Intercession

I was at a class at church the other night. I love this class; it seems to teach me everything I've always known, but helps me see it with fresh eyes.

So, you know how Jesus is interceding for us with the Father?? I heard that truth expressed this way for the first time:

"When Christ intercedes for us, he does so from within the being and heart of God."

God is 'rooting' for us from inside Himself.

Just thought it was worth sharing.

Pretty in a Jar

So, I have this stuff I call "Pretty in a Jar." It's the powder with the minerals; you girls know what I'm talking about. This powder does not work miracles, but it can improve a lot. It cannot change your face. But it can give a little smoothness, a little glow.


Feeling loved is like that. I can see this today. I see it in:

* a news story about a couple about to celebrate 75 years of marriage.
* a situation where understanding is needed, not information.
* a friend who has a new boyfriend.
* a wife who calls when life hits. Life is so *ARGH* sometimes; it does a number on couples.
* a wife who is told by her husband after years of marriage that she is his best friend.

I'm sure that this principle works both ways; but I've only ever been a female. I have to write from that perspective. You see, there are two different things. One is being loved. Nothing is more valuable than that. Real love is what holds the galaxies together.

This blog entry is not about real love at all. It is about feeling loved. Ideally, feeling loved is accompanied by real love, but it isn't always.

When I was a little girl, I went to my grandma's house all dressed up. When she complimented me, legend has it that I replied, "I likes to look pretty sometimes!!" Now I realize that it’s not just me. All of womankind is this way.

If I could take all the husbands and boyfriends of my friends into a room and chat, if I had just one thing to say, I would say this: When your woman feels loved, it is Pretty in a Jar. A man's love literally makes a woman prettier. I cannot describe how true this is. The prettiness comes from the inside and radiates out all over the woman. I’ve felt the ‘pretty power’ myself on occasion. When a woman feels loved, it does not change the face of life. But it smoothes things out; gives it a little glow.

Thank you for the glow that you give us. We likes to look pretty sometimes.

Thoughts on Silence

by: Unknown as published in the book With Open Hands
by Henri Nouwen

Silence is night
and just as there are nights
with no moon and no stars
when you're all alone
totally alone
when you're cursed
when you become a nothing
which no one needs--
so there are silences
which are threatening
because there is nothing except
the silence
there can be nothing except
the silence.
Even if you open your ears
and your eyes
it keeps going on
without hope or relief.
Night with no light, no hope
I am alone
in my guilt
without forgiveness
without love.
Then, desperately, I go looking
for friends
then I walk the streets
a body
a sign
a sound
for nothing.

But there are also nights
with stars
with a full moon
with the light from a house
in the distance
and silences which are peaceful
and reflective
the noise of a sparrow
in a large empty church
when my heart wants to sing out
with joy
when I feel that I'm not alone
when I'm expecting
friends
or remember
a couple words
from a poem I read lately
when I lose myself in a
Hail Mary
or the somber voice of a psalm
when I am me
and you are you
when we aren't afraid of
each other
when we leave all talk to
the angel
who brought us the silence
and peace.