andPotpourri"

"For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:  so we, being many, are one body...and every one members one of another....Having then gifts differing...Romans 12:4-8 
 
 

"When your life is filled with the desire to see the holiness in everyday life, something magical happens:  ordinary life becomes extraordinary, and the very process of life begins to nourish your soul!" 
 
 

"If we could see that everything, even tragedy, is a gift in disguise, we would then find the best way to nourish the soul."
 

A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his master's house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
 

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream.  "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you."
 

"Why?" asked the bearer.  "What are you ashamed of?" 
 

"I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.
 

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."   Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load and, so again, it apologized to the bearer for its failure.
 

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side?  That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them.  For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."
 

Each of us has our own unique flaws. We are all cracked pots. But if we will allow it, the Lord will use our flaws to grace His Father's table. In God's great economy, nothing goes to waste.   So as we seek ways to minister together, and as God calls you to the tasks He has appointed for you, don't be afraid of your flaws.  Acknowledge them, and allow Him to take advantage of them, and you, too, can be the cause of  beauty in His pathway.  Go out boldly, knowing that in our weakness we find His strength, and that "In Him every one of God's promises is a 'Yes'."

A woman named Shirley was from Beverly Hills. One day, she had a heart attack and was taken to Cedars Sinai hospital. While on the operating table, she had a near death experience.

She saw God and asked, "Is this it?"

God said, "No, you have another 30 to 40 years to live."

Upon her recovery, she decided to stay in the hospital and have collagen shots, cheek implants, a face lift, liposuction, and breast augmentation. She even had someone dye her hair. She figured since she had another 30 to 40 years, she might as well make the most of it.

She walked out of Cedars Sinai lobby after the last operation and was killed by an ambulance speeding up to the hospital.

She arrived in front of God and said, "I thought you said I had another 30 to 40 years!"

God replied, "Shirley? I didn't recognize you!"

"Live our days according to HIS pattern and not our own good ideas, so He WILL recognize us when we meet Him face to face.  Find out what our script is and follow it."

"The self is our life's goal, for it is the completest expression of that fateful combination we call individuality."

"There is a vitality, a life-force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique and if you block it, it will never exist through any medium and will be lost...the world will not have it."

They talk to me.  The wind chimes...dangling gracefully along the edge of the railing encircling my newly constructed patio/deck.  They do not fight the stillness of unmoving air, resting quietly until it alone enlivens them to ride its peaceful currents, swirls of gentle gusts crossing that quiet and private and golden space to which I escape as often as opportunity draws me.

They sound as if unseen hands move tiny mallets against the burnished and polished surfaces of their slender, languidly hanging tubes, a private concert just for my exquisite pleasure, to see if I am "listening".

I am. 

And I learn from them.

I hear what strangely moving tinkling ripples flow forth from them as they hang suspended, surrendered to arbitrary movements of breath which makes one wonder from whence it comes, wondering if some unseen Presence, too, delights to hear the sweet, melodious and graceful notes ripple across the private space preserved for my quiet contemplations.

I hope I learn to allow those same sweet gentle sounds to unforcedly emerge from my formed frame as I "hang suspended, surrendered to arbitrary movements of breath" of Spirit Holy, not fighting the stillness of unmoving quiet nor resisting the howls of air announcing the forcefulness of storms not yet come but anticipating the strength of their arrival.

I hear them in unexpected moments of grace - while puttering in my kitchen or lying abed, slightly perspiring in the stillness and the darkness of a warm and sultry night or in the first approaching light of dawn.  Their delicate and sensual tones never fail to call forth from me a wordless recognition of a stirring in the depths of me - perhaps "deep calling unto deep"?

Inanimate objects cannot know the joy they bring in such spectacular simplicity, but perhaps the unseen Presence knows for, perhaps, they are the instruments upon which HE plays to bring my soul this precious and unpurchaseable delight.

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE PRINCIPLE OF MULTIPLICITY, VARIETY, SPONTANEITY AND CREATIVITY IN GOD.  IT IS A MANIFESTATION OF GOD'S INCURABLE TENDENCY TO OVERDO THINGS....TO SHOWER US WITH A SUPERABUNDANCE OF RICHES....TO MAKE THE UNIVERSE, BOTH MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL, A PLACE OF INCREDIBLE AND OVERWHELMING VARIETY.