Mornings Musings and the Value of Life

As I sat one rainy morning and just drank tea, letting my mind wake up, some thoughts drifted through it...here they are in semi-rawness...

a poem sketched in my journal:

as i drink my morning cup

and watch the steam rise off the mug

i wonder,

has my life steeped too much in the warmth of the world?

have i only leaked into

or rather

have i failed to rise like vapor purified?

away from everything sweet on which i lean

to surmise

and be apart

and at peace

without my everyday comforting of things as they seem.

We've been writing a paper/meditating on Luke 16.1-13, about the unrighteous steward, and Jesus' teaching on money/possessions in the Kingdom of God. It has brought God's views on money to mind often, and challenged us with reminders of how money reveals the heart/character of His followers. 

“He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. ¹¹ Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? ¹² And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?¹³ No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

There is so much to learn from Jesus, but one thing is that He doesn't consider the amount one has, just the faithfulness by which one stewards "that which is another's". Money is to show our faithfulness and reveals our loyalty to God. 

As Christmas approaches, we have been reminded to value the things that God values. The above verse may give you some clues to His heart in this...but if you're really wondering what those values might be...then take a good look at yourself, your relationship with Him and your relationship with others. 



a few days later, I downloaded a free Christmas song by Sufjan Stevens, it really spoke to us...

(This fall we have been enjoying the firelight on our computer, so I thought this was an appropriate addition to the song)

here are the lyrics:

Silver and gold, silver and gold
 Everyone wishes for it.
 How do you measure its worth?
 Just by the pleasure it gives here on earth.

Oh I’m getting old. Oh I’m getting old. Everyone wishes for youth. 
How have I wasted my life?
 Trusting the pleasure it gives here on earth.

Lord, come with fire. Lord, come with fire. Everyone’s wasting their time
 Storing up treasure in vain.
 Trusting the pleasure it gives here on earth.

Oh I see the end. Oh I see the end. Everyone’s waiting for death
. How do you measure its worth? Justice delivers its gift here on earth.