"Where has all the love gone"

great lyrics/ song...

Where Has All The Love Gone
by Sheryl Crow

Today I saw the strangest thing on the evening news
A man who wasn't sad at all about what's going on
And even though I'm trying to smile
With everything I see it could take a while

I've been looking everywhere I go
Where has all the love, where has all the love gone?
I've been looking all around to know
Where has all the love, where has all the love gone?

Yesterday I heard you say you never close your eyes
Sometimes the world's a scary ride, it's hard to hang on
Along the way we got off track
And if we turn around can we ever get back?

I've been looking everywhere I go
Where has all the love, where has all the love gone?
I've been looking all around to know
Where has all the love, where has all the love gone?

You say it was there when we were young
Today I saw a flag roll by on a wooden box
And if it's true we lost our way
Then what have we got?

Today I saw the strangest thing

Strep throat and the state of things

Today I found out I had strep throat, fun-fun. At least there was something observably wrong with me that could be treated; cause I felt so very crummy. I tried to shrug it off and set off to take my daughter to the Zoo. Thankfully she said she didn't want to go(!?) and so I faced the music and went to the doc. Once I found out I was officially sick I made sure to tell everyone I came accross. My denial turned into drama, quite quickly.
Isn't that how we work on so many levels. We know the world and many things aren't quite right, but we just continue to function or try to over-function, doing what we've always done. But the signals don't dissappear, do they? Have we settled for less than good health? Are we refusing to go to the doctor of our souls? Who is the only one who can bring real relief? Only Jesus. Only Abba. Only Spirit. He so wants to set us free (So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed- from John 8, what a cool chapter by the way) But do we chose bondage? Are we too scared to walk the path of the wind? Do we settle for control of our lives, stagnant predictability.
Lately I've been re-pondering the immensity of God, how much bigger he is than all that we know. How much more wonderful and how much more satisfying than we let him be, I believe. He's just bigger and can't be contained. He busts right out of our little boxes. He'll make his debut, and after he's rejected, he'll go elsewhere and possibly come back later (that's what Jesus did during his time on earth, in the places/towns he visited) He wanted them to get Him, to get Life.
God is sold short. If we are sick and dissatisfied in our soul, then He's not really our God but some sad caricature we've contrived. And we've sold our Love for the keeping of rules (that's a line from Waterdeep, my favorite band--
"Do I have enough compassion or have I sold all my love for the keeping of rules
Am I so much in fashion, that I forgot I was born to a family of fools"- from You were at the time for love)
God is love and he's been sold for the keeping of rules, or the keeping of power, or the keeping of wealth

Aaaaaahhhhhh

My friend sent me this... I couldn't resist posting it. I'm a cat lover (and dog lover and animal lover) Isn't it ridiculously amazing and sweet! (read below pics)
HOW strong the maternal "instinct'' is!!! God is good-





Pork Chops or cubs?
In a zoo in California, a mother tiger gave birth to a rare set of triplet tiger cubs. Unfortunately, due to complications in the pregnancy, the cubs were born prematurely and due to their tiny size, they died shortly after birth.

The mother tiger, after recovering from the delivery, suddenly started to decline in health, although physically she was fine. The veterinarians felt that the loss of her litter had caused the tigress to fall into a depression. The doctors decided that if the tigress could surrogate another mother's cubs, perhaps she would improve.

After checking with many other zoos across the country, the depressing news was that there were no tiger cubs of the right age to introduce to the mourning mother. The veterinarians decided to try something that had never been tried in a zoo environment. Sometimes a mother of one species will take on the care of a different species. The only 'orphans' that could be found quickly were a litter of weaning pigs. The zoo keepers and vets wrapped the piglets in tiger skin and placed the babies around the mother tiger. Would they become cubs or pork chops??
Take a look...

Now, please tell me one more time......
Why can't the rest of the world get along??"

Process

I just thank God that our healing and sanctification is a process. I know Jesus said " it is finished," but I've come to see the way it plays out here, on our day to day, as not finished, but a slow and often painful process. As far as eternity is concerned, he accomplished it all, he will complete the work he begun in us. Thank goodness for that. So all this makes for very messy relationships in one way or another-- that's why grace is so desperately needed (forgiveness and reconciliation). But even forgiveness and reconciliation are a process, they can't be forced. Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, but he is still reconciling the world to himself-- again, process. Not everyone accepts his offer of forgiveness. Many do not receive him, at least, not yet. So today I'm just thinking of the "process" of it all. God's still working... there is grace for me today in my shortcomings, as I abide in Him. Free to be me and learn and grow because He loves me, and I love him.
I just wanna praise him, don't you?