Perspective

 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Mark 1:35

  Jesus set aside his heavenly throne where the earth was his footstool, bound himself in human flesh, was subjected to all the trials this world overflows and paused routinely to find a lonely place to pray. This thought came like a light breaking through dark clouds as I had left my home in tears and overwhelm to seek a few moments of unbroken quiet and stood looking over the valley I live in. It was dusk and the valley was already in shadow but the distant hills, the more distant red rock formations and the far away mountain peaks were still bathed in the sun's last rays. I felt comforted knowing that the God who made all before me understood the need to just get away. 

Whatever you might be facing, be encouraged that God is on his throne and from His vantage point sees all. He is the God who sees you. Even if you can't park at the top of a hill and look over a sweeping vista, you can always turn your eyes and heart toward Jesus who understands that we get easily lost in the trees and forget that it's a beautiful forest. And may we learn from His example to seek out routine solitude and prayer, remembering that He sympathizes with us. Let us not forget to set our hearts on pilgrimage and remember that our strength can only come from Him. (Psalm 84:5)

To the Kingdom and Home,

Lani

 

Covetousness

 

The horseman serves the horse,

The neatherd serves the neat,

The merchant serves the purse,

The eater serves his meat;

'Tis the day of the chattel,

Web to weave, and corn to grind;

Things are in the saddle,

And ride mankind.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ode

The last week or so we have been doing a lot of sorting through kids clothes, toys and other areas of the house to clean, re-organize and purge. It feels good to get rid of things we don't need and reduce clutter but it always strikes me how often we need to do this or it begins to take over. I am also always struck by the amount of time it requires. I often get the nagging sense that things are riding me.

In Scale How Meditations by Charlotte Mason she speaks to this. "We accumulate furnishings and pictures and appurtenance and belongings without end, and we say in vain, 'Soul take thine ease and enjoy that which thou hast got,' because it is the very nature of this fever of covetousness, this desire for the accumulation of things, that it grows on that upon which it is fed, and each new possession turns on, as it were, a dozen new desires. There is no middle way; only the one counsel will save us, - that we beware of  all covetousness."

 Jesus gives a clear warning in Luke 12:15.

As my home regains order and has less stuff, I am pondering these thoughts and council. I want to guard my heart against covetousness, especially the kind that is more subtle and tries to slip in to soothe my soul with things rather than with Christ. I want to be a good steward of the possessions God gives me and keep the reigns of things firmly in hand.