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Some things can be measured scientifically. Weight. Height. Even the fact that infants respond more to a woman's smile than a man's...All kinds of things can be measured.
But how do you measure the fragrance of a woman? The beauty of a comforting touch? Tears of empathy? Eyes that welcome, accept...love? How can you quantify the sound of a laugh that makes you feel to your bones that all is right with the world? How can you possibly dissect beauty?
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
John and I just returned from the first half – first leg, if you will, of our Love and War tour. And what an honor. Really. To speak about things that matter. Our marriages. Our hearts. Our God. JESUS.
I’m caught in the tension between love and war, between life and death. John and I just returned from spending four restful days together, unplugged from the demands of our world, replenishing our hearts in the beauty and love of God and the delightful companionship of each other. It was good. It was very good.
The Nativity – John Donne
Immensity cloistered in thy dear womb,
Now leaves his well-beloved imprisonment,
There he hath made himself to his intent
Weak enough, now into our world to come;
About ten years ago or so, I told God that I would offer anything from my life story to others that he asked me to if it would help them know him better, experience more hope and healing, love Jesus more. Really, it was simply a deeper surrender to the One I belong to.
And God has asked me to share. And sometimes, it has been really, really hard. But I have been blessed to see LIFE come out of it.
I like Advent; the waiting for Christ to come. I like the anticipation of Christmas. Maybe it’s partly because a woman figures so prominently in the Story.
Mary. I like Mary. Oh, I want to be like Mary! Such abandoned faith. She says yes to God, come what may. “Be it unto me…”.
And then she waits.
This year seems to be on a bobsled race. It is rushing past me at an ever increasing speed such that I can barely see what is passing. It is Christmastime already. Today is the first Sunday of Advent.