I Have Seen It

I have looked love in the eyes
I have seen its face
I have felt its warmth
I have experienced its embrace
It has filled me with such a joy

What is this love that has stolen my heart?
It came without asking
It came unexpected
What is this love that goes beyond words?
It goes beyond sense, expression, or verse

I am filled to the brim
Indeed, I may burst
Such love no tear to linger
Such love no fear to hinder

I have looked love in the eyes
I have seen its face
I have felt its warmth
I have experienced its embrace

Time To Rise

If you know me you know I'm the contemplative type that thinks about important things deeply before opening my mouth.  That being said, I've heard a lot of different people debating back and forth.  There's a lot of mixed emotion all over our country right now.  Allow me to give you my take on it.

Most of my friends on here live in the PNW.  A place where we feel disconnected from the events in the South, a place where it is widely believed racism doesn't exist, a place where we feel like we have somehow created this utopia, separate from the “hateful racist southerners.”   A place where we say, “At least we're not like them.”  The problem with this “at least” is it gives us room to still say and do hurtful things.  It leaves room from prejudice to take root, stay in the back of our mind, and influence our decisions and actions.

We may not "be like them" but that is because our racism is subtle.  I have experienced it in school where peers have said seemingly innocent things but at the core of their statements there was an underlying message of a division of peoples.  Statements that end in “no offense” do not make them less offensive.  I have experienced it in my work place where something simple was said.  An assumption stating “We're all good here.  Nothing needs fixing here.  We’re fine”  Let me say that we are not fine, everything’s not “ok.”  Though the racism here looks different it is still racism and we need change here.

I'm not on here to point the finger.  I'm not on here to make you feel bad about assumptions you may have made.  I'm not on here to argue.  I'm writing this to share with you my heart and tell you that I am grieving for the recent events across our country.  Mothers and Fathers who have lost their sons and daughters.  Sons and daughters who have lost the very people meant to take care of them.  These are faits no one person deserves.  I’m not a cop hater.  My dad's a cop, most of my family has served in the military. This isn't about that.  This is about change and awareness. 

We need change in this country.  We need change locally in the PNW.  We are not isolated from these events and these issues are not too big for us.  I don't have the "solution" but perhaps some practical things for us moving forward. 

First is our mentality.  Our thoughts about race have to change.  Let's start with what we think when we hear “black lives matter.”  This short phrase has caused so much division.  Stop it.  The issues we face are bigger than this one phrase.  Let's not get distracted from what we all want.  Change and an end to racism as we know it. Below I've attached an article because that's what you do when writing;-) But I feel like it does capture the heart of the problem.  This is bigger than a phrase. 

Another thing, stay connected.  When we stay isolated we get lost in our heads, assumption sets in, and dangerous thoughts form.  We can’t “fix” this alone.  This is a time when communication is vital.  When we have break downs in communication it’s really easy to get angry, make judgments, and divide ourselves into different camps of polarization.  Keep the lines of communication open.  Dialog with your friends and family.  Keep your mind open.  These events affect whole communities and we have to work together.  Keep hate out of your mouth and believe the best about people.

Also, stay informed with good information.  Good information is key.  Don’t listen to the loudest voice, don’t listen to the angry voices, look and listen for the voice of reason.  Our minds are powerful and ought to be used.  Take what you learn, observe, and put it to use.  Use wisdom.  Be slow to speak and quick to listen.

Again, this isn’t a comprehensive list of everything we need to do.  This is more a call to rise up, join together, and get stuff done.  This is a, “Don’t you think we’ve sat around long enough doing nothing?”  I’m saying all of this to myself as well.  

To end is a quote from MLK.  Because what’s a good rant on racism without a good MLK quote?  But it’s one that’s been rolling around my head for some time now.  Sometimes to move forward we have to look back and learn from those who have been there before us.  Read it and the link to the other article.  

Thank you for taking time to read this.  I hope you hear my heart throughout all of it.

- Anthony L. McGarity   

“We must see racism for what it is. It is a myth of the superior and the inferior race. It is the false and tragic notion that one particular group, one particular race is responsible for all of the progress, all of the insights in the total flow of history. And the theory that another group or another race is totally depraved, innately impure, and innately inferior.

In the final analysis, racism is evil because its ultimate logic is genocide. Hitler was a sick and tragic man who carried racism to its logical conclusion. He ended up leading a nation to the point of killing about 6 million Jews. This is the tragedy of racism because its ultimate logic is genocide. If one says that I am not good enough to live next door to him; if one says that I am not good enough to eat at a lunch counter, or to have a good, decent job, or to go to school with him merely because of my race, he is saying consciously or unconsciously that I do not deserve to exist.

To use a philosophical analogy here, racism is not based on some empirical generalization; it is based rather on an ontological affirmation. It is not the assertion that certain people are behind culturally or otherwise because of environmental conditions. It is the affirmation that the very being of a people is inferior. And this is the great tragedy of it.”

- The Other America. Martin Luther King Jr.

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/current/nation/problem-saying-all-lives-matter

Where did you say we were going again?..

“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.” - Thomas Merton

I love these words of Thomas Merton, “I have no idea where I'm going.” But I trust you. That is the very place I've been this last year. Feeling almost like I was drifting, going in no particular direction, all the while trying to trust that God had a plan and I’m not drifting needlessly. I think, when I look at it, it all really boils down to trust. Do I trust God? Do I trust that He's taking care of me and guiding me in my daily life?  Sadly, I think the honest answer is I don't. I don't trust Him. So I worry and scheme and try to plan my way to my promised future. Much like the Israelites when they escaped Egypt, I have lost sight of God and I try to forge my own way. When all He wants me to do is wait on Him and find joy in His presence. 

