It only takes a spark to keep a fire going.
And soon all those around
Can warm up to it's glowing
That's how it is with God's love.
Once you've experienced it
The love you feel
Within your heart
You'll want to pass it on.
And soon all those around
Can warm up to it's glowing
That's how it is with God's love.
Once you've experienced it
The love you feel
Within your heart
You'll want to pass it on.
Today was a day of fighting to remain focused in my work. I've had many days like that recently. I start off with determination, with a plan and then I start to run out of steam too early. Good intentions......... but running on embers. Feeling singed around the edges.
This afternoon, I had a chance phone call from a previous client. He needed to share the follow up to his story. His life is complicated and a thousand times more frustrating than mine will ever be. He has travelled down so many dead end roads, has made so many bad choices in his life which have left him untrusting and very burnt around his edges. And yet, he phoned me. He took a chance, and picked up the phone. Interestingly, as much as he needed to connect with me, to have me listen and to help him find perspective, I needed to hear about his world to help me focus on what is really important, and on the other inconsequential things I must learn to crumple up like dry leaves and blow away in the wind. I also needed an opportunity to pass on a spark of hope, even though I didn't know I had it in me before he called.
Of course, it was thinking about our conversation afterwards when the realization hit me. I didn't need to be a blazing fire all the time. All I need is a spark to keep me going. All I need to do is pass on a spark.................to someone else.................and allow them to make their own glorious wood crackling campfire. By passing it on, I received a gift..........another ember of mine re-ignited, warming me.
The words to the song I started this post with came to mind automatically. Always sung softly at chapel, my memory of it includes the sound of innocent voices, sitting on the beach cuddled together in bunches of friends, tired from a long day of activity, mezmerized by the glowing campfire. All little sparks ..........safe and secure in the knowledge that they belonged.
They matter. We all matter.
This afternoon, I had a chance phone call from a previous client. He needed to share the follow up to his story. His life is complicated and a thousand times more frustrating than mine will ever be. He has travelled down so many dead end roads, has made so many bad choices in his life which have left him untrusting and very burnt around his edges. And yet, he phoned me. He took a chance, and picked up the phone. Interestingly, as much as he needed to connect with me, to have me listen and to help him find perspective, I needed to hear about his world to help me focus on what is really important, and on the other inconsequential things I must learn to crumple up like dry leaves and blow away in the wind. I also needed an opportunity to pass on a spark of hope, even though I didn't know I had it in me before he called.
Of course, it was thinking about our conversation afterwards when the realization hit me. I didn't need to be a blazing fire all the time. All I need is a spark to keep me going. All I need to do is pass on a spark.................to someone else.................and allow them to make their own glorious wood crackling campfire. By passing it on, I received a gift..........another ember of mine re-ignited, warming me.
The words to the song I started this post with came to mind automatically. Always sung softly at chapel, my memory of it includes the sound of innocent voices, sitting on the beach cuddled together in bunches of friends, tired from a long day of activity, mezmerized by the glowing campfire. All little sparks ..........safe and secure in the knowledge that they belonged.
They matter. We all matter.
That's how it is with God's love
Once you've experienced it
The love you feel
Within your heart
You'll want to pass it on.
Once you've experienced it
The love you feel
Within your heart
You'll want to pass it on.
13 comments:
You know, if there is anything in life that constantly returns me to the search for God, it is these words of Jesus Christ: ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.’ In these words I hear the tender voice of a God who longs to hold me as a mother caresses her exhausted child; I hear the yearning soul of an estranged lover longing for a second chance; I hear a mysterious call to community, a call to that mutual dependence in which our salvation (understood as love, liberation and freedom) is to be found. The church is, I believe, intended to be the embodiment of this inclusive community...the gift of belonging - i wish it were more than it is
great post dana
thank you paul. Your writing always strikes a chord in me.
I think we can all learn from studying Canadian geese. Their pattern for flying long distances is the "V"........with one taking the lead. When the lead bird tires, he will move back in the formation and allow another with energy to lead......while he regains his strength using the draft to propel him forward. Working together, inclusively, this flock covers miles and miles and miles.........relying on one another for strength, and assurance of belonging.
