Hey,
I've been away for a while, life intervening and all that. I'm back because I feel pressed to write about how I'm feeling. Right now I'm finding it so hard. If I'm honest I feel like my relationship is hanging on by a thread. I haven't read my Bible in ages. I haven't done anything.
So what have I been doing??!!
You know, it's so much easier to stick to a path when you isolate yourself from other people and from life going on around you and I've been doing so much less of that. And so I've been caught up in a gust of fun which has just totally caught me off balance.
Imagine going on a diet and then treating yourself to a slice of chocolate cake that you'd almost forgotten the taste of, and before you know it you've pretty much eaten the whole thing.
Imagine getting on a raft and enjoying the ocean around you, then dozing off to sleep and waking up to find out you've drifted far far away.
It's like that.
The cares of this world. I've been enjoying myself, I will admit it, I've had more fun that I've had in a long time. But I've also lost my balance and lost my focus. And it's really hard getting myself motivated to even pick up the compass that's gonna lead me back home.
I wonder, is this how Hansel and Gretel would have felt faced with a big gingerbread house versus a trail of regular old bread crumbs. One sweeter to the lips, the other the bread of life itself.
Oh God help me please! You said to be sober and vigilant and I have been neither! And now I am in perpetual haze. All the things I thought I wanted are seemingly close to my fingertips, but to reach them it seems I would have to let go of your hand, and I don't want to do that.
To live with the possibility of nothing, to live a life of sacrifice oh Lord is what you require, and I want to pay the price. I want to pay the price but I don't know if I have enough in me.
Please help me dear Lord, I know the time draws near. Like Daddy said, it's not long now. It's not long, so please dear Lord help me to hold on, help me to hold on with a firmer, surer grip. Help me to re-find my focus. Help me oh Lord becasue I cannt help myself, and if I don't say another word please accept this as my prayer.
I don't know what else to do
Wednesday 9 September 2009
Saturday 9 May 2009
A Woman's Place
Hi peeps! Yes I'm bizaaaaaccckk! Hope you've all been well and keeping the faith.
Right. I'm writing today because last night I went to watch a screening of Diary of a Tired Black Man with some friends (wave :-)) last night, and while the documentary itself was interesting , but for me the discussions a bunch of us had before and after the screening were most poignant.
The director of the movie was there with his wife, and they were talking about how they endeavour to manage their home and life according to Biblical principals, eg. the man being the head of the house as Christ is the head of the church. Now, this is something I agree with, particularly as I recognise that marriage is/should be a reflection of the relationship that Christ has with the Church (the worldwide body of believers) as his bride. Which means that men should seek to treat their wives and families with the same respect and lovingkindness that Christ lavishes on us. It's not a relationship of domination but cooperation, trust and mutual respect.
So in the discussion it came up how society and indeed the structure of families and communities have changed drastically since the 1950s, undeniably aided by popular value systems such as feminism and the media. Women and men have bought into it because it appeals to our selfish nature, our egos and greed.
While women have been told they are equal to men and that society has been holding out on them, some men welcome aspects of feminism because they want women to share the burden of work too in order to fund their own aspirational lifestyles of the rich and famous. Other men support the independent woman movement just because they have a hard time accepting a woman spending money they earned (selfish maybe? hmmmmmm). Others genuinely believe we are equal and as such should be able the same rights if we want to.
Now, does this remind anyone of the first whisper of temptation? (God doesnt want you to fulfill your potential and be as good as Him, He's holding out on you, do this and you too can be like Him!) And what happened? Adam and Eve believed the lie and were deceived. They tried to encroach on the natural order of things and what happened? Disorder for generations to come!
Isn't this what has happened to the family, to male-female roles and relationships? Hasn't this snowball picked up pace and now crushing communities and societies with ever increasing force and pace?
Oh the wonder of God's truth! He set everything up from the beginning as it should be, because believe it or not, being God, He knows best.
The sad thing is that in some communities it would appear that many women don't have the luxury of being women and have forgotten what it means, while some men don't actually know how to be men.
