Tag Archives: love

Familiarity, Part 2

Leave a reply

In my previous post I challenged others to let go of the familiarity they held with cherished possessions. To put them on hold for a season. Though this wisdom certainly applies to places and things it runs contrary to maintaining relationships with the people we cherish.

Take my wife for example. If I disassociate myself from her, this would not have a desirable outcome. The same would hold true of my relationship with my children, devoted friends, and God.

When I let go of my familiarity with possessions, it frees me to focus on relationships. It serves to elevate relationships over possessions. That brings me back to the season of Lent, and why so many people choose to do without favorite objects, and focus on their relationship with God and the suffering Jesus endured for all our sakes.

Don’t let familiarity with a relationship you hold dear breed contempt. Instead disassociate yourself from anything that stands in the way.

Us

Leave a reply

In the beginning I spotted you. Was it because we were in the same place at precisely the same time? There had to be more to it than that. Something about you was different. Something about you caught my attention. Was it your kind eyes, or the happiness you seemed to carry with you like a bouquet of flowers–perhaps it was.

It could have ended there; two people who shared a glance. But it didn’t. I reached out with a polite word, or two, and you responded. We engaged in conversation, nothing profound. Did time seem to lose its meaning for an instant? Did we make a connection–it seemed unlikely.

In the days that followed we encountered each another several times. Was it a coincidence, or did we run in the same social circles? It’s funny I never noticed you before–I found that interesting.

I was curious to know more about you. Something about you mattered to me. My heart was warmed when I discovered that I mattered to you. I decided to trust you. I let you see the real me, not the polite pasted on version of me I use to impress others. You had a way of drawing out the essence of me. Our two separate life stories began to overlap. We were–friends.

As time went on, I felt at home being with you. Home was now–us.

Send Down the Rain

Leave a reply

81J45LFSn-L._AC_UY218_When someone first recommended this author, I was reluctant to spend money on a writer I’d never heard of.  Months later, Send Down the Rain by Charles Martin, is the second book of his I have read.  He’s  become one of my favorite authors.  I find myself asking, “why is that?”  Maybe it’s because Charles Martin novels make you feel part of the story; what happens to the characters matter.  In this latest read I became so immersed in the story I found myself assessing the outcome of the book for days afterwards.

Send Down the Rain is a great read!  It’s a classic struggle of good verses evil. The main character, Jo Jo Brooks, claims, “evil can’t kill evil.”  He believes love is the only thing that can challenge hate and overcome it. Send Down the Rain is filled with secrets and plot twists.  The reader is fed a steady diet of them both.  It is a tale of how far is a man is willing to go to make a stand against evil.

When you are finished reading this book you will want to keep it handy for a second read.