Peace: kicking my ass for the past month

An excerpt from The Imitation of Christ:

The person who dwells in perfect peace suspects evil of no one. The person who is discontented and disgruntled has a heart filled with suspicion; she herself has no rest nor does she allow others to possess it. She often says what she ought not to say and omits saying what she should say. She thinks about another's obligations but dismisses her own. Therefore, first exercise your zeal upon yourself and only afterwards may you justly exercise it on your neighbour.

You are quite adept at excusing yourself and covering up your actions, but yet you refuse to hear the excuses of others. It would be much more just for you to accuse yourself and to excuse your brothers and sisters. If you wish others to put up with you, you must learn to put up with others.

True charity and humility only know how to become angry with one's self and not with another. That's how far you are from possessing these virtues! It is no great accomplishment for you to live with those who are meek and good, for this is something naturally pleasing to everyone. Everyone enjoys living in peace and love with those who think the same as they do, but if you can live in peace with those who are difficult, obdurate, and undiscipline, ah, that is a great grace, a manly and praiseworthy deed.

There are those who are at peace with themselves and at peace with others; and there are those who have no peace and do no allow anyone else to be in peace. Indeed, these individuals are a burden to others, but they are a heavier burden to themselves. Furthermore, there are those who not only have peace in themselves, but also try to foster peace among others.

All our peace in this wretched world comes from our humble endurance of suffering and not from living a life without it. She who best knows how to suffer enjoys the greatest peace, and such a woman is victor over herself, master of the world, friend of Christ, and heir of heaven.

Oh, I am not a person of peace! This makes me think about how to live in community ("Take first the log out of your own eye, then you can see how to remove the splinter from another's" -- don't I always think I know better than everyone else?), how to pray for myself and others -- not necessarily to pray that suffering will go away ("She who best knows how to suffer enjoys the greatest peace").

This one is for Bethany...

So there's this guy, who is in a movie...and when I watched the trailer at work today - I thought of Bethany.

MOVIE: Strangers with Candy

GUY: Stephen Colbert :)

Anyway - I don't know much about the movie. Apparently "Strangers with Candy" is a television series that airs on The Comedy Network in the US. Successful little hit, now turned movie... Fun times in production.

So Bethany, here's to you. Oh, well, and to everyone who enjoys the "Colbert Report".

woot

Enjoy the show...

PS we have company!!

Our membership series is the coolest:

http://studioeleven.blogspot.com/

Rock on, Dining Room!

I owe us a post

Hey team,

It's been a long time since I last posted. Hmmm … what to write?

Life is good these days. God is definitely present, even through the harder, more stressful times. He is providing for me for school. He is providing for the art show that's coming up. He is being very good to me in my personal life. Teaching me things. I can tell you all about the specifics in LR some time.

I don't know about you guys, but I love it when it's so hot out. Yesterday's scorcher was pure awesome to me. Sweat was dripping down my legs as I drove home from work yesterday evening. It sounds gross, but to me it's what summer is all about. I even went for a shirtless run. This is not something I usually do, but the heat was a very valid excuse to bare my chest to the Beaches. It's amazing how sweat actually evaporates when you don't have a layer of cotton between your skin and the air. Maybe Thursday I'll run fullly naked…

…or maybe just shirtless again.

Anyway, it's a ramble but it's a post. I really have the strong sense that God is protecting me in life. Everything is going to be okay because He loves me. I'm kind of emotional now. If I weren't at work, I would let myself shed a few tears of joy.

Peace,

Tom

The end is near...

No this isn't a post about the book of revelations ;)

Actually tomorrow I embark on the last leg of my journey. It's back to Asia with me!

Sorry that it has been so long since I've posted everyone. I feel badly only a few people are posting. I guess I post almost everything about my travels on my blog and then I have nothing left to say that might interest you guys. But, I want to touch base with everyone.

I can't wait to get back to a regular routine of worship. I have really been slipping to be honest and I do feel spiritually distanced from the Lord. I know that he is near me always, but I have not kept my relationship with him as strong as it has been in the past. A lot of it comes from me not having a routine. It's hard to find time to pray some days especially when I'm flying or train riding etc. And I have been without a community for a while now. So, I've made a promise to myself and God to put a lot more effort into our relationship.

So, in case anyone was wondering... I've been in Australia for about a month and a week and tomorrow I'm off to Thailand. I'll be meeting up with a family friend, Terry, for the first 18 days and then I'm solo for a bit before the great return. Sometimes it feels like ages since I've seen you all and other times it feels like just yesterday we were all sitting around in the pub slinging beer and praising God!

Peace and love.
rachel