thedatasuperfluous's Xanga

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 19:49:57 GMT

It's a powerful thing to see yourself having dreams (and believing that they are on the way) which you didn't think would be possible even just a few months ago. Nothing and no one can ever replace my need for God, but gosh... some things and some people are 1) certainly big and personal confirmations that God Exists, and 2) are surely Blessings from God.

Please continue to help me submit all to You, Lord. I know it's truly the point of being Given anything at all... to thank You, to give it back to you, and to share it all with others in the process: as we all journey Home to be fully with You and like You.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:49:09 GMT

Ode: Intimations Of Immortality From Recollections Of Early Childhood

by William Wordsworth

There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,
The earth, and every common sight,
To me did seem
Apparelled in celestial light,
The glory and the freshness of a dream.
It is not now as it hath been of yore;--
Turn wheresoe'er I may,
By night or day,
The things which I have seen I now can see no more.

The Rainbow comes and goes,
And lovely is the Rose,
The Moon doth with delight
Look round her when the heavens are bare,
Waters on a starry night
Are beautiful and fair;
The sunshine is a glorious birth;
But yet I know, where'er I go,
That there hath past away a glory from the earth.

Now, while the birds thus sing a joyous song,
And while the young lambs bound
As to the tabor's sound,
To me alone there came a thought of grief:
A timely utterance gave that thought relief,
And I again am strong:
The cataracts blow their trumpets from the steep;
No more shall grief of mine the season wrong;
I hear the Echoes through the mountains throng,
The Winds come to me from the fields of sleep,
And all the earth is gay;
Land and sea
Give themselves up to jollity,
And with the heart of May
Doth every Beast keep holiday;--
Thou Child of Joy,
Shout round me, let me hear thy shouts, thou happy
Shepherd-boy!

Ye blessed Creatures, I have heard the call
Ye to each other make; I see
The heavens laugh with you in your jubilee;
My heart is at your festival,
My head hath its coronal,
The fulness of your bliss, I feel--I feel it all.
Oh evil day! if I were sullen
While Earth herself is adorning,
This sweet May-morning,
And the Children are culling
On every side,
In a thousand valleys far and wide,
Fresh flowers; while the sun shines warm,
And the Babe leaps up on his Mother's arm:--
I hear, I hear, with joy I hear!
--But there's a Tree, of many, one,
A single Field which I have looked upon,
Both of them speak of something that is gone:
The Pansy at my feet
Doth the same tale repeat:
Whither is fled the visionary gleam?
Where is it now, the glory and the dream?

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home:
Heaven lies about us in our infancy!
Shades of the prison-house begin to close
Upon the growing Boy,
But He beholds the light, and whence it flows,
He sees it in his joy;
The Youth, who daily farther from the east
Must travel, still is Nature's Priest,
And by the vision splendid
Is on his way attended;
At length the Man perceives it die away,
And fade into the light of common day.

Earth fills her lap with pleasures of her own;
Yearnings she hath in her own natural kind,
And, even with something of a Mother's mind,
And no unworthy aim,
The homely Nurse doth all she can
To make her Foster-child, her Inmate Man,
Forget the glories he hath known,
And that imperial palace whence he came.

Behold the Child among his new-born blisses,
A six years' Darling of a pigmy size!
See, where 'mid work of his own hand he lies,
Fretted by sallies of his mother's kisses,
With light upon him from his father's eyes!
See, at his feet, some little plan or chart,
Some fragment from his dream of human life,
Shaped by himself with newly-learned art;
A wedding or a festival,
A mourning or a funeral;
And this hath now his heart,
And unto this he frames his song:
Then will he fit his tongue
To dialogues of business, love, or strife;
But it will not be long
Ere this be thrown aside,
And with new joy and pride
The little Actor cons another part;
Filling from time to time his "humorous stage"
With all the Persons, down to palsied Age,
That Life brings with her in her equipage;
As if his whole vocation
Were endless imitation.

Thou, whose exterior semblance doth belie
Thy Soul's immensity;
Thou best Philosopher, who yet dost keep
Thy heritage, thou Eye among the blind,
That, deaf and silent, read'st the eternal deep,
Haunted for ever by the eternal mind,--
Mighty Prophet! Seer blest!
On whom those truths do rest,
Which we are toiling all our lives to find,
In darkness lost, the darkness of the grave;
Thou, over whom thy Immortality
Broods like the Day, a Master o'er a Slave,
A Presence which is not to be put by;
Thou little Child, yet glorious in the might
Of heaven-born freedom on thy being's height,
Why with such earnest pains dost thou provoke
The years to bring the inevitable yoke,
Thus blindly with thy blessedness at strife?
Full soon thy Soul shall have her earthly freight,
And custom lie upon thee with a weight
Heavy as frost, and deep almost as life!