Sometimes I don't know where I'm going. I have dreams and desires, but the path to them isn't clear. It's foggy and filled with my own uncertainty. 

Abba, help me to trust in You. A thing that I have trouble doing. Trust is hard for me. Putting my heart out there is hard for me. Help me to dare to dream big with You again. Help me to take joy in You. Help me to rest in You laying my fears and insecurities by the wayside. Let me rest in Your sweet love.

I do have hope. Like Merton, “I believe that the desire to please you(God) does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.”  This is for all of you who feel a little lost on your journey with God.  Sometimes our path is clear as day and sometimes it is shrouded in fog and uncertainty.  But as long as our desire is to serve and please God we can’t really get to off course.  I pray today you are encouraged.  I pray that the lies you’ve been believing would be silenced and that you would clearly see your position in Christ.  You’ve been made right with God and He is a very proud papa.

To conclude this blog post click the link(or just scroll down) and read my last poem.  It ties in perfectly with this. 

http://downloadsfromthefather.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-hope-in-night.html

The Hope in Night

I walk in the fog

So thick that I fear I may fall with each step

So dense you would swear it night

I cry out, "Lord save your servant! 

Don't you see that I am crushed on all sides?

Don't you see the pain I am in?"

Yes, life crushes me and weighs me down

I feel as though I will suffocate in this cloud of uncertainty and doubt

But I know my God is faithful

I know that though the world would kill me He is ever my defender

He surrounds me with His love

He fights on my behalf

He has good things for me and He will never abandon me

My life is not in vain

I do not struggle needlessly 

For the God who created the heavens and the earth is with me

He calls me son and I Him Abba Father

I will not be defeated for the Savior of the world holds me by the hand

Yes, Jesus is Lord of my life and in Him I am victorious

In Him I find strength 

In Him I find hope

God, an Angel, & Three Friends

This is a parable that God gave to me when I was just a young guy. I came across it today as I was going through some old things. I've edited it for a few grammatical things, but it is very much the same parable God gave to me when I was a young kid. I pray God blesses you with this.

God, an Angel & Three Friends

Three boys are walking along when suddenly one of them stops and is looking toward the sky.  One of them asks, “What do you see?”

He answers, “An angel.” The one friend who asked stood silently and let his friend have his moment. 

The other says, “Lord I want to see your angel!” 

The Lord replies, “Why should I let you see my angel?” The boy stands puzzled and doesn’t know what to say. 

So he says, “Lord, I pray that you would forgive me of my sins so that I may see your angel!” He then asks, “Lord now may I see your angel?”

The Lord answers, “Open your eyes and look.” Suddenly the boy sees the angel.

____________________________________

Personal revelation August 28, 2013

The first boy who saw the angel lived a life of faith and was able to see the things of God without hinderance. The second lived a religious, false humility life.  He didn’t have time for miracles and angels. And perhaps he thought his friend was being a little to spiritual.  The third boy has a spirit like Peter. Eager for the things of God but stumbling along the way.  All he needed was to focus on God, allow Him to wash away his blemishes and see the glory of God.

Many of us will fall under one of these categories. Will we live the life of faith and see when God is at work?  Will we speculate at all things too spiritual?  Or are we the last boy who stumbles and falls but takes time to align his life with God? I pray that we’d be the first boy for most of the time and that when we get off track we’d have the sense of the last boy to ask God to forgive us of our sins and move on to the good things He has for us.  May we never have the religious spirit of the second boy. May our hearts not grow cold to the supernatural of God. Our Father has good things for us.  Keep your heart open and live in faith.

He Reigns

The kingdom of God cannot be held behind iron doors
It will not be stifled by lock and key
You can try to lock it up and throw away the key
But God will always find a way
He is greater than any plan you would make
His truth will reign
His love endures forever
His kingdom is ever advancing
He is King
He is Lord of all

They, too, can believe.

     "15 This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. 16 But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life." 1 Timothy 1:15-16 (NLT)

     Our lives are an example of what God can do even with the worst of us. Often time we (I) try to act like we have it all together. It's “my holiness” that got me to where I am.  It is because of “me” that I’m so good.  When we do this we rob God of the glory that is rightfully His. Many of us have bought into a lie that says we have to be perfect little christians. Much like Adam and Eve, we try to hide anything that is outside of our, “American christian code of ethics and morals.” When we do this we rob ourselves of the redemptive journey that God has for us. When we hide our past in fear of what others may think we are actually ripping them off from seeing redemptive process that God has brought us on.

     We testify on behalf of Jesus so that other would come to know him.  When we share our testimony we can bring encouragement to each other. Without testimony we loose relatability to the rest of the world. How are we going to relate to Joe Blow if we are always creating a “holier than thou” persona? People need to hear our stories. The good and the bad. When you look at they way Jesus ministered you see a man who was willing to come down to the level where people were at.  He said to the corrupt tax collector, “Come and have dinner with me.” He had dinner with that man and his life was changed!

     We can’t live in fear of our past or in fear of the sins of others. Use your story to bring glory to God. That’s what our lives are for, the glory of God. Paul was killing christians as heretics before he met Jesus. Jesus turned his life around and made him the author of most of the New Testament. When we hand our lives over to God he takes it and uses it to bring glory to His name.  He takes what we have and turns it into so much more. God can take the least of what we have and turn it to His glory. 

     Let your story be heard. Because there are people who need to hear it. By your testimony people will be set free, they will turn to God, and glory will go to His name.