpt from the play Get Nailed At thirty-nine years old, I raised my hand to heaven and said, 'If You are really real, You are going to have to help me because I don't want to live like this anymore, and I will be damned to hell if my daughter's life is going to end up like mine.' and then sealing my fate I added, 'Give me a hunger and thirst for your Word that I cannot satiate with anything else but You.' After years of walking through life alone, I suddenly found a real Savior. I poured myself into my relationship with him, and my life began to turn around. I discovered a world, within this world, and all I had to do was enter through the cross in the Stained Glass Window. I was the lost sheep he left the ninety-nine for. The Stained Glass Window recounts the details of my life before and after I came to know Christ. See how important you are to God regardless of any poor choices you've made. Realize that you are the one in the stained glass window.