O joy! that in our embers
Is something that doth live,
That nature yet remembers
What was so fugitive!
The thought of our past years in me doth breed
Perpetual benediction: not indeed
For that which is most worthy to be blest--
Delight and liberty, the simple creed
Of Childhood, whether busy or at rest,
With new-fledged hope still fluttering in his breast:--
Not for these I raise
The song of thanks and praise;
But for those obstinate questionings
Of sense and outward things,
Fallings from us, vanishings;
Blank misgivings of a Creature
Moving about in worlds not realised,
High instincts before which our mortal Nature
Did tremble like a guilty Thing surprised:
But for those first affections,
Those shadowy recollections,
Which, be they what they may,
Are yet the fountain light of all our day,
Are yet a master light of all our seeing;
Uphold us, cherish, and have power to make
Our noisy years seem moments in the being
Of the eternal Silence: truths that wake,
To perish never;
Which neither listlessness, nor mad endeavour,
Nor Man nor Boy,
Nor all that is at enmity with joy,
Can utterly abolish or destroy!
Hence in a season of calm weather
Though inland far we be,
Our Souls have sight of that immortal sea
Which brought us hither,
Can in a moment travel thither,
And see the Children sport upon the shore,
And hear the mighty waters rolling evermore.

Then sing, ye Birds, sing, sing a joyous song!
And let the young Lambs bound
As to the tabor's sound!
We in thought will join your throng,
Ye that pipe and ye that play,
Ye that through your hearts to-day
Feel the gladness of the May!
What though the radiance which was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind;
In the primal sympathy
Which having been must ever be;
In the soothing thoughts that spring
Out of human suffering;
In the faith that looks through death,
In years that bring the philosophic mind.

And O, ye Fountains, Meadows, Hills, and Groves,
Forebode not any severing of our loves!
Yet in my heart of hearts I feel your might;
I only have relinquished one delight
To live beneath your more habitual sway.
I love the Brooks which down their channels fret,
Even more than when I tripped lightly as they;
The innocent brightness of a new-born Day
Is lovely yet;
The Clouds that gather round the setting sun
Do take a sober colouring from an eye
That hath kept watch o'er man's mortality;
Another race hath been, and other palms are won.
Thanks to the human heart by which we live,
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears,
To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Tue, 05 May 2009 15:43:00 GMT

I saw a special boy in an older man's body today. He was wearing the same style clothes he's always worn, carefully watching the traffic with the same eyes in the same way he's watched it all his life whenever he's crossing the street.

He was looking for You just as I am now.

We are all the same... the children You love, the ones You know by name.

Thanks for loving me always, God.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 15:14:35 GMT

My comments on someone else' comments on the HA site. Thought you might get a kick.

...
"truth by very definition is exclusive."

Exclusive to God Alone, I would add. And it is nothing to be "had" or "owned" by us, only given to us piece by piece, or we'd blow up, man. God is Truth, and whatever He says IS True. I'm convinced that He's not defined by black and white, as most people think. I'm convinced that He DEFINES black and white - with His Word confirmed by His Spirit.

"You see the bible stories as ones of mystic realms, I see them as real as the story of Washington crossing the Delaware, Kennedy being shot by the loan gunman, and man landing on the moon."

Who said that it's wrong to see them that way? If you read my earlier post, you would have found that I already addressed (and believe in) the extreme historical soundness of the Bible, but I for one see them as both mystical AND factual. How can I not? If I cannot look at a person or friend as merely factual, how can I then expect history - which cannot ever be as experienced as it was when it happened - to be any different?

My relationship with God is both based on facts AND the non-factual... the things I CAN see and the things I CANNOT see. This is a Biblical concept, dude. Paul says we "fix our eyes on what is UNSEEN." That sounds a little "mystical" by definition, wouldn't you say?

And I never said Truth was relative. If it was, then I'd only relatively be set free, and I don't think this is the case. I'm pretty sure I'm freed and becoming MORE free day by day through Christ and through His Word.

"each person has the liberty to choose what his/her conscience or soul dictates is right."

I agree if that's meant to be "in/through Christ," but if not, I disagree. After all, we were/are (depending on your viewpoint, I suppose) SLAVES to sin, and that doesn't sound like a choice to me at all... at least, not much of one. Furthermore, our righteousness (or ability to choose good or even to understand good) is as FILTHY rags. We don't have the capability to make any right decisions even based on a more accurate understanding of truth because our hearts - the core of who and what we are - are corrupted.

