Soul Scribe

Life hits rough patches for all of us.

When the road turns rough, faith is crucial.  It’s also doubly hard.  When so many things are up in the air, it’s hard to leave things in God’s hand.

Someone reminded me recently of what I already know.  He said “no problem is too great for God.”

Sometimes, you need to hear things you already know.  It keeps you on the path.

And it reminds you that despite all the roughness, there are still bright moments to cherish.

If I keep a green bough in my heart, the singing bird will come.

Chinese Proverb

Dream Over

That was the headline for a story on Susan Boyle, the contestant who caught the attention of the world in Britain’s TV talent show – Britain’s Got Talent.  She wasn’t your average – wait, she was your average-looking singer.  She wasn’t this polished, made-up and groomed mega-star like Beyoncé – or whatever she’s calling herself now.

She was a normal person with a God-given talent for singing.  Everyone wrote her off based on her appearance until she started to sing.

Now, I’m a huge reality show fan.  One thing you learn from watching reality TV is that the outer package doesn’t always tell the truth about what’s on the inside.

There’s plenty of great-looking people that I wouldn’t want to be around for one minute.  They need to spend just as much time grooming the inside as they do the outer beauty.

You can’t judge any book by its cover – because you have to ponder the words inside before you know the story.

Just because Susan didn’t win, doesn’t mean her dream is over.  Her dream is using her talent.  And she wants to continue to do just that.  So often nowadays, we must put another down to raise up ourselves.  Susan didn’t win – therefore she lost.  She has no worth.

It’s just not good enough anymore to be talented.  One has to be THE NEXT BIG THING or your dream is over.  It’s not okay to be good and to use your talent in the world.

The pressure that people put on Susan Boyle is unreasonable.  This is an amateur talent contest – she’s not a professional yet.  What about the growth she’s experienced as a singer?

Her voice is extraordinary.  I hope she holds onto that and doesn’t let anyone take away what God gave her – a voice to sing with.

Sing and continue to dream, Susan.  God hears you even when others do not.

No one is really happy merely because he has what he wants, but only if he wants things he ought to want.

St. Augustine

Man is what he believes. 

Anton Chekhov 

Where has God revealed himself today?  The answer is everywhere – if we happened to notice.

Time is that elusive prize we chase, yet waste and let pass us by often without a thought.  We need to take more time to see the world around you – to watch the clouds as they move past.

Let’s be real for a sec.  I don’t always get to just be and sit with thoughts.  And neither do you.  I’m working; I’m busy; I’m watching reality TV (oops, busted); I’m chatting; I’m reading; I’m Wii-ing (oops, busted again); I’m studying; I’m blogging; I’m praying; I’m doing.

But am I being?

Without that being, some moments are lost.

Today, I saw a tiny finch perch perfect between two branches, a canopy spread over it’s head – a delicately white-gold bird pausing for a moment of rest.  There was God.

With life swirling around us everywhere, we lose when the hustle of daily activity gets in the way of living.

And for us this is the end of all the stories.  All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on Earth has read…in which every chapter is better than the one before.

C. S. Lewis
The Last Battle,
Chronicles of Narnia

Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.

H. Jackson Brown, Jr.