Jesus, I am Your Child, Too

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Jesus...

Thank You for investing Yourself
in someone like me...
Help me step back and be mindful of my own needs,
because I am Your child, too.
Help me become aware
it was not okay to grow up
in a verbally and physically abusive home,
and not accept that in my life from others.
Help me treat others with excellence, Lord.
Help me add to their lives, not take away.
Help me be mindful,
I do not have to be willing, acceptant
nor an active participant of other's negativity;
I can walk away.
Help me to see-through their suffering, Lord.
Help me to become aware
of when I am being undermined
by someone trying to run me with their energy.
There are so many people out there
struggling with jealousy, stinginess and greed, God!
Please keep me mindful,
they will not be good friends.
If they think I am rude, then I know
they are not doing their homework.
If I can inspire, encourage and help them,
I will.
If they don't want my help,
show me how to move on.
Time is becoming too precious, Jesus!
I don't have time to assume or presume
I know what's going on with others God.
I can't read anyone's mind.
All I can do is ask You help me
stay in my own meditative mind.
I am claiming the peace I need in my life
through You, Jesus.
Because I am Your child, too.
Amen.

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I want people to know there is a difference between humility and humiliation.
Some people think these two words are the same thing.
Some people are unwilling to be humble
because somewhere in the back of their minds
they must feel they are taking a risk in being "humiliated".

Isn't it a shame to consider how all human beings have experienced some sort of humiliation in their childhoods? Some situations may have been fun, or funny, or accidental; others may have run into something that was painful and purposeful. Some people never grow out of this! It's strange to look back on these times in our lives.

When I was about 5, I used to feel very embarrassed by my mother's red lipstick. There was something about that red lipstick? When it came on it changed my mother's face. I found her to be cruel and embarrassing to be near. But it was funny when my brother took that red lipstick and smeared it all over his face! We got the biggest kick out of that! (Mom didn't think it was so funny.)

When I was 7, I was in Catholic school when Sister Theresia called me up in front of the class. She turned me towards the blackboard and hit me around the shoulders with her yardstick. I had the worst trouble getting math! I remember doing everything to fight back my tears. It was even more difficult to turn around and face the smug expressions on the faces of my classmates. I ended up in the hospital with an ulcer that year.

Certain levels of humiliation have a sobering effect on one's life. This is why so many people can be a drag to be around.

We get all-up in ourselves about it. We think we have to go through all kinds of posturing in order to be accepted by others. Whether that happens through socialization, or religion or traditions, it can be hard to break free from. Is it any wonder human beings come to see themselves as entitled?

No one wants to be made fun of. No one wants to take a lesser place, or be a have-not... In our own ways, we overcompensate for this pain by working very hard to be "special". Oddly, over time we might outgrow those efforts. I think this is the real challenge of mid-life, when people hit their 40's, for example. What happens to our passion for life?

Humility, learning when to be humble, quiet and graceful, is a way of helping ourselves find more grace in our world. We have to be able to forgive ourselves before we can forgive others.

Instead of adding to another person's suffering, instead of chastising and pigeonholing people, instead of needing to be right, we can simply be quiet and decisive. It is possible then, to recognize who and what we want to include in our true passions about things. Living our lives would not feel like a waste of time...

For me, humility is like a tai chi movement... A simple one, of getting out of my own way, and allowing God to work with me a little more. So, when I feel good? I can be more decisive about what really matters!

The goal in life should be to feel good about life.

Everyone should feel entitled to make decisions about their lives, then stand on those decisions. That's where the real power rests.

Instead of dodging the balls people throw your way, you can let them fall to the ground if you're being hurt or humiliated. Maybe those games aren't for you. With some practice and awareness, you can just move on.

Instead of going through the motions of dodging the balls of the competition around you - once in awhile you could decide to pick up your own game. Get your own ball; play! Play something new.

And when you do? Let it be something you feel passionate about.

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Surgical Hearts

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This is a rather exotic image... It would be amusing to know who got the great idea of shoving a sword through the heart, as some sort of devotional to Christ? I suspect the image was derived during the Crusades and later developed in Catholic art. Well, surely, it's our way of expressing to God our hurts? The feelings of betrayal we endure, both from ourselves and others? The grief and loss we all experience over wounds that won't heal?