If we have any life in us at all, it's not by our choosing, but by Christ who lives IN us and liberates us. We can't liberate ourselves. Even when we try our best, it's not our best that saves us, but HIS Best - His Son. I think the Bible makes this quite clear in this and many other passages.

Galatians 20:
16Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
17But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.
18For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
19For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
21I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

Regardless of even a very good and accurate understanding of Absolute Truth, we still have no hope at all if our hope is to be found within our own "morally guided" choices. That's the thing I think we all forget, and when we remember that it's all about what Jesus did (not what we can do at all), we even feel BADLY that Jesus died for us, which further comes from an attitude of self-righteousness (that it's up to "us" somehow) and leads to condemnation and self-loathing.

God wants us to realize that, yes... we ARE the scum of the earth. BUT (and this is the biggest "but" in history), HE LOVES US ANYWAY, and HE DIED FOR US ANYWAY. Sounds like Gospel.

"and is responsible to no one but God for the decision that is made."

I know! That's the scariest part of all, isn't it!? This means we're even MORE TOAST!!!

"Sin is the problem in the world today, not lack of compassion, or lack of belief."

I lack belief that such a statement is correct (or compassionate). =)

I think if we all believed (or knew, better put) that Jesus loves us (and TRULY has unlimited and unconditional compassion on us), and that God had paid FOR our sins NOT to be held imputed to us, while we might still "struggle" with sins because we still have flesh that is weak and destined to fail, we would also trust in God (via His Love for us) and realize that the issue isn't SIN at all, but rather, our misconception that God wants us to become moral, self-righteous beings within or via ANY form of religion or self-righteousness or even "choosing."

My main question is, whether I am consciously committing "sin" or not, I AM a sinner through and through. The poem by Lewis says this best and puts the focus on Whom it should be:

"All this is flashy rhetoric about loving you.
I never had a selfless thought since I was born.
I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through:
I want God, you, all friends, merely to serve my turn.

Peace, re-assurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek,
I cannot crawl one inch outside my proper skin:
I talk of love --a scholar's parrot may talk Greek--
But, self-imprisoned, always end where I begin.

Only that now you have taught me (but how late) my lack.
I see the chasm. And everything you are was making
My heart into a bridge by which I might get back
From exile, and grow man. And now the bridge is breaking.

For this I bless you as the ruin falls. The pains
You give me are more precious than all other gains."

"and you could read my signature to understand a little bit more."

We can read. =)

"Its better to be divided by truth than united in error."

I don't know... I agree with that, on one hand, but truth be told, we're ALL united in error, for ALL have sinned and come short of the Glory of God. This is what makes the death and resurrection of Christ such GOOD NEWS for EVERYONE: because Christ died for ALL and Christ LOVES ALL and served ALL. He didn't leave it up to us or our ability to perceive and obey the Law.

So let others divide us (or even divided up our body parts) as they may if/when they misunderstand us or the Gospel (or just don't know it), but our message should be that of God's: Grace. Good News. That HE can do the impossible, even though most of us (who are honest with ourselves) find ourselves to be utterly "impossible" to handle.

God can handle us. And He IS, and He Will. And He's GOOD, and it's going to be alright... no... it's going to be Great, not because we have the ability to be great on our own, but because even in our weakness, His Strength is made Perfect. He can do (and MUST do) ALL that we cannot, and through Jesus we can know that this is precisely His Will: to Glorify Himself and to SAVE US - even from ourselves - by His Great and Mighty Hand.

If we can't agree on that Gospel, then don't call me a Christian.

I used to think that it was all about me following Jesus, and to some extent, I do believe that this is true. However, now more than ever before, I'm finding that it's CLEARLY about how Jesus has been (and IS) following ME around... and is all I can say is THANK GOD He's still interested.

I'd have given up on someone like me a long time ago. Too complicated, too lacking in character, too self-righteous, too self-loathing, etc. etc. etc.

GOD (not ANYONE else, not even what I say) IS GOOD.

...

Let us then be VERY HIGHLY EXTREMELY careful to observe any self-righteous thoughts that we think are "God" or "Biblical."

If you think that your salvation is dependent on ANYTHING that YOU do or don't do, that's not God's Salvation that you have in mind. Period.

