The year is ending again. And it would be time to evaluate again. I'll be making lists again. And trying to fulfill those again. So, I decided, I might as well start now. Before I make my lists, though, I've decided to start by rewriting my Mission Statement. And here it is:
The Raven's Mission:
To inspire people through stories in different media, while being a delight to my King through the quality and motive of my work.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
Quest
Ah. This illness weakens me. But I am on a Quest. My King had given it to me when I was up Prayer Mountain. And I wanted to continue my Quest, and not let sickness stop me. And so I met my party yesterday. And we covered a lot of ground.
Minstrels, most of them were. Singers and Musicians. Wonderful voices with wonderful hearts. I never really played around with music. But these people had. Some of them were more broken than I was. But they were loyal to the King. The King truly is wise, giving me these minstrels as party members. And I am grateful. May we finish the Quest with flying colors, with hearts ablaze, and closer to each other.
Minstrels, most of them were. Singers and Musicians. Wonderful voices with wonderful hearts. I never really played around with music. But these people had. Some of them were more broken than I was. But they were loyal to the King. The King truly is wise, giving me these minstrels as party members. And I am grateful. May we finish the Quest with flying colors, with hearts ablaze, and closer to each other.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Tombs
Back in September, a few months after I first broke and my heart stopped beating for any man, my King picked me up and gave me this message.
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
John 11:38-44
What He was saying was clear. I may be asking for healing. But He may be wanting to do a resurrection. I wrote a short post about it before saying, my King has chosen not to open a tomb in my life as of yet. And I will wait. And my good King was kind to me. He busied me with His work, and showed me the beauty of what was around me. He showed me wonderful things I had never seen before. Then just a few weeks ago, I got an email from Game Connection. The first line that loaded was this:
This surprised me, and brought to mind immediately the message my King had given me more than a month earlier. Why in the world would Game Connection send me a message like this? It didn't register, until the whole email loaded:
It was a "Happy Halloween" message. Still. I couldn't help but think... Could it be? Could my King be opening my tomb finally? I didn't want to think too much of it. But I couldn't help but hope. May I hope, my Lord? Would You finally heal my broken heart and bind up my wounds? Would You cause my heart to beat again? I believe, my King. Would You show me Your glory? I live hoping, my King. I cannot help it. Fulfill Your promises to Your servant, my King, and show me Your glory.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
John 11:38-44
What He was saying was clear. I may be asking for healing. But He may be wanting to do a resurrection. I wrote a short post about it before saying, my King has chosen not to open a tomb in my life as of yet. And I will wait. And my good King was kind to me. He busied me with His work, and showed me the beauty of what was around me. He showed me wonderful things I had never seen before. Then just a few weeks ago, I got an email from Game Connection. The first line that loaded was this:
This surprised me, and brought to mind immediately the message my King had given me more than a month earlier. Why in the world would Game Connection send me a message like this? It didn't register, until the whole email loaded:
It was a "Happy Halloween" message. Still. I couldn't help but think... Could it be? Could my King be opening my tomb finally? I didn't want to think too much of it. But I couldn't help but hope. May I hope, my Lord? Would You finally heal my broken heart and bind up my wounds? Would You cause my heart to beat again? I believe, my King. Would You show me Your glory? I live hoping, my King. I cannot help it. Fulfill Your promises to Your servant, my King, and show me Your glory.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
One Day...
Such a good voice. Such a good song. Sigh~ I dream of the day when a man with a good heart, who serves my King, and who would love me utterly would come into my life and feel like this for me. But my King is faithful. He will not forsake me. He will finish what He had started in my life. He will not stir my heart and leave it dead. He will not let me taste something good, then forever deny it from me. My King is good, though I am impatient. But this I know to be true: I will taste the goodness of my Lord in the land of the living. I live in hope.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Repairer of the Breach
6 “ Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you;
The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
“ If you take away the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shall be as the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
12 Those from among you
Shall build the old waste places;
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,
The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
Isaiah 58:6-12
Serving the King, Ravens like me sometimes forget why we do things. But the King is patient. And he has spoken thus to me this morning. Why fast, little Raven? It is to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free. When we satisfy the souls of the afflicted, our own souls will be like a watered garden: satisfied, abundant, and restoring.
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you;
The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
“ If you take away the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shall be as the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
12 Those from among you
Shall build the old waste places;
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,
The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
Isaiah 58:6-12
Serving the King, Ravens like me sometimes forget why we do things. But the King is patient. And he has spoken thus to me this morning. Why fast, little Raven? It is to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free. When we satisfy the souls of the afflicted, our own souls will be like a watered garden: satisfied, abundant, and restoring.
We, the Ravens
We are Ravens. Look at us. We are the mysterious, the adored, the companion of poets. We are the revered, the feared, the bringer of omens. We sit there, high on our perch. Quietly contemplating on our beauty. Comparing the creatures that pass beneath us. Watching. Judging. Proud.
Yet beneath that glamour, we are nothing more than scavengers. We are opportunists. Not willing or capable to acquire our daily bread on our own. We wait. We watch. Then we eat the scraps. We feed on the garbage this world offers us, not realizing that what we eat is waste. Then again, maybe we do realize that. But we eat it anyway.
