This Place

This Place

my heart is yearning for a place in the light

where there is nothing but color, nowhere is night

it is so close I can sense it

I can hear it in the music, flowing in three’s

I can see it in color in the midst of the trees

I can glimpse it through the vision of my periphery

I can feel it in the heartbeat of a spirit that is free

I feel it moving, moving

Entering from the left

And no soul, no spirit

will be left empty or bereft

my heart is yearning for a place in the light

and this world as no one knows it is coming quickly to sight

right into this place, right here and now…

K, Duane Carter 11-29-10

The Deep

I was finishing up my exercise routine this morning, and I looked up to see one of my photos of Colorado.  I have been thinking about publishing an inspirational calendar with poems and photos, and that got me to wondering.  I began to wonder why inspirational products sell so well.  Obviously our country must have a lot of people that desire to be inspired and encouraged.  Now the next logical step would be to say that obviously life can be hard and stressful and people need that inspiration and encouragement to get through those difficulties and hardships.  But then I felt something deeper.  What if down deep what we are really seeking is that something that life is really supposed to be here on planet earth?  I’m not talking about the yearning for heaven either.  I’m talking about releasing the glory of God here on this earth we live on.  What if we humans have put up with disappointment and hurt and discouragement and pain and suffering and death for so long that we have buried that real yearning and power and faith that is deep within us telling us it really doesn’t have to be the way that we see it?  What if that fire burning deep within the mountainous pile of ashes is that quiet voice of God saying, “You were born for much more than this…you were born for much more.”  What if God is just waiting for that one woman, that one man, that one boy, that one girl who is willing to say, “God, you told us to pray that Your will be done on earth and Your kingdom to come to this earth and for it to be on earth as it is in heaven.  You gave us back our dominion over this planet.  I’m ready to walk in that”?  What if we quit accepting excuses like, “That’s just the way life is”, and “God allows bad stuff to happen to help us be better” and started to live out the truth that He has called us to greater works than Jesus by resting in our identity as sons and daughters of God and the beautiful bride of Jesus?  What if??  I’m beginning to see it…and it is more beautiful than we can think or imagine.  You were born for more than this.  Go for it.  The earth is crying out for you. 

Responding in Truth

This morning I read a tweet from a prominent speaker in our country, and it said something to the effect that God doesn’t respond to our need, He responds to our faith.  I immediately had a “no” in my heart and I thought of the story of the father who brought his son to the disciples and they couldn’t heal him.  He asked Jesus to heal his son IF He could.  IF…there wasn’t a lot of faith right there, you know?  He then admitted to Jesus that he needed help with unbelief and Jesus gave him the miracle of healing his son in order to do just that…Jesus boosted the man’s faith.  Jesus didn’t respond to the guy’s faith.  He responded to his need so that He could give him the gift of faith.  I’m not sitting here gleeful because just one more preacher dude made a mistake.  That’s not the point.  The point is I am tired of the church sign approach we Christians have to the truth.  We often say things that sound so pious and right and cute and cuddly, but when you really start digging into a lot of these platitudes they aren’t right at all, and I think that they also harm because somewhere out there is a hurting person that DID believe and they didn’t get what they asked for and now they are floundering.  The last thing that person needs is a 2 x 4 across his head making him think he didn’t believe “enough.”  I think God responds the way any good Father would respond.  He does what He knows is best in the situation and based on what will bring us the most good and help us to grow.  Truth isn’t straightforward.  It just isn’t.  If you don’t believe me then read Proverbs 26:4-5.  I am learning that God is more often a “both-and” person and NOT an exclusively “either-or” type of person.  And somewhere, somehow we are going to have to quit acting like we know it all, and we are going to have to start acting out of the place that our faith contains mystery and unanswered questions and there is not one human being on this planet that has it all right including (and probably especially) myself.  If we lead people to the Answer instead of trying to have all the answers, we might go far.  Just a thought… 

Picture

Picture

picture yourself here

sitting in the rising sun

stillness moving through the air

the sound of autumn leaves falling to the ground

like heavy rain

yet touching lightly, musically

a wren sets off in flight from your left

and you know it is a sign

today you fly

today you soar

to places never known before

it is so because He says it is so

now go

walk it out 

it is good to do the walk about

and see the world like you’ve never seen it before

experience the more

the more that is always available for you

picture yourself here

and you will find yourself here

it will be much better than you could ever imagine it…

K, Duane Carter 11-13-10 

Thoughts

Just a regular blog entry today folks....


I was wondering something today as I read an email from a good friend of mine.  She was recounting the story of the 12 spies who went to the Promised Land and how 10 of them basically by negative news kept at least a million people out of what was to be their destiny.  That got me to thinking about how we as Christians are often known for what we stand against and not what we stand for.  What would happen if we began to quit praying against evil and started praying for the release of good?  What would happen if we would quit spending hours getting all of the bad news in our emails about all of the garbage going on and quit spending hours praying against the schemes of the enemy, and we began to take that time and pray for the release of the kingdom of God on the earth?  What if we began to pray for the release of love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, gentleness, meekness, self-control, justice, and righteousness, and JOY?!  What if?  It’s not bad to know what is going on, but I am beginning to wonder if it is not good to react to evil instead of proclaiming the good.  I wonder if our humanity tends to react to evil more in soulish and fleshly ways, and our proclaiming good operates in more of the spiritual dimension and opens us up to being invaded by God Himself.  Just a thought.  I wonder if anyone out there is willing to step into this.  Let's focus on praying for His Presence in situations, and I bet all of the bad stuff just bends its knee to the God of the Universe.  That isn't just revival...that is reformation.