And if you think, "Well, I'm not being self-righteous... I could never be... I'm just defending the Truth." Defend it all you want, and that too is good and of God, but truthfully, if you don't think you're self-righteous, that's exactly how you can know that you are. =) And if I told you this without being honest with you in saying that I am self-righteous, then I too am self-righteous. Which I am. But at least I'm being honest with you.

PLUS!!! It's great because I don't have to worry about my being self-righteous... it's just one more sin that Jesus has to cover, and one that I think we all commit rather unknowingly on a regular, day-to-day basis.

But if we realize that Christ IS our Righteousness, then and only then do we become the Righteousness of Christ, but not because of anything that WE did or will or even can do, but precisely and only because of what HE did and continues to do and work in us.

Enough said for now, and know that I've said this out of love for anyone who reads this.

My advice: QUIT living by the Law. Live by Grace, and let God - not me - tell you what that's supposed to look like. Basically... trust in God, lean not to your own understanding, and acknowledge Him at ALL times and BOAST in your weakness. Then you'll be able to see God in things far beyond your own lack of morality or wisdom or anything else.

And that's exactly what I need, but if you're better than me or have a better answer, then by all means... go for it.

I'll be sticking with Jesus out of necessity and desperation, not because I'm even smart enough to pick Him.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 21:41:17 GMT

"With Twitter, you can stay hyper–connected to your friends and always know what they’re doing. Or, you can stop following them any time. You can even set quiet times on Twitter so you’re not interrupted."

This is what's on Twitter's website, and this is why I will never sign up! Terms like "hyper-connected" and "quiet times" already show how deeply e-addicted and e-debased we're becoming!

Someone once said that "time spent = relationship." So if we're spending most of our time on machines that allow us to "virtually connect" with our friends, what kind of a life is that? No real-time sound of the human voice or three-dimensional smiles or tears without pixelation or physical touch with the actual souls in actual bodies that we love.

That's sad!

Say no to twitter! *And limit your time online in general.

Brad

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 16:44:36 GMT

What I have...

This is to put it very simply and totally honestly, ok?

I have nothing apart from the Grace of God. I absolutely know that in this moment, and I hope that God (by that same Grace) can and will (and must) always continue to show me this, or I will lose my way, be very confused and ineffective as a person, and miss the only real Joy and Peace that exist in this world.

What I ask of you is that you give me no less than the Grace of God and CERTAINLY nothing more that you would ever think of as more. I don't need any distractions... I really don't. And at the same time, I definitely need every shred of Grace that God sends my way. It's all about Grace now, as stupid or simple or even theologically based as this might sound. It has nothing to do with stupidity or simplicity or theology.

I'm telling you just about the only truth that I know right now... maybe even THE only truth that I can depend on.

So please understand me one more time... I have nothing but the Grace of God = I have nothing to give, and I have nothing to have unless either or both are part of His Grace in my life.

Maybe it sounds too obvious to be interesting to you, or maybe it sounds like I'm too simple or immature or non-intellectual even. If you find any of those true, I'm ok with that. I truly have nothing (not even your opinions or compliments or criticisms, even if I'd hope for them) unless they are part of the Grace of God.

Everything is about what God can provide us... HIS Love, His Time, His Energy, HIS Character and Diligence, His Mercy, His Understanding, His RIDICULOUS and OBSCENE Generosity and Acceptance, His Truth, His Hope, His Joy... and most certainly by all means and by all measures, His Love over you and me... it's all about Him being able to take care of us. It's all about Him taking care of me.

I never knew this, and I'm sure that I'll be bound to forget it. But see... it's not even about me remembering or "being faithful." I can't and won't remember all the time, and I definitely can't and won't be faithful. Looking at the true depth of my character is about the same as looking for Bigfoot: you won't find any.

EVERYTHING is by the Grace of God. It always was too... I just didn't realize it.

Do you realize this?

Do you realize how much you are Loved that God would give you ALL that you need and even desire in His Timing, but even withhold Good Things from you if was best for you at the time?

GOD KNOWS what you think about. He knows what you fear. And He knows what you secretly wish that you could hope for or dream of. And He's not going to disappoint you. He'll either change you or change the world around you or change your mind or change how you see or... well, whatever else He wants to do.

God is BIG ENOUGH (surprise, even though it shouldn't be) to handle you. God is CARING enough to CARE for you.

As good as anything good He gives could be, there's nothing better than simply being reminded of this - that GOD LOVES YOU and CAN AND WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU. And even when you can't remember this or deliberately walk away from it...

...don't you realize that He's still got you? Don't you realize that He can still do whatever the heck He wants to do? Don't you realize that His Love NEVER leaves you even if you deliberately pretend or accidentally believe that It's not there?