There are so many examples in nature which reinforce the message found in the words you quote that I have to believe they were truly spoken and meant for us to help shoulder other's burdens when rest is needed. We should strive to live our lives carried in Christ's message.
Great post....all I need is a spark too...it's just sometimes very hard to find. And when you do find it, it may pitter out very quickly.
this one spoke to me today A..
Top post.
I do believe that our sparks are ignited to some extent by the act of giving.....our attention, our love, our time, our listening ears.... Frederick Buechner wrote: "The life I touch for good or ill will touch another life and that in turn another, until who knows where the trembling stops or in what far place my touch will be felt."
How powerful.
Then, of course there are those days when one just needs to catch a good night's sleep.......and the sparks will return in the morning!!!
Thanks for your comments K and Monk.
I was only 14 the first time that I heard the Ralph Carmichael song that you posted. The lyrics are incredibly poignant and say so much, as is your writing.
I have followed your blog for the better part of a month now and I'm so very impressed at how you write (not that you write to impress me; I'm quite sure that you don't), but how the honesty and realism of life just drip from your fingertips.
The very interesing aspect of this particular post is how the comments section have actually enhanced your words and gave them even more meaning.
harbour cited the words of Jesus that constantly ring with truth.
Thank you for bringing back pleasant memories, but for also conveying a truth for today.
Arlen, thank you so much for your kind words.
I have written previously that for some reason a tap was turned on about a year and a half ago. The words started flowing out of me. It's the strangest thing. It was like I was storing it all up for many years and then kapow! I used to write a lot when I was younger, and then stopped. But around the same time that I was lucky enough to reconnect with an important part of my foundation.......a reunion with my old camp friends after many years of having no connection with them, my writing started up again. I see these two activities merged because it was when I was a Camp counsellor that I wrote as much.......and it was as a camp counsellor that I had the same feelings about my spirituality.
I had put aside this part of who I am..........and it was and is a very big part of me.........and kind of lost my way. Since reuniting with this group of people who are so special to me, my desire to write and the words to capture my ideas has taken on a whole new meaning in my life.
I do believe that blogging has allowed me to gain the confidence I needed to possibly do something with it. Right now, I'm just trying to figure that out.........
Following this post that has touched the hearts of others, I wanted to add just a little too as it has likewise touched mine.
Harbour reminds us of our Lord's assurances from the Gospel according to St. Matthew. Never were there more comforting words.
I think that his desire for the Church to be more...is one we have all shared at one time or another.
I have come to believe that as we are commanded to love one another and as such required to look beyond human frailty and imperfection, we must also remember that, despite our deep desire to move closer to a perfect and loving God, we must also remember that the Church will demonstrate those same human traits. So....I guess it becomes our incumbency to "look beyond" those deficiencies, to love the blemishes and to find God, there, in all of his glory, notwithstanding the difficulties we encounter.
Dana, often your comments are as inspiring as your posts. And in this case, despite shared experiences in the past, you have played a chord that rings so true in my life as well.
To recognize a part of who we were (and therefore who we are) that has slipped away is a blessing. To find and embrace it again is magical.
Finally, in addition to the comforting words of St. Matthew quoted by Harbour above, perhaps I could add this, from the Old Testament, which has always given me strength and comfort as well.
PSALM 121
"I will lift up my eyes to the hills
From whence comes my help?
My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to be moved;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is your keeper;
The LORD is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day
Nor the moon by night.
The LORD shall preserve you from all evil;
He shall preserve your soul.
The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.
Good morning Ian
Wow! What a lovely message to start my Sunday. Thank you.
So........here is my rambling (hopefully understandable response which is formulating in my head after just one cup of tea......
Like you, I have thought a lot about the significance of being a member of the Kawabi family. Several times over my life, I have felt a sense of disconnect with others around me. I felt different........I am different. Moving to NB for example, I was a fish out of water and as everyone knows, if you don't have 3 generations stored in the local cemetary, it's a difficult process to become accepted as a Maritimer. I feel I am now, but it took a long time.
