The Friday Five - Truth, Beauty and Goodness for your weekend
'Humble Roots' and humility, a quote that might rock you, an ageless poem that speaks of the 'narrow aisles of pain', one reason why our stories matter, and the spider and the cross
On Fridays, I send out five things from the week that are worth sharing. They will come from things God is teaching me, things I’m reading, writing, observing, or thinking about. I hope they bring encouragement, fuel for thought or a nice dose of truth, beauty, and goodness to your life.
1. A convicting read
I have started the book, ‘Humble Roots: How Humility Grounds and Nourishes Your Soul’ by Hannah Anderson. The large all-caps letters on the back of the book, ‘FEELING WORN THIN? COME AND REST’ were words that spoke to my restless soul. Who, in this age of busy, busyness doesn’t need a little rest? I’m not half way through yet, but the half I’ve read is almost entirely marked up, highlighted, and the pages are dog-eared. Here’s an excerpt from the beginning:
“Unlike may of the religious leaders who sought power and personal glory, Jesus comes to bring us freedom and rest…
But this rest is contingent on something. We must come to Him. We must take His yoke. We must learn of Him. And here is the rub. Here is the real source of our anxiety and stress. Here is the root of our unhappiness: The rest that Jesus offers only comes when we humble ourselves and submit to Him.
….Ironically, the heavy burden the people were struggling under, the thing that kept them from rest, wasn’t simply the weight of other people’s expectations. It was their belief that they had to meet those expectations by their own ability, leading to confidence that they should carry the burden alone. It was nothing other than pride and self-reliance. The same pride and self-reliance that keeps us from experiencing rest as well
….When I think about the stress in my life, I wouldn’t initially associate it with pride. For me, the word “pride” conjures up an image of an arrogant, self-absorbed, loud-mouth bully….But that wasn’t me. I was busy doing good things; I was trying to make a difference in the world. And yet, my lack of peace was undeniable. My spirit was agitated, my mind was restless, my emotions on edge…But being busy with good things didn’t make me immune to pride. If anything, those of us who are busy “working for Jesus” may be the first to miss that we are struggling with pride because it can hide behind our good intentions.”
Like the author, I hadn’t really thought about my restlessness as coming from a place of pride, so this is definitely going to be a convicting read. If you’re interested in learning more about this book, you can find it here. I am an Amazon affiliate and earn commissions, and would be grateful, should you choose to purchase through my link.
2. A good quote that will resonate with all of us
I named this newsletter BECOMING for many reasons, but mostly because as we all seek to become more like Christ, we are continuously growing, learning, pruning…becoming, and with each season, we learn and grow (become) in new ways. My hope with this newsletter is that it will help YOU recognize and celebrate your becoming along the way. But yesterday, I ran across a quote I had saved in my phone’s pictures four years ago and it made me pause. It’s too good to not share:
“Maybe the journey isn’t so much about becoming anything. Maybe it’s about un-becoming everything that isn’t really you, so you can be who you were meant to be in the first place.” - Paul Coelho
3. A poem that rings as true today as it did when it was written over a hundred years ago because pain and solitude are timeless.
Solitude by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Laugh, and the world laughs with you,
Weep, and you week alone;
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own.
Sing, and the hills will answer,
Sigh, it is lost on the air;
The echoes bound to joyful sound,
But shrink from voicing care.
Rejoice, and men will seek you,
Grieve, and they turn and go;
They want full measure of all your pleasure,
But they do not need your woe.
Be glad, and your friends are many,
Be sad, and you lose them all;
There are none to decline your nectared wine,
But alone you must drink life’s gall.
Feast, and your halls are crowded,
Fast, and the world goes by.
Succeed and give, and it helps you live,
But no man can help you die;
For there is room in the halls of pleasure
For a long and lordly train,
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain.
4. One reason why our stories matter
Yesterday, I had a friend over and we had intended to spend time creating in the art studio, yet something powerful happened instead. Storytelling. I have so much to write about this but for now, I’d like to take this opportunity to send out this reminder: Our stories matter because as Christians, and even if you’re not a Christian but you have a genuine interest in connecting with others, our assignment is to love others. We can love others better when we know their stories.
I admit, I have not done a great job of creating space for storytelling…inviting others in for mine, or making space to listen to theirs. (There goes that busy, busyness I am struggling with, as mentioned above). But this time with my precious friend yesterday, listening to her story, allowed me to hold a greater space in my heart for her, even when I already knew I loved her before hearing her story. Now, I SEE her and I LOVE her. So this reminder is for me and you AND it’s for telling our stories and hearing others’ stories.
God’s love for us is wide and long, high and deep and He knows us intimately. That alone is always such an incredibly humbling and awesome reminder, that despite who I am and all of my broken parts, He loves me like this. This is the love we ought to extend to our friends, our brothers and sisters in Christ. “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19) Stories matter because it helps us to love others better.
5. As we approach Memorial Day, I’m reminded of the spider in the cross
Psalm 91, also affectionally know as ‘The Soldier’s Psalm’ because of the many accounts of this passage bringing comfort to soldiers, and even as one account has it, complete protection from casualties during wartime (for the 91st Brigade), is often remembered around Memorial Day.
Almost serendipitously, while walking around taking photos of the tombstones at the Georgia National Cemetery with the kids during homeschool, I came upon this spider taking refuge in an engraved cross on a tombstone. I was immediately struck by this hauntingly beautiful encounter as it reminded me of that 91st Psalm and, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.”
It was an overcast day, and our visit was right on the heels of a shower. The lowly spider was seeking shelter from the rain, in, of all things, the impression of a cross. Mr. Spider may not have recognized the significance of this, (or perhaps he did, and wouldn’t that be something awe-worthy) but I did. Psalm 91 is for soldiers. Psalm 91 is for us all.
Aren’t we all lowly, seeking this kind of refuge in our daily comings and goings; in our sin and in our surrender, don’t we all want to abide in His shadow and don’t we desperately long to hear our LORD say to us, “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation” (vs 14-16)?
Psalm 91
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say[a] to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
You will only look with your eyes
and see the recompense of the wicked.
Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—
the Most High, who is my refuge[b]—
no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
no plague come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
Question to Ponder or Journal Prompt:
If I were invited to share my story, what version of it would I feel comfortable sharing; all of it or a cherry-picked version? Which version will help people love me better or relate/connect with me better?
Last thought
Please friend, if you’re struggling with the the lies that your story doesn’t matter - you think you are too old, or too young, too broken, too boring, or too anything for your story to be told; if you get caught up in these lies, remember: your story matters because God is the author - not you! So, even if you aren’t invited to tell your story, capture it somewhere. You never know when you’ll have the opportunity to share it, or for your written story to be read at a later time.
Well friend, that’s it for today. Have a wonderful weekend and be blessed. Thank you for being here!
If you have been encouraged or blessed by this newsletter, please consider sharing it with others!