We have generations of men raised in single-parented households who become accustomed to seeing women as providers, and then we wonder why the men just don't seem able to make even basic steps towards becoming providers. These same men go on to reproduce and are notably absent or poor providers for their own offspring, who then go on to be raised by patriarchal mothers.
So what's the solution? It's interesting that the death of the modern family is being lamented from all corners, yet few acknowledge that the way home is a return to the Biblical order of male-female relationships. However there is growing recognition that feminism may have hatched a monster:
How's the fruit taste, Eve?
It's hard for our egos to accept that the flattery that makes us feel so good might not be true. I'm not saying married women and mothers should not be recognised for their contributions to the economy and political life. But you know what? What's good for one person is not necessarily good for the well-being of all. Actually my friend Paul said it better - "All things are lawful unto me, but not all things are expedient." (1 Corinthians 6:12)
For the model to work, we need to see men earning the trust of women and stepping up to the plate, willingly prepared to take on the role of provider, giving women room to express their femininity as God intended, in a role that both are happy with, whether that role be in the workplace, community or in the home.
Right. I'm writing today because last night I went to watch a screening of Diary of a Tired Black Man with some friends (wave :-)) last night, and while the documentary itself was interesting , but for me the discussions a bunch of us had before and after the screening were most poignant.
The director of the movie was there with his wife, and they were talking about how they endeavour to manage their home and life according to Biblical principals, eg. the man being the head of the house as Christ is the head of the church. Now, this is something I agree with, particularly as I recognise that marriage is/should be a reflection of the relationship that Christ has with the Church (the worldwide body of believers) as his bride. Which means that men should seek to treat their wives and families with the same respect and lovingkindness that Christ lavishes on us. It's not a relationship of domination but cooperation, trust and mutual respect.
So in the discussion it came up how society and indeed the structure of families and communities have changed drastically since the 1950s, undeniably aided by popular value systems such as feminism and the media. Women and men have bought into it because it appeals to our selfish nature, our egos and greed.
While women have been told they are equal to men and that society has been holding out on them, some men welcome aspects of feminism because they want women to share the burden of work too in order to fund their own aspirational lifestyles of the rich and famous. Other men support the independent woman movement just because they have a hard time accepting a woman spending money they earned (selfish maybe? hmmmmmm). Others genuinely believe we are equal and as such should be able the same rights if we want to.
Now, does this remind anyone of the first whisper of temptation? (God doesnt want you to fulfill your potential and be as good as Him, He's holding out on you, do this and you too can be like Him!) And what happened? Adam and Eve believed the lie and were deceived. They tried to encroach on the natural order of things and what happened? Disorder for generations to come!
Isn't this what has happened to the family, to male-female roles and relationships? Hasn't this snowball picked up pace and now crushing communities and societies with ever increasing force and pace?
Oh the wonder of God's truth! He set everything up from the beginning as it should be, because believe it or not, being God, He knows best.
The sad thing is that in some communities it would appear that many women don't have the luxury of being women and have forgotten what it means, while some men don't actually know how to be men.
We have generations of men raised in single-parented households who become accustomed to seeing women as providers, and then we wonder why the men just don't seem able to make even basic steps towards becoming providers. These same men go on to reproduce and are notably absent or poor providers for their own offspring, who then go on to be raised by patriarchal mothers.
So what's the solution? It's interesting that the death of the modern family is being lamented from all corners, yet few acknowledge that the way home is a return to the Biblical order of male-female relationships. However there is growing recognition that feminism may have hatched a monster:
How's the fruit taste, Eve?
It's hard for our egos to accept that the flattery that makes us feel so good might not be true. I'm not saying married women and mothers should not be recognised for their contributions to the economy and political life. But you know what? What's good for one person is not necessarily good for the well-being of all. Actually my friend Paul said it better - "All things are lawful unto me, but not all things are expedient." (1 Corinthians 6:12)
For the model to work, we need to see men earning the trust of women and stepping up to the plate, willingly prepared to take on the role of provider, giving women room to express their femininity as God intended, in a role that both are happy with, whether that role be in the workplace, community or in the home.
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