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Living The Solution – Online Newsletter |
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JULY 21, 2004 ISSUE |
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Opening Thoughts:
I attended...no, that’s the wrong word. I experienced
a very special
conference this past weekend. “The Eternal Now and How to Be There”
featured teaching about and the practicing of contemplative/centering
prayer. I’m still a bit of a newcomer since I just started doing
this
type of prayer last year. The conference had many wonderful
moments
and people.
Two key points for me from the conference: accepting
God’s love is
what God desires the most and the way to prepare you for
that is the
consent to the presence of God (experienced through the
contemplative
tradition). For me, it’s not a bunch of incense and chanting – it’s
a real and practical way to be a member of the Body of
Christ. Hope
you enjoy the new feature article I wrote about my pilgrimage
to
nowhere I took as part of the conference.
Peace and joy,
Tom Gilbert
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IN THIS ISSUE
Feature Article: Nowhere Plan
In The Spotlight: The Eagle Will Fly Again
Daily Thoughts: Hold Nothing Back
Prayer & Sharing Requests
Quotable: Happy Face
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| FEATURED
ARTICLE |
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Nowhere Plan
By Tom Gilbert
I walk out of the hotel and into the summer heat of Albuquerque.
It is easily over 90 degrees Fahrenheit and I immediately
take a
draw from my water bottle. I glance about as I purposely
begin an
aimless walk. There are several people sitting on benches
and
chairs, mostly under whatever patch of shade they can
find. Others
fan out in every direction, also on their pilgrimage
to nowhere.
Our journey of meditative walking has begun.
My instructions are to walk slowly, conscious of my breathing,
perhaps using a phrase to help me contemplate the moment.
“
Yes/thank you” or “beauty/back”, whatever
works as a way of
getting peacefully into the present moment. “Hot/hot” comes
to
mind, but I push this nonsense aside. I’m going
to do this,
enjoy it and maybe even learn something.
Each of us on our walk, and there were probably two hundred
or
so hitting the streets at the same time, wears a round
medallion.
The mirrored front reflects blinding beams of sunlight.
I’m
reflecting God’s presence, I muse, mindful that
each medallion
has been lovingly handmade and individually prayed over.
I'm
praying now too, with each step consenting to the now
and open
to a walk without a destination. “Don’t have
a goal” we were
told. Just go wherever your feet take you.
Read the entire article here
Discover more thought provoking articles
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| IN THE SPOTLIGHT |
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The Eagle Will Fly Again
Eagle-TV in Mongolia, an independent media voice that
broadcast
sports, cultural events, news and some religious programming,
lost their broadcast license in April of 2003. Since
then it
has been a long and arduous process to find a new broadcast
outlet.
The station has been funded by contributions handled
through the
AMONG foundation in Sioux Falls, Idaho and run by a combined
group
of Americans and Mongolians. Tom Terry, the station manager,
keeps
us informed and it looks like the TV outlet will soon
return to
the airwaves. | more |
See our Spotlight
Specials page,
ncluding a link to a site
about Mongolian Life (great pictures) put together
by Tom Terry
(yes, he’s a very talented webmaster, too).
Many people are discovering the great prices, selection
and ease of shopping at our Living the Solution online store. It’s secure, extensive
and worth a look. Visit our online
store. There's something for everyone.
When you shop with us, you support our ministry – thank you!
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DAILY THOUGHTS & REFLECTIONS |
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Hold Nothing Back
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
(Mark 12:30)
Love is freely giving of your self to someone else. With
God,
He wants all of us, not just our service, respect and honor.
He wants our hearts, our souls, our minds, and our strength.
He wants us to love Him with everything. We are to hold nothing
back. But we do hold things back. It may be a dream, a favorite
habit, or some possession or person that holds a higher place
in our hearts. And we know, at least in our heads, that we
should
not hold these things back from God because to do so means
we are
putting them before God. Anything that we do not give to
God,
anything that we are unwilling to give to God, holds a higher
place of honor in our heart than God. This includes our hurts,
sorrows, lost dreams and desires.
When we are unwilling to face our hurts, pains, and losses,
when we are unwilling to bring them honestly before God and
say to Him, “This hurts”, we are holding out on God. We are
not giving Him everything that makes us who we are and He
wants
all of us including our respect, honor, service, our joys
and
our sorrows. God knows what it means to hurt. He knows what
it means to have your hopes and dreams broken. God knows
what
it means to have your heart broken and for your plans not
to turn
out the way you had hoped. Look at His relationship with
man;
do you think it was His desire for Adam and Eve to betray
Him,
to distrust His heart? Do you think that each time one of
us,
His beloved, turns our back on Him it does not cause Him
to grieve?
We all have things that we need to grieve and to mourn and if we
are going to love God the way He wants us to love Him we
must
mourn the losses of our hearts. We must lay them before Him
with
honesty about how we feel and why their loss hurts. We must
let
Him know our heart for Him to heal us and for us to be able
to
love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
God is ready, waiting and longing to hear from you; ready
to
understand your disappointments, ready to bring comfort and
healing to your aching heart and soul. Don’t hold out on Him
anymore. Don’t hold anything thing back no matter how small
you may think it is in the big story. If it meant something
to you, if it’s loss caused you pain, it also means something
to God. In His heart there is nothing too small or too trivial
to talk about or grieve.
Live it with Passion
Pete Reinbold
Get daily inspiration with a Scripture verse and commentary
at
Daily Thought
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PRAYER REQUESTS & RESULTS |
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Prayer works. It really does.Submit your prayer
requests and we will pray for them.
Of course, we keep your information confidential.
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My thoughts are shared regularly on the pages of
our web site, especially on
the Journal pages.
We welcome and appreciate your feedback. If you would
like to submit an article please see our writer's
guidelines.
It is our hope that the content of Living The Solution will
stimulate you to deepen your faith. That is certainly a result for us in both
our writing and reading. If you would like to see articles on a particular topic
or you have comments please let us know.
Send an email
Quotable: Happy Face
“Let a series of happy thoughts run through
your mind.
They will show on your face.”
— Norman Vincent Peale
Copyright 2004 Living the Solution, all rights reserved.
Tom Gilbert
Editor/Web-servant
Living The Solution
www.livingthesolution.com
P O Box 25584
Albuquerque, NM 87125-5584
Toll free 1-800-399-2564 ext 105 (US only) or 505-247-3232
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