If you read my blog regularly, or use a reader (reader.google.com, for example. If you don't use one, you should. Readers are awesome) then you're probably wondering if I dropped off the planet.
Or if I just went to the dogs.
Not really. I have had this blog post stuck in my mind and am finally getting to sit down and write it.
Change. It's the only constant. Sometimes the agent of change is chosen, sometimes it is imposed. Stuff happens. Life ebs and flows. Our circumstances change. Our environments change.
This elaborate home is in LaGrange and was built in 1886 by Samuel Shepardson. It is currently owned and maintained by Mastercraft, Inc., where I work. It's a stunningly beautiful example of architecture from the period in amazingly good condition. When I look at it, or spend time on its floors, I look back to the days when it was built. And somehow, it always looks into me.
Sometimes the journey of personal, spiritual growth means looking in. Sometimes looking inside means honestly evaluating ourselves. And sometimes things look worse before they look better.
Yesterday morning I took some images that captured the process and gave me something to meditate on.
For something to have real influence it must at some point be practical. For something to have beauty it must have some life in it, real or figurative, that inspires creativity or at least appreciation in those who view it. For something to leave an impact it must have weight. For something to be appetizing it needs to be full. For something to be real it must have depth.
You can't swim in a puddle 2-inches-deep. But you can drown in it.
For me, this concept is especially true when it comes to theology. Sadly, I think I have had a tendency to be a little more flimsy than filled. And more pedantic than practical.
For a flower to stay alive it needs more than water, soil and sunshine. It needs roots. It needs to grip something deeper than itself. Cut flowers don't grow back.
I can be childish. Just ask my wife. But when I'm most mature I can have a childlike heart. Simple. Enjoying basic things like sunshine and a cool breeze and playing with friends. Caryn had a friend over today and she brought her two year old. Being around someone else's kid is so amazing. You don't have to parent. you can just enjoy the beauty of a child.
I was reminded today, by the words of someone that were written to me a while ago now, of Matthew 12.36. What was said is really of no consequence anymore, honestly. But when I found them it made me think about the words I use.