It's ALWAYS THERE. He is ALWAYS THERE.

He NEVER leaves us. He NEVER FORSAKES us. He never even forgets about us.

...

I'm not saying it's easy; I think it's "hard as hell," as the expression goes.

But I'm telling you... God's Grace WILL BE THERE. I don't know how I know it other than the fact that He must be showing me this right now. I'm more afraid right now than I've ever been my entire life, and while I could tell you some amazing things that have been going on, EVEN THOSE THINGS are not what I need: GOD is what I need. I know this now. I KNOW THIS FOR now, I should say, and even when I forget, may God by His Grace continue to remind me.

Because apart from His Grace - apart from His Tender, Tender, Tender Love and Mercy for me... I have nothing.

Listen to me one more time... listen to me and understand that God is interested in BLOWING your mind, not fitting into it:

God loves you (YOU) right (RIGHT) now (NOW). Right now. He doesn't love you of the past (although He did then too), and He's not expecting and hoping to see a "better" you in the future. You are who you will be in this lifetime, as far as He's concerned. He's not looking for anything from you but what He Himself can give you. Yes, He wants you to trust Him, but He doesn't want to force you to trust Him. *Do you understand this? He wants to PROVE HIMSELF to you, and if you don't think He has so far, then obviously (and I say this sincerely, not nonchalantly), you are in for that greater of a surprise in the end - or the beginning, whichever it is to you and Him.

So listen... and may God help us all to remember this ONE thing:

He's not only Love, and He not only Loves... He loves you. He just does.

He loves you, and He loves me, and He loves all of our hopes and our dreams and our doubts and our fears and our FAILURES and our weakness and our needs. Because in ALL THINGS, He seeks to be God: He IS God. And He will provide you EVERYTHING by and through Himself and His Love for you.

It's all because of His Love.

This is why I can (right now, anyway, because it's what He's giving me today) boldly say that I have nothing apart from the Grace of God with NO shame and NO fear. Believe me... I'm going to try and "do better," and I'm even going to try to "figure some things out."

All I can say - though obviously, I could always say more - is THANK GOD that He's beyond my ability to EVER do better or figure anything out at all. Because I need Him, not me. Not even you.

And if I get anything, oh God... my dear God and Friend and King, it's ALL because of You.

...

I'm ok with that. Are you?

Thanks, Jesus. It's all because of You. Help us to be ok with that. Oh God help us to be ok with that. That's what I need to know... I need to know You.

...

God bless you, my friend, whoever you are. He is blessing you, and He will. Trust me. If He is blessing me, then there is no reason why He would not bless you. After all, all I have is nothing I can earn. It is given to me freely, though I cannot even understand why at all.

Thanks for reading. No apologies from me this time... I know I've got nothing and need nothing for once. Thanks, God.

Jesus loves you. Man oh man, does Jesus love you.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 18:04:04 GMT

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 03:28:12 GMT

Friday, March 06, 2009

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:51:27 GMT

Jesus, what am I doing?

Friday, February 27, 2009

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 17:59:06 GMT

On Christianity and Loving "The World."

It is ironic (and sad) that any form of Christianity - a religion which supposedly subscribes to, follows, and mirrors the teachings of Christ - should teach more about "being separate from the world" and "not loving the world, but loving God" than about LOVING and SERVING the world, your neighbor, and even your enemies in the world.

If we love God, we will keep His Commandments, and there are two that complete ALL of them: LOVE God, and LOVE your neighbor. If you're not doing one (which came either right before or right after the other), you're not doing the other.

There is absolutely a "loving" of the world in terms of selfish pursuit of temporary happiness, and there is absolutely a "loving" of the world in terms of seeking any other identity than "Jesus loves me." But there is also a deep love and compassion for the world that is more true and more alive than doing anything else - certainly, also more important than talking Christianity up like it's some hierarchy consisting of the spiritual devout.

Yes, we shouldn't "love" the world... that's not really love anyway. That's either selfishness or a whole lot of identity deception.

But if we are not loving and caring for the "the world," blessing those who curse us, turning the other cheek, forgiving those who trespass against us, and laying down our lives for Good News that is for ALL people, it is only right for us to question: is the Jesus/God that we claim to follow REALLY the Jesus/God that is in the Christian Bible?

If any teaching from any religion is any less radical than any teaching of Christ, OR if it is bound more to a system of rules rather than the fullness and completeness of the Sacred Laws of Love (Matthew 22: 35 - 40), that teaching and doctrine is NOT Christ-like, nor is it from God.