Live the Life

Building upon and practicing the Spanish I initially began a study of years ago, I find myself thinking with it and listening to the nuances of the meaning. Just the other week the co-pastor friend at church and also today my co-worker friend and I in each instance were discussing how 'Escucharme' can substitute 'Oirme'. Similar intricate subtleties exist in all language, even for the counterpart of these same words. As a writer, I don't read a book or watch a movie; I climb into the mind of the writer who has stepped inside and experience his story. From fingering the keyboard and singing at church, I've begun to let the music play me. As I re-immerse myself in photography, I find myself seeing through a lense without the camera to my eye. Today coming home with my fellow-commuter friend, I saw the perfect take, again and again and again. I was driving and I had forgotten my camera at home. But I saw the sun balance itself within the vortex of two hills in a San Dimas horizon. I saw clouds release their moisture as if exhaling a sigh and nearby also keep it in as if angrily holding breath, and how a glint of sunlight touched a shrouded airplane. I took in the double rainbow, seeking its origin from end to end. My friend showed me how the colors reversed from the inside rainbow to the outer one; I hadn't noticed that detail before. Yes, I was watching the road too ;-) When you talk; speak! When you listen; hear! When you look; see! When you smell; envelope the aromas! When you touch; feel! Savor when you taste! When you live; be alive! I'm realizing that God doesn't want me to half-exist. I've got some work to do. I've grown up protecting myself from hurt, from getting angry and, in so doing, from the fullness of an total spectrum of emotion. It has been a disservice to myself, to my loved ones, and to my First Love. I'm remembering a verse "with ALL your ...." and '...you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot'. From us He wants wholeness; He wants entirety. Paul learned to be content in whatever situation he found himself. That can so easily fit the existence described above. Our salvation reminds me of the movie 'Toy Story' in that what is a toy that spends its existence boxed upon a shelve instead of enjoyed by a child. I don't think that God asked, nor Paul resolved to, de-sensitize life. Imprisoned disciples sang. God joined us here on this earth in the person of Jesus and felt our pain, hurt our hurts, rejoiced in our joys! I think Paul's contentment was Christlike. Lord help me to live Christlike; move me from any and all marginality. Help me to know and live 'for me to live is Christ'.