Thoughts and Other Things

It's one thing to be seen by God, another to see the God who sees you. Being seen by Him is a realization, to see Him a revelation.  Being seen by Him is being heard by Him - 'Ismael' (God hears).  It is Him hearing of your misery when no one else could care - you are but a maidservant after all; unseen.  Being seen by Him is being followed by Him, into dessert places, pushed by desperation, searching for safer hands and softer hearts. There He finds you, asks of you when all your life decisions were made for you. Being seen by Him is Him finding you when you are lost, not even knowing it 'cause you think you know what you're doing. Being seen by Him is having Him unfold the future while you're still trying to get a grasp of the present. Being seen by Him is comforting, reassuring, grounding. But seeing Him - that one calls you out. Seeing Him is adhering when he sends you back to the very thing you were trying to escape. Seeing Him is saying 'yes' to Hi...

  I’m bothered by how Pentecost Sunday always gets more buzz than Ascension Day. I was seeing posters for Pentecost Sunday last week already (and I’m by no means throwing shade, I too only remembered Ascension Day late into the very day). I’m bothered because these two days are deeply connected. Ascension Day is to Pentecost Sunday what Good Friday is to Ressurection Sunday. Without Ascension, there is no Pentecost. Jesus puts it plainly to His disciples that unless He goes, the Holy Spirit cannot come (John 16:7).   This is no battle of Christian Holy Days, but I think it’s important for any Christian to understand the significance of Jesus ascending to heaven. In John 16:28 Jesus says: “I came from the Father and entered the world, now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” Yes, Jesus ascending to heaven is about Him returning to the Father but ‘here’s the thing’ (I’ve been watching too much Monk): Jesus isn’t returning the same way He left. Jesus is not j...

This year did not get off to the kind of start I anticipated. I wanted to ease into it and for the first four days, I thought I was winning. I spent New Year’s Day by myself doing laundry and some housekeeping. I cooked myself a meal and enjoyed it over an episode of Grace and Frankie. What I didn’t know was that I’d spend the first weekend of the year sitting outside with the contents of my little flat as the roof was abruptly replaced by the most chilled construction team (during a week with 80% chance of rain on most days). Everything came to a halt for a week as I moved out with my stuff in the mornings, sat with them outside all day and moved back in in the evenings. Instead of starting my days hitting the gym and putting plans in place for work and school, I was clearing brick and ceiling debris instead. Of course, this wasn’t my first time on this rodeo – we had major renovations at home a few years ago. But this run was different, I really struggled with regulating myself that ...