sacrifice?

"people talk of the sacrifice i have made in spending so much of my life in africa. can that be called a sacrifice which is simply paid back as a small part of a great debt owing to our God, which we can never repay? is that a sacrifice which brings its own blest reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter? away with the word in such a view and with such a thought! it is emphatically no sacrifice. say rather it is a privilege. anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger now and then with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charites of this life, may make us only be for a moment. all these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in and for us. i never made a sacrifice."

david livingstone

(given to me by a close friend to read while in china)

just some thoughts....

i remember telling someone one time that there is a difference between a companion and a friend. in my opinion the word friend in the english language is obsolete. society has taken the meaning of friend and degraded it. these days a friend is someone you meet online. someone with similar likes and dislikes. a friend wishes you happy birthday on your facebook wall. the end. there’s nothing more to it than that.
but a companion. a companion is someone who accompanies you. an accompaniment. someone who walks beside you. someone who plays the music while you sing. another soul with which to mingle. a companion is not about likes and dislikes. a companion is about the other person. a companion listens rather than talks. a companion doesn’t move you down the list of her priorities. a companion knows your soul. a companion cries too. a companion misses you. a companion knows and allows you to know in return.

i like trees....

So was I once myself a swinger of birches;
And so I dream of going back to be.
It's when I'm weary of considerations,
And life is too much like a pathless wood 45
Where your face burns and tickles with the cobwebs
Broken across it, and one eye is weeping
From a twig's having lashed across it open.
I'd like to get away from earth awhile
And then come back to it and begin over. 50
May no fate wilfully misunderstand me
And half grant what I wish and snatch me away
Not to return. Earth's the right place for love:
I don't know where it's likely to go better.
I'd like to go by climbing a birch tree, 55
And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk
Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more,
But dipped its top and set me down again.
That would be good both going and coming back.
One could do worse than be a swinger of birches. 60

“birches”
robert frost

*if you wish, you can make your own commentary....

word of the day

fragile

ignorance is...

Ignorance is bliss. Not knowing is effortless. Lack of knowledge is mundane, ordinary, and commonplace. Ignorance is [only] bliss [because there is no accountability to act.]

Ignorance is bliss because it is a burden to be aware. Awareness requires action. Sometimes I am too tired. Sometimes I have my own problems to deal with. Sometimes it takes me a while to care. Sometimes I don’t understand. Therefore, I would rather be ignorant so that there is no pressure to act. So that I am unbothered. Ignorance is bliss.

But see sometimes I get it. Sometimes I am just afraid. Sometimes my worries overshadow the problems of the world. Sometimes I don’t know where to start. Sometimes I feel inadequate.

Who in the world am I to help rescue women and children from sex trafficking? But my Spanish is not good enough to translate for someone in need. How can I teach the English language? How can my writing ever be good enough? How do I completely change my lifestyle and attitude toward food? I don’t understand. I can’t afford it. I can’t do it. I give up. This burden is too great.

The burden is so heavy. I can’t give up, though. Ignorance is ordinary, and God does not call me to a life of being ordinary. I will not be ordinary. Bliss is giving until I can’t give any longer. Bliss is meeting the needs of others. Bliss is acting out in order to shine light on and bring justice to a hellacious situation.

Ignorance lacks accountability. Ignorance lacks life. Light. Bliss. Challenge. Love. Faith. Hope. Grace.
Ignorance is not bliss.
Ignorance is hell.
Ignorance is a lie.