Reblog: Only Love’s atmosphere

Published on August 28, 2012 by lindseybiggsLeave a comment

When this writer saw a tornado, she quickly prayed. She realized the political turmoil in her neighborhood was affecting the whole atmosphere. Prayer brought a resolution to the political problems and to the weather.

Only Love’s atmosphere

Prayer can bring calm to a storm – and even to political campaigns.

By Jane Hickson

Late one afternoon, my granddaughter and I decided to make a quick trip to the pet store. It was closing shortly, but we had just enough time to drive there and make our purchase. Not far from home, stopped at a red light, I looked up. There in the sky, hovering over the pet store, was a funnel cloud – something I had never seen before, except in photos and on TV. I remembered someone saying earlier in the afternoon that there were tornadoes in the area, and that much damage had been done in several other places.

I reached out to God for an answer as to what to do. Then, I suddenly remembered that we were nearing the day to vote for governor of our state, and that this funnel cloud was directly over the home town of one of the candidates.

The campaign had been filled with political mudslinging, criticisms, accusations, and much condemnation hurled at one another. In fact, it was not unusual to be out in public and to overhear a stranger comment on how confusing it was to know how to vote, or to say there was no good choice of candidate. Neither candidate seemed very desirable.

I began to pray – about both the tornado and the negative political campaign…Read more

Let your light shine!

Published on August 24, 2012 by lindseybiggsLeave a comment

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16, NKJV)

As I was praying this morning, I had an image in thought of my light shining and God saying, “You are valuable, you are needed, you are making a difference.” Ahhh, how reassuring! Thank you, Father 🙂

This inspired me to write a blog because so often we may wonder if we even have a light to shine! I know I wonder this at times.

Jesus makes the presumption that we all have a light to shine in this statement. He doesn’t say: “If you have a light…”or “If you are one of the lucky ones that God created to have a light, then let it shine.” No.

Christ Jesus message is that each of us has a light – forever – regardless of our human circumstances. His message was a universal one. He chose for his disciples (students) regular, common men – fishermen. These men didn’t have various degrees or a prestigious place in society. One Bible translation describes these men as “unlearned”. And he left these men (and women) to establish a church!

Doesn’t this show us that wherever we are in life – employment status, marital status, education status – that we all have a light to shine. A 3-year-old has this light. A 90-year-old has this light. A 30-year-old and a 50-year-old have this light. This light comes from God so it is divine, perfect, lovely and has a transforming effect on the situations around us.

This light doesn’t decay, wear out, or die. It is an eternal light within each of us that defies time, space or any other material limitations. It exemplifies our oneness with Deity.

So have fun letting your light shine today. We now all know you have one! 🙂

Repost: Lessons from sunflowers

Published on August 7, 2012 by lindseybiggsLeave a comment

This is a such a beautiful analogy. And a wonderful prayer for our political climate.

Sunflowers’ promise of hope and unity

by Janet Hegarty

When you travel through western Kansas in August, near the town of Goodland, you’ll see huge fields of sunflowers in full bloom. The sudden burst of bright yellow against the green landscape is stunning, but the behavior of the sunflowers is even more impressive. All of the flowers face toward the sun and move together in unity as they follow the sun throughout the day.

Against the backdrop of the current contentious political landscape, the thought of these sunflowers moving together in unity is refreshing. It stimulates hope that there might be a way to move beyond antagonistic, divisive political differences. Granted, the life of a flower is simple compared with the complexities of human existence, but I believe there’s much to learn about how we might establish harmony by considering the sunflower’s activity.

The flowers move in harmony because they are all seeking and finding the good they need from the same source. This is what unifies their actions. Their need for the sun is intrinsic. They naturally follow the sun, and their needs are supplied in the process.

Much political discord today comes from disparate points of view as to how the social and economic life in the United States should be managed. These conflicting ideas have polarized the country. This polarization has been so extreme at times that it has severely slowed the normal effective action of the government. Thinking of the sunflowers has made me wonder if there isn’t a higher source of good we could focus on that might unite us all in progressive activity.