Glass

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I love Glass. Glass mugs, glass windows, and glass hearts. I was thinking about how transparent glass is as I was drinking from my glass coffee mug this morning. Thinking how there are no secrets with glass because you can see everything that's inside it and there is nowhere to hide.  Like our hearts, it is both strong and fragile at the same time. Even if there was a little crack in this glass mug of hot coffee, I would be both intrigued and a little scared, what if this cool new design on my mug ends up breaking under the pressure, wets my clothes and burns my lap? Well, yes it will hurt like hell, but it will only last for a moment. I will probably tell all my closest friends, and maybe even share a photo of the sad, painful and steamy mess on facebook, but then I will clean it up and move forward with my day. 

One glass that I have a love-hate relationship with is the computer screen. whether it is your phone, tablet, laptop or home computer, I'm not very fond of it, however, like everyone else I gratefully use my devices every day, because let's face it once we get a taste of seeing the whole world in the palm of your hand, how and why would you want to get rid of something so powerful? The problem I have with it is that it messes with my personal thoughts. The moment I wake up in the morning, until the moment I go to sleep my conscious thoughts that form in my own personal brains are jeopardized every day by someone else's opinion.  Whether that option is good or bad, I now have to wonder, did I come up with that or did I see that somewhere? I am speaking on my own behalf when addressing this issue. Maybe some of you have these thoughts as well, but it is not my place to make you think the way I do, I just want to throw out there that we are all allowed to have our own thoughts, and it's best to share them, because that how we can change and grow as a person in this society. "God created human beings in His own image. In the image of God, He created them; male and female he created them." (Genesis 1:27) If we are all created in God's image why am I striving to be different and then feel stuck in being the same as everyone else? I should be happy about being like someone else if we are all the image of God right? Wrong. 

In Church this month we have been talking about "awake my soul". This concept has given me insight into what our "God-Image" is. Our "God-Image" is not our personal appearance and our strive to be a certain way or live a "perfect life" (whatever that means to you), this is transparency of our hearts and it is our souls that brings us to life.  To me in Jesus's parable of the farmer sowing the seeds to produce a healthy harvest in Matthew 13:24-29 and 37-43 is like my soul. The soul that is planted among the weeds. I feel like I have so much clutter fogging ability to get things done. I thought if I started weeding out all the negative aspects of my life and close the door to all that is suffocating me then maybe I will be able to breathe and concentrate. But Jesus is not telling me to do that, He is welcoming the weeds and the good seeds to grow together. "The farmer's servants came and told him, 'Sir, the field where you planted the good seed are now full of weeds! An enemy has done it! Shall we pull out the weeds he asks?"' "The farmer replied, 'No, you'll hurt the wheat if you do. Let them both grow together until the harvest." (Matthew 13: 27-29) 

I feel like my thoughts are the goods within the weeds of the internet, this is a psychological warfare, no one needs guns to fight this war because they, we the people, are all playing mind games with our words rather than our hands... this is almost more dangerous than sending our troops out to war, because this battle is all in our minds, false gods and idols, bringing their truth to not only our minds but also that of our children's with just one click.  If anyone has seen the movie Inception with Leonardo Dicaprio you will see where I'm headed, but once an idea is formed in someone's mind by someone that is or looks to be highly educated, higher economic power, or even a spiritual authority figure, it is hard to think on your own education and moral compass, and it can hard not to believe them. For me, social media has become my weeds that grow around my soul. I've tried canceling all my accounts and fly solo off the grid for a period of time, but then find myself yearning to connect to people to see through the window and into their hearts. The farmer continues in saying that once it is time to harvest, then they will sort out the weeds to be burned and the wheat to be stored in the barn. I feel like you can't be a weed and not want to grasp on to something good to make your life better. And with all the negativity of social media, I found just as much positive feeds of people being compassionate and acting in Love and not in hate. In a world that is this unjust, we must act justly and do what is right. In a world of tough breaks, we must be merciful. In a world of pride and self-sufficiency, we must walk humbly with God."

 I try to remember that there are real people on the other side of those windows people with feelings and freedoms to post whatever they want just like me, but it is up to me to utilize my own free will.