But then, I began to look at this heart as the Surgical Heart... Because it seems, the Sword is inducted from some outer, or outside source, not actually "wanting" to be part of us; on some level, it is placed there intentionally. We have enticed or even welcomed it.

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And yet, we are able to accommodate ourselves to it, and find redemption. We do things like trust our doctors. We trust them enough to cut open our chests, break apart our rib-cages, then go in there and cut away things like an "excess flap". We are even blind about it, perhaps not taking into consideration the effects such a surgery might have, on the long-term physical, or psychological well-being of say, one of our children.

One of the best ways to heal yourself, to build-up the strength of your heart, restore it to health again, is to SING! I invite you to do it!

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Dear Jesus,
with every breath left in me,
let me raise my voice to You.
If there is nothing else to sing for,
I will sing Your Praises,
Lift Your Name to the Highest Rafters,
and Meet With You...
You who heals me,
You who restores me,
You who conquers all that is ill inside of me,
May I sing for You, Lord, like
a thousand birds!
Like the ringing of bells!
Lift me again, Lord, to Meet with You!
Every day
is a new day;
It's a Beautiful Day, Lord,
because of You!

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Little Girl and Little Boy Hearts

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The little girl's heart...

is full of sugar and spice and everything nice!

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The little boy's heart...

is full of snaps
and snails and puppy-dog tails!


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Dear God, I know
each human being is special, unique
in their own way.
For this reason it is truly impossible
to compare one person to someone else...
This is why jealousy is so stupid!
A sign of ignorance, really.
We all have our individuality,
God,
complete with the
God-Given gifts and talents
You grant us.
All we have to do is ask
for awareness in our hearts,
in Your name.

It is only through establishing
friendships, relationships with others
that our hopes and dreams and wishes
are shaped.


God, teach the little children
how to find good friends
who are loyal to one another in this way...
(In spite of our differences!)
Amen.


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Thorns and Roses

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Some hearts have roses...

Most of the time I only see roses in the hearts of young children, or very old women... Very rarely occasionally I will see a rose in a 20-something-year-old's heart; but that person is usually breaking down. I can see petals falling, one by one, and fresh thorns forming, stealing their light, their youth and their beauty.

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And then there are the people who line their hearts with paper roses... So even though you think there is something warm there, that you can get close to, there is no substance, no light. In fact, they are downers to be around.

Once in awhile? I meet a man with a red rose in his heart, but he is usually looking at something else!

And when I look closer I'll see a big thorn inside.

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I know some people who are healers, who manage to carry one giant rose in their heart... Surrounded by thorns, protected by their ribs. They are better at touching you, then letting you touch them. In fact they are very extremely private personalities, and you can't help but love them.

That's how Jesus Is!

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He Is, He Is, He Is...

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Roses bloom in another dimension, one which can only be labeled as "spirit" because there is little, if no control there, to grow a rose in your heart.

All you have to do is let a lot of light and fresh water in.

And then it just happens, with daily doses of things like innocence, faith, and trust.

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People love people with roses in their hearts; it's so sad. Sad, I think, because if someone could take this flower from you, they would do it (and they can, and they do).

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Don't you ever get tired of hurting?

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Check this out: have you ever noticed how some thorns look like hearts? It's very deceiving.

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As people get older, everyone gets a thorn in their heart. I think this can begin to happen as early as the age of nine? But I don't know; I need to talk with more children about it...

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Jesus, tell us about the thorns
in and around our hearts.
You wore them as a crown on Your head;
the energy swooping to and fro with Your blood.
Ancient sisters and the priests
took Your crown and placed them
in
Your heart,
our legacy to remember.

Now I think, Dear God,
the heart is more important than the head.

Isn't it?


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We can live without our minds,
but we always need our hearts
to keep the life-force pumping.

Sometimes I think the thorns are like
spiritual acupuncture,
lessons we need to keep blood flowing,
to keep our hearts alive.

But we don't have to let our hearts hang on to them!

Thank God!


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