Random Journal Quotes

Journal 11 – 2015

There are missions we are given to do by God that are not neat and tidy. My views are not neat and tidy. Today I was reading a blog by a former fundamentalist. She was writing about misunderstanding race. An African-American joined in. His anger was apparent but not rude. He said those on the other side will never understand the marginalized because they have not lived it. It made me think of my professor and his comment that the playing field will never be even. There is a thread to this conversation that I am starting to understand. Prejudice is taught by example. Equality is lived by example. I feel contemporary Christianity has failed and failed miserably.We are not like Christ (broadly speaking, not everyone). We play it close to the vest, make our own choices, choose our own path, and live for self—a pious, self-righteous, careful path. What if we were to live it differently—really love our neighbor as oneself, really not count the cost, really and truly live for Jesus Christ without restraint? Our homes would become hospitals for wounded people, and we would become changed. Amen.

Journal 11 – 2016

It is good to feel God coming close. I am refreshed in spirit. There is a difference about me. The burden has lifted. Praise is here (at the monastery). I took pictures for a young couple by the grape arbor. She has a nasty scar on her face. She is pretty and looked lovely.  And she is kind, I can tell. Her man seemed discourteous to her, ignoring, and then bossing her. How I dislike that kind of thing.

Thank you for this place of peace. Thank you for answering my prayer and bringing peace—sweet, true, deep peace. That was a God-thing. Father, I have become a ‘big tent’ Christian. I no longer like labels. Thank you, Father God, for every step that you give me, every truth that I discover, every joy and every sorrow. I am so grateful. You take broken people and restore them. You lift our cares. You minister to us. You set us free to live again. You bring healing where there was none. You are my rock, my fortress. I’m so thankful.

We trust in the Lord, our God. In God we trust.

Journal 11 – 2017

God often calls us to leave what is “safe,” to let go of our prejudices, our biases, limited parameters, and well-defined boxes. God calls us to love. We don’t get to choose, He chooses for us. There are lines we must cross out of obedience to His teachings and message. My walk is not your walk. How can I tell you what God would have you to do? I can’t. That is His business. We can be blind—so blind—to the work of God. We cannot choose whom we are going to love. We love those whom God brings to us, whom He puts in our path, whom He directs us to seek out. There is wisdom in this. We are kept from planning our own destiny, by leaving our destiny up to God. How shallow our thinking is at times. But God is never shallow. He is wisdom personified. In Him is abundant wisdom. Trust is well-placed when it rests in Him. We need to leave what is safe, to step into the unscripted way of the cross—the road less traveled. Our friends and family may not understand, but that is not our concern. They don’t have to. Instead we must have the courage to step out into the center of God’s great big will for us, even if it causes consternation and pain to those who do not understand the way of the cross in us. Safe? Forsaking all, we follow Christ. God calls us to unconditional love. We tend to put conditions on whom we are going to love.

Norma L. Brumbaugh

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