Little Foxes

Song of Solomon 2:15
Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

It's funny. Not laugh out loud funny. Just funny how many people focus on the little things in life. Mainly these are people in the first world. Too much idle time or time spent being able to focus on the little things when really what matters is the big things.

The important and not the urgent is what matters.

Sebastian Selgado and the Serra Pelada Gold Mine

But shhhh! Don't tell this to many. With the luxury of time, and what a luxury that is, some waste it away worrying about the little things, letting the bigger things in life slip away without so much as a whisper. Time for a practical lesson.

I've put some images up, and I hope I can keep them up, that Sebastian Selgado took at the Serra Pelada gold mine in Brazil (full credit to him and original posters). Amazing images. He also gives an amazing TED talk - but some of the images he uses in the talk are confronting so be warned.

But the one thing I like about these images is that they are a reminder that there are some people who have no time for the little things. They only have time for the biggest thing of all: living.

There is no luxury of time, having the riches of being able to fight battles over little things. They can only fight for life itself. Imagine what they think of some of us who don't appreciate time. They must think that regardless of our bank account, we are the richest people in the world.

Who wants to spend the rest of their lives fighting over the little things, trying to control every outcome when we live in a world of no control or where control rests in the hands of others who you don't even know. That's trust. That's faith. And if you put trust in them why not others? 

Every time you battle over a little thing, a small fox gets in and spoils the vine. If you realise it you can stop it and regrow it but if you don't then it may never regrow. It will wither.

Every battle has a casualty, every war a heavy price that lasts for far longer than the conflict itself. So ask yourself? Is this worth doing that for? Is it worth the casualties? Is it worth putting more hate into the world just to have your way? Is it worth letting the vine wither?

Perhaps it's time to look at images like these and realise it's time to stop those little foxes.

Or lest the next decision you have to make is how to get yourself out of a pit that you climbed down into in the first place.

Sebastian Selgado

Sebastian Selgado and the Serra Pelada Gold Mine

 

April Fools???

We seek revenge instead of compassion 

We seek justice instead of love 

We want control of everything we do but not the consequences for everything we do 

We want people to care for us 100% but do we care for others 100% 

We want money, careers, cars and huge televisions but we do not want to give this up if it means the world becomes fairer. 

We want to receive but we only give if there is a benefit 

We want others to be open and honest to us, but we use the past to be closed and deceitful. 

We want selflessness from others but for them to ask for nothing in return. 

We want...we just want. We only ever want. 

Shouldn't we be giving more than receiving?

And no wonder He cries for us.

The Rock

The other day I was walking along a beach and came along a rock. Only a small one, perhaps measuring roughly 10cm (4 inches) x 4cm (1.5 inches). It was incredibly smooth and light, and looked like it had been sitting in the sand for a long time. In fact it looked as though it had been on the planet for millions of years. A lovely turquoise colour, to match that of the ocean close by, I immediately had a thought.

This rock, small as it was, the colour it was, had endured good years and bad. And yet it survived when all around it, literally, had turned to sand. And it reminded me of this scripture:

"And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;" 2 Samuel 22:2.

I had been told that God would speak to me this trip away. And He did. I realised that I needed to keep my relationship to God strong, my priority Jesus. For if I do not then I may turn to sand, and not endure like a rock. And like the rock I need the ability and strength to withstand all weather, good and bad. But the weather also shapes me, as it has done to the rock. And like the rock, I can use that weather to become more resilient, Jesus to strengthen and guide me when the years are long.

For if I do not have a strong relationship with God then perhaps I will become just like the sand, and get blown anyway and drift but without any ability to withstand any bad weather and to enjoy the sunny skies.

Through His creation that day on the beach I know that His purpose for me is being slowly revealed and regardless of what the future has in store, good or bad, Jesus will be my rock.

Thanks for reading and God Bless.

Getting There...

In life, we struggle as individuals. This is not a negative. On the contrary it is a positive. Why? If we learn from these struggles then they have not been in vain.

We can overcome so many things. We just need to know that we can. Life is a journey but it is also a live action game where we have no replay or pause button. We have to learn or else we are bound to repeat the past.

I am getting there in many, many ways. God teaches me something new everyday. That in one day you can enjoy the valley on one thing and the mountains on something else entirely different.

Never take life seriously. No one gets out alive anyway. This is what we should live by. To see the positive and not the negative. To embrace life, to seek it out, but to know too that we will fall, but that we can also rise and rise again.

I am afraid of some things in life. Like magpies swooping on me in spring. Terrifying. And I used to be afraid of the fire. Not anymore. If the fire is to come, then it always brings new life, new growth, a transformation into the brightest green and renewed energy and vigour. For when the fire has passed then it is time to achieve.

I always knew that 2010 would be big. And yet even I don't know how big yet. None of us do. So if you think 2010 is turning out to be your worst one yet, think again. The fire may be there, but so is the one and only God. You are not alone. You never have been. I understand your journey. I am on your journey. For you and I are living and breathing life.

So reach out, be proud of who you are but never be ashamed to say sorry and try better for we are always better people when we say we are wrong.

Thanks for reading and God Bless.