Sad, don't you think? That all our beauty, all our greatness, are nothing but a glamour. And after the spell has been stripped away, we are exposed as the filthy creatures that we are. This realization had caused me to pause. I cannot fight my own nature. What was it that I had to do with this thought? I learned. I became wiser. But to what end? This revelation had caused me to despair. And I wandered. And I sought. And I cried out into the night. But the cold merely swallowed my voice. The darkness just swallowed me whole.
Then I saw the King.
The King sat not on His throne, but walked among His people. And I called out to Him. And He stopped, and beckoned me to Him. "Rest, Raven," He told me. And He offered me His arm.
"You created me," I accused Him, refusing to land on his arm.
"I did," He replied.
"Why?"
"Because it pleases Me."
"Why would it please You to create a flawed and filthy creature?"
"You are beautiful and poetic."
"And a scavenger! A trash-eater. A scourer of waste!"
The King smiled kindly at me and lifted his arm higher, and closer to me. "Come, Raven, find rest in Me."
Tired from flying all night, and tired from screaming, I landed reluctantly on His intricately embroidered sleeve. With me on His arm, the King walked down the forest path.
"Will you help Me find My ring?" He asked me.
"Where did You lose it?"
"Somewhere in the forest. You know the forest, don't you, Raven?"
"To an extent."
"Then find it," He said, lifting me up in the air.
"I don't have my answers yet."
The King smiled. "Honor your King, Raven. Find Me My ring."
It didn't take me long to find the King's ring. It was mixed with a pile of dead leaves not far from where I usually perch. Returning to the King, I dropped the gold ring on His open palm.
"Well done, scavenger," He said.
I tilted my head and fixed an eye on Him. "Was this what You made me for?"
The King once again smiled His benevolent smile and said, "Do not question My purposes for You. For you will never understand them. Just know that My plans for you are good and wonderful. And forget not, Raven, that I have given you wisdom, that You may discern the treasure from the trash."
I bowed before the King. My burden, lifted from me.
"The forest is littered with treasures," the King continued. "Some of those treasures don't even know they're valuable. But you see some of them, don't you, Raven?"
I nodded.
"Then go. Find them and bring them to Me."
Go...
Find them...
And bring them to Me.
Yet beneath that glamour, we are nothing more than scavengers. We are opportunists. Not willing or capable to acquire our daily bread on our own. We wait. We watch. Then we eat the scraps. We feed on the garbage this world offers us, not realizing that what we eat is waste. Then again, maybe we do realize that. But we eat it anyway.
Sad, don't you think? That all our beauty, all our greatness, are nothing but a glamour. And after the spell has been stripped away, we are exposed as the filthy creatures that we are. This realization had caused me to pause. I cannot fight my own nature. What was it that I had to do with this thought? I learned. I became wiser. But to what end? This revelation had caused me to despair. And I wandered. And I sought. And I cried out into the night. But the cold merely swallowed my voice. The darkness just swallowed me whole.
Then I saw the King.
The King sat not on His throne, but walked among His people. And I called out to Him. And He stopped, and beckoned me to Him. "Rest, Raven," He told me. And He offered me His arm.
"You created me," I accused Him, refusing to land on his arm.
"I did," He replied.
"Why?"
"Because it pleases Me."
"Why would it please You to create a flawed and filthy creature?"
"You are beautiful and poetic."
"And a scavenger! A trash-eater. A scourer of waste!"
The King smiled kindly at me and lifted his arm higher, and closer to me. "Come, Raven, find rest in Me."
Tired from flying all night, and tired from screaming, I landed reluctantly on His intricately embroidered sleeve. With me on His arm, the King walked down the forest path.
"Will you help Me find My ring?" He asked me.
"Where did You lose it?"
"Somewhere in the forest. You know the forest, don't you, Raven?"
"To an extent."
"Then find it," He said, lifting me up in the air.
"I don't have my answers yet."
The King smiled. "Honor your King, Raven. Find Me My ring."
It didn't take me long to find the King's ring. It was mixed with a pile of dead leaves not far from where I usually perch. Returning to the King, I dropped the gold ring on His open palm.
"Well done, scavenger," He said.
I tilted my head and fixed an eye on Him. "Was this what You made me for?"
The King once again smiled His benevolent smile and said, "Do not question My purposes for You. For you will never understand them. Just know that My plans for you are good and wonderful. And forget not, Raven, that I have given you wisdom, that You may discern the treasure from the trash."
I bowed before the King. My burden, lifted from me.
"The forest is littered with treasures," the King continued. "Some of those treasures don't even know they're valuable. But you see some of them, don't you, Raven?"
I nodded.
"Then go. Find them and bring them to Me."
Go...
Find them...
And bring them to Me.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
The Raven's Song
At last, again, the breaking dawn;
The gloom has passed, the darkness gone;
As golden light bathes all I see,
Awake the wonder deep in me.
My frozen heart, You caused to break;
A painful cup I had to take;
But You, my Lord, are firm and true;
And I submit my life to You.
So fill my heart with holy light;
And may my countenance be bright;
That I may be for all to see
The one, the girl I wish to be.
The gloom has passed, the darkness gone;
As golden light bathes all I see,
Awake the wonder deep in me.
My frozen heart, You caused to break;
A painful cup I had to take;
But You, my Lord, are firm and true;
And I submit my life to You.
So fill my heart with holy light;
And may my countenance be bright;
That I may be for all to see
The one, the girl I wish to be.
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