Spiritual Things Matter

This Mother’s Day, the one person that comes to mind who has inspired me to become an even better mother is, Elisabeth Fritzl. This courageous Austrian woman has astonished so many of us with her efforts to give her children some sense of normalcy in an incredible abnormal environment. Her mother’s heart gave and kept on giving, although she only received profound sorrow and pain which lasted nearly a quarter of a century. The decorations in her tiny cellar moved me to tears as it shows so clearly that she remembered the stars and the moon which once represented her freedom. She shared that with her children, as was obvious, when her youngest child pointed to the moon and asked if God lived there. Her brokenness is severe and deep. May we wrap her and her children into our hearts and remember them in our prayers…even long after this story is no longer in the forefront.

Dear Brave Soul, Happy Mother’s Day!

Slowly emerging from all that was dark
into the light - which seems so painfully bright.
Slowly, very slowly, each step must be taken -
into freedom…..as senses are overwhelmed
by the generosity of life.

Love and life will embrace you soundly
Goodness and kindness are there to lift you up.
You are a part of our life!
You are a part of our world!
Welcoming you openly -
for love will embrace you all around.

Life with all its complexities
with all its painful sorrows and tears,
cannot be explained with our,
so very limited eyes of understanding -
for only one piece of the puzzle we see.

Yet, life remains a wondrous gift to be lived
with so much love and mysteries yet to be had.
We welcome you with all our hearts!
Embracing you with so much love!
And, with many, many tender thoughts that, now at last,
peace for you and your children will flourish -
forever…holding you securely - far above.

Thank you, oh, brave and fragile soul,
for loving your children - despite it all.
Thank you for teaching them with the little that you had.
Thank you for your astounding bravery and courage.
And thank you, oh, dear tender soul,
for having truly done your very, very best!

May the sun shine tenderly on you -
May her warmth bring healing comfort to your broken heart.
May the wind whisper his eternal truths into your ears
And may you sense his abiding strength as well as his tender mercies.
May the rain fall extra gently upon your brow.
And may each tender droplet bring new rhythm to your thoughts.
May your tears flow freely that you might feel again and begin to heal.
May life bring its beauty to you -
With generosity and with grace.
May it envelope you with new truth and new hope -
That you may find your own beauty which abides richly in you.
And, may Love embrace you and your children -
As our world cradles you firmly and tenderly in her prayers.

Happy Mother’s Day, our very dear Elisabeth!

Viola M. Jaynes
Mother’s Day 2008

Love cannot exist without pain. ~The Anchoress

The Anchoress wrote a post that so deeply moved me and it spurred me on to write on this topic myself.

This time of the year, one cannot help but reflect again on the most profound love-gift that has ever been given to man-kind. It is a gift, so precious, so valuable and so indescribable, that all there is left to do is to grasp it firmly into our bosom and try to comprehend, on some level - with our finite minds, the mystery which it holds.

Never before has there been one who descended from heaven and gave himself for man-kind. Only Jesus Christ, the Anointed One, was able to do that because He was commissioned by God, by Himself, to pierce through darkness and enter this linear world of ours. A world, so limited in its understanding, so ignorant of truth, and so sinful of its own making.

He stood among us, this God, this Holy God, and through His son, Jesus Christ, He showed us His heart. With a passion so fierce, He did His work. All that He did was driven by only one prevailing power and that power is Love.

Jesus the Christ displayed compassion, kindness and mercy as no one ever could. There were no formulas to go by. There were no rules to remember. Love operates from the heart and it is reckless in its giving. Love was the only means in which to bring humanity into a life of meaning, of purpose, and of abundance.

God withheld nothing from us!

He knew before He descended from heaven, the pain that He would endure….and conquer. He knew what we, with our finite human mind , could never comprehend. Thus, He spoke in the only language that we could understand. Pain

Jesus cried out, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing,” as He hung suspended between heaven and earth, because of the raw, primitive emotions of hate and envy that men everywhere are capable of at their worst. (Luke 23:34)

His love penetrated though the darkest of dark. All the universe became silent, if even just for a moment, to witness Love in its purest form. To understand once and for all that healing of our broken humanity comes only through the redeeming power of Love.

Love cannot exist without pain.

Those who embrace this understanding, will lay aside formulas and rules to go by. They will, through their own devotion and love for God, reach out to humanity recklessly and unconditionally…with a passionate desire to love. It is in this abandonment to love that transformations will take place right before their eyes. Salvation and healing will be the natural by-product as love pierces through the heart and heals. Love itself can and will heal and make whole the body, mind and spirit.

As we embrace each other with this understanding, let us pray that God will raise up a people in this hour, who know how to love. All of creation groans and travails for such a people to arise. (Rom.8) It is only as we abide in Him, that this will become a possibility. God IS Love and in this Love, Light is manifested. As this pure Light of love is manifested, Truth will stand on its own. Thus, all ignorance and darkness will be no more. (I John 1:5)

It is at this juncture that all tears will be wiped away and pain will no longer have a place in the hearts of men.

Let us never fear to step out to love and to be love. This must be done intelligently, compassionately, and genuinely. Pain exists everywhere without love…but love can never exist without pain…until that final moment of complete understanding, complete enlightenment. This holy sacrifice was given once and for all. The pain of ignorance was beyond human comprehension. It was agony at its worst. Mankind has, at last, been freed from a life of misery and futility. We have been freed into a life of certainty - a life of communion with our Creator.

