Conversion Diary: Let's talk about you! - The diary of a former atheist
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Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Freedom of speech
"The Lord has given me
a well trained tongue,
That I might speak to the weary
aword that will rouse them."
Many of you may recognize these words from Isaiah ch. 50, it is one of the "Servant of the Lord" passages and that chapter is one of my favorites. Everything that comes out of our mouth matters. We can use this gift from the Lord to uplift, to glorify, to give comfort and to help others. It can also be used to cause harm through gossip, calumny, anger....In this backwards world this gift is being misused in a way that has never before been seen. On talk shows people's reputations are ripped to shreds, movies are filled with blasphemy, the Lord's name is taken in vain, telling lies is acceptable, bad means good and so forth. This is not true freedom of speech, this is a form of bondage! True freedom never causes deliberate harm to others, true Godly freedom builds up the body of Christ, it does not tear down unless it is not of God in the first place. There are times when we are called to speak loudly but in a peaceable manner, such as concerns abortion. I usually do my journal entries on http://heavenlyhand.blogspot.com/ but I thought this poem was fitting for this post.
Better left unsaid
these words coiled
on my tongue
ready to spring forth
I sucked them
they crept back into place
catnapped on the
edge of my lips
I swallowed them instead
better left unsaid
a well trained tongue,
That I might speak to the weary
aword that will rouse them."
Many of you may recognize these words from Isaiah ch. 50, it is one of the "Servant of the Lord" passages and that chapter is one of my favorites. Everything that comes out of our mouth matters. We can use this gift from the Lord to uplift, to glorify, to give comfort and to help others. It can also be used to cause harm through gossip, calumny, anger....In this backwards world this gift is being misused in a way that has never before been seen. On talk shows people's reputations are ripped to shreds, movies are filled with blasphemy, the Lord's name is taken in vain, telling lies is acceptable, bad means good and so forth. This is not true freedom of speech, this is a form of bondage! True freedom never causes deliberate harm to others, true Godly freedom builds up the body of Christ, it does not tear down unless it is not of God in the first place. There are times when we are called to speak loudly but in a peaceable manner, such as concerns abortion. I usually do my journal entries on http://heavenlyhand.blogspot.com/ but I thought this poem was fitting for this post.
Better left unsaid
these words coiled
on my tongue
ready to spring forth
I sucked them
back into my head
better left unsaidthey crept back into place
catnapped on the
edge of my lips
I swallowed them instead
better left unsaid
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Jesus wept
Years ago I had a dream. Someone led me to a high cliff and told me to look down. When I did I was stricken to the core by what I saw, there below me was what looked like an enormous dump, but instead of trash it was filled with the sins of humanity. What really, really got to me was that strewn amongst the filth of our sins there were thousands and thousands of tiny little dead babies and even bodyparts. I was aware of someone holding my hand as I shook my head, crying, "No hope, no hope."
Apathy
Oh people
Where are your voices
Is no one there
Does anyone care
Where are the children
The ever silent ones
Where do they rest
Whose sins did they pay for
With their small world
Blood on our hands
Apathy
Oh people
Where are your voices
Is no one there
Does anyone care
Where are the children
The ever silent ones
Where do they rest
Whose sins did they pay for
With their small world
Blood on our hands
Saturday, June 20, 2009
The Immaculate Heart of Mary
June 20th is the feast day of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. I have a great devotion to the rosary and I believe that my family and I have received many graces through her intercession. My husband and I have been married for almost 15 years and for the first 8 years of our marriage I suffered from infertility. (I have endometriosis.) We wanted a child so much and I prayed many rosaries for this. I also did the miraculous medal novena and sent a letter to Medjugorje with a friend of the family asking Mother Mary to intercede for us. Well...it worked! Each summer we go to the beach for a couple weeks and attend a nearby church. While at mass one Sunday the the 1st reading was 2 Kings ch.4 verses 8-16. When the words "This time next year you will be fondling a baby son" were read, fire went through my body! My mother and I walked out of the church after the service, she turned toward me and said, "Mary, next summer you are going to have a baby. ''I looked back at her and said "Yes, I know.'' That October (during the month of Mary, one year from the time I had done the miraculous medal novena) I got pregnant. The following summer, one year after hearing that Bible verse, I was cradling a newborn baby in my arms! We named her Michaela after St. Michael the Archangel with the middle name Rose after the Mystical Rose (one of the titles of our Blessed Mother). Thank you Mother Mary for your constant intercession and thank you Lord for this most precious miracle!
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