My role in my job is uniquely different......I'm not in Management (thank you for small miracles) but I'm not a worker bee in the front lines.......I fit (and that's often debatable) in between.....the link between......so it gets complicated to even know what "team" I belong to.
With most of my friends, politically I'm much farther right...straddling both red and blue (that makes me purple!!) than their comfort level will allow, and I often struggle when a topic arises with a point of view that to me seems too academically unrealistic..... so I fit but I don't........but I do....as a purple being.....
My point? I have always felt a complete sense of belonging to camp. From the moment I stepped foot on the rooted path in front of the lodge porch when I was 9, I knew. Every year, my own roots grew deeper to that place and to the people I shared it with. As much as I am saddened that Kawabi no longer functions......the closing of camp somehow pass on a strong spark and many personal messages to process.
The most instructional has been to re-ignite my understanding of spirituality, of who I am, of how I fit, of what I have to offer ... of what the church and the messages found in the Bible are saying.
Your comments.......to look beyond the deficiencies.....yes..... I wasn't able to do that at all until I found my camp grounding again. Strange?
Thank you for sharing the psalm. Words to live by......words to guide.
I LOVE the comments section ......often I write something and post it and then sit back and think........am I whacked in the head? Does this make sense? And then.............the words and the thoughts expand in a direction that often is unpredictable.
Off to put the kettle on.......
PS.....I'm glad you're writing on your blog too again Daisy.......you have a gift for writing....
Muskie xo
We share many things - and being purple is one!
I constantly lament the loss of the only political party in Canada that could represent our views in a constant and real way.
The Progressive Conservative Party which was, for all intents and purposes, PURPLE in every sense has been swallowed by a neo-conservative movement in the style of the American Republicans.
I long for the days of a party which although espousing responsible, historically meaningful values, still focused on the needs of real people. It was always the party of the "little guy", the farmer, the independent business person, the family. But not of "the family" in the hijacked neo-con manner which pits it against the so-called Liberal agenda to destroy it!
And no wonder a Maritimer, like you, leans this way. It was the party of GREAT political leaders like Robert Stanfield and the irrepressible Dalton Camp. It was the party of great people who believed in economic prosperity and in taking care of business but also in human prosperity and taking care of people.
My friend, Senator Hugh Segal is one of the last voices of sanity in what has become a party which has forgotten these roots.
Maybe one day, all us PURPLES will stand up to be heard!
A Purple revolution. I'm all for that.
Robert Stanfield remains the ideal, particularly for my partner in crime.
Dalton Camp? Gee, I miss his curmugeonly commentary. I never missed the "3 Wisemen" on Morningside.......Keirans, Camp and Lewis were such a wonderful lively trio........and a testament to sharing differing opinions while maintaining decorum. Their individual opinions I'm sure impacted each other's perspectives.
When he was alive, he would meet with his cronies (and anyone else who wanted to join in) on Tuesdays for lunch.....and other evenings for scotch sipping at the pub in the local Delta hotel. Always in the same corner at the back. When he died, they placed a plaque above the table.....it is now known officially as Camp's Corner. One can't help talking politics when one sits there!
I would love to meet Hugh Segal. He is from Kingston area isn't he? Maybe one day if he's in town.....I'll invite him to sip scotch in Camp's corner ;)
Aside from his wealth of political knowledge and ability to share his views accessibly, what I have always admired about Segal is his ability to be respectful and always use an optimistic tone, even though I'm sure there have been many days when he would rather have stayed away from the arena.
Now who do Maritimers have? Peter McKay........ heaven help us.
Though I have been following the Liberal leadership race and the ongoing issues of the day like a good political junkie, I have had no strong impetus to write about it. Probably because I don't feel like I fit in either camp.........and it just seems to be tired bullshit.
Having said that.......I will be watching the telly.....political drama intrigues me.
my initial feeling was of how much warmer and friendlier my thoughts are of chapel than of church - somehow I associate less expectation from chapel than I do from church
blazing fires can only blaze for so long and can be overpowering, whereas sparks can spread, yet seem more manageable...
embers are fine, take care, Katie
Hi Katie.
Chapels feel like home? that was my first thought when I read your comment. I agree with you. And since they are smaller, those embers can be more warming.
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