Yes, indeed, we have been freed into a life without pain - if we can truly comprehend and accept this truth.

Standing back and watching
as people come and go.
I notice on their faces
stories that have not been told.

Deep within their hearts
are words they utter not
for fear that no one would understand
but criticize their travailing heart.

Pains from the past they carry
as if just happened yesterday.
They are blinded to their own Power - within,
or perhaps, they have not yet been made aware.

They carry the shame of mistakes they’ve made -
and cover it up with a mask that fits tight.
The dark thoughts of disparity run rampant
as they figure out some way to hide.

When their anger is turned inward
in deep depression they usually fall.
If their anger is turned outward
then others take the fall.

Humanity does struggle
to come to terms with life itself.
They somehow conjure up
that all is complex and thus, they fall into despair.

It is through their passions of tears,
of love and anger, desires and fears;
through the yearning of things not yet received-
that Light begins to penetrate and finally shines to heal.

In humility, I bow to you, my dearest God -
Comfort your people, bring peace of heart.
Oh, comfort those that feel desperately alone-
shedding tears of hidden pain unknown.

Comfort those that have gone astray;
Breathe upon them as You bring clarity along the way.
Comfort those that have fallen - have been bruised and scarred at best-
that they might find a Higher Way, a place of Peace and Rest.

Oh, comfort them, comfort them- my dearest God.
Your Grace is sufficient -
Your Strength is made perfect
in the weakness of men’s hearts.

No more blind leading the blind -
No more deaf ears that cannot hear.
No more eyes that have dimly seen
No more hearts that were only lead by fear.

In Your Grace and through Your Grace-
the moment has come for change.
Your Loving-Kindness is better then life
so comfort Your people, I pray!

~Viola M. Jaynes

Pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.
~Kahlil Gibran

It was July 29th, a day that would be seared into my heart and mind forever. It was a day that I felt the pain of loss and it would be a loss felt so deeply and so intensely that only tears shed could bring even the smallest amount of relief. It was a day that should have never happened the way it did, and yet nothing could stop it

As a piercing sharp pain went into my heart, I could only collapse over the steering wheel of my vehicle and sob, as I had not done in many years. I cried so hard that I lost all awareness of time and I entered into a space of profound aloneness, sadness, and grief. I had enough of an awareness to understand that the intensity of my pain was even more acute because of past losses that were so ingrained into the memories of every cell of my being. An open wound that has never been healed was once again injured, and the pain was excruciating.

It was in that moment when tears were streaming down my face, as if a dam had been broken, and I could hear and feel myself struggling to breathe when all at once, a song began to play on a CD that I had never listened to before. Why it was in the CD player and turned to that song at that very moment is a question that I can only answer by saying, “Amazing Grace.” This song stirred in me, once again, the “knowing” that God was with me. It was a song that I believe when it was written, God thought of me. I would love to know the person who wrote it and sang it. The words are beautiful and so fitting, as if I had written them myself. The music reached deep into my soul as it brought me into the presence of God. Thank you, Reckless Fingers, for “Walk with Me“! I want to share the words here with my dear readers today:

When I feel that I can’t go on,
When doors are closing upon me.
When friends turn away,
shrug their shoulders and say,
“We never were one of a kind anyway.”

When I know that the moment has come,
When I’m out and alone on my own.
That’s the time when I most
need someone to be close
and walk with me right down that road that I chose.

Then walk with me
He who has said,
“My Name is, I’ll be with you.”
Courage and faith I have only so little of.
So Lord, let me know that your Name is true.

Now my heart is heavy with sorrow,
but there is no way that I can let it show.
And it seems all my days -
it just has been this way,
whenever I’m weary, I’ve no place to go.

And I’ve heard of some people talking,
who claim that in heaven above -
we’re rewarded someday for our suffering today -
But Lord, I can’t wait for your help all that long.

Then walk with me,
He who has said,
“My Name is, I’ll be with you.”
Courage and faith I have only so little of.
So Lord, let me know that your Name is true.

~Reckless Fingers

God has many names. One name that we are all very familiar with is, “Emanuel” - which means “God with us.” This is an abiding truth for which I am deeply thankful. No matter what the sufferings are in our lives, we can forever trust in an abiding Presence who will bring strength and courage to our very tired soul at times - if we will but turn to Him. It is in those divine moments that we have the opportunity to know God more intimately as we experience His Love. It is through such a face-to-face encounter with God that we learn to be kinder and more loving to ourselves as well as to those around us. It is in our sufferings that we often see God’s wisdom, and we realize that happiness is a simple gift that can be embraced as we accept ourselves and this holy God that lives within us. Many of our illusions and pain can be healed by this very important, spiritual truth.

May you be comforted and strengthened today and all your days on this earth. May you know God’s love intimately and always have the courage to turn to Him with all your cares. May you rise with assuredness as you learn to love Him and those around you, that you may be one of the peacemakers upon our earth. May you walk humbly before your God and worship Him with purity and sincerity of heart. May your understanding be opened to the truth that He indeed is greater in you than all else in this world. Mostly, I pray that you now be still and be at peace!