#notalone | itsawonderfilledlife

Posts Tagged ‘#notalone’

To Know We are not Alone

Posted in life, WONDER, tagged #connectedness, #easter, #godineverything, #moonlightsonata, #notalone, #shadowlands, #toknowwearenotalone on April 30, 2022| Leave a Comment »

There is a line which speaks such truth, in the movie, Shadowlands (the story of the relationship between CS Lewis and his wife Joy Davidman … that is all I will say as I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who doesn’t know … but, the two are played by Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger … SEE THIS MOVIE):

“we read to know we are not alone”

To read something that makes you feel, that reminds you that your thoughts and emotions are experienced by another is enlivening. Sometimes it is in reading a good book that we find connectedness, but sometimes connectedness comes from other, unexpected places.

Having a coffee with a friend who is safe to share your heart with can bring connectedness and relief from the wear and tear of life like nothing else. Laughter with loved ones, praying for others, a shared look across a crowded room with your love … they all remind us we are not alone in this life.

But people are not the only pathway to experiencing this human need. Have you ever taken a walk in nature only to feel overwhelmed by the beauty around you? Or, tasted a meal that brings joy to your palate? Or inhaled the scent of lilacs (or roses, or whatever flower provides olfactory delight)? Or glanced at a painting that moved something within you? Or … heard a piece of music …

Have you seen the video (below) of the toddler hearing someone play Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata? It is a very moving, moody, melancholy piece of music. This little guy has an emotional response to the sound of this music. A response so visceral it is as though he understands, from experience, great sorrow.

But, what if he is simply having a human experience of connectedness. Connectedness to other humans, to nature, to God? For does not God exist in all beautiful things? Is not our human experience one of the combination of great joy and sorrow at the same time?

Yes, God is in the beautiful, the arousing, the joyful … but he also knows sorrow, loss and brutality.

As we move beyond the Easter season …

the season of our greatest gain,
his greatest loss

Easter is not left behind, for it’s joys and sorrows they go with us, in us.

Easter is the great reminder that we are loved, we are never alone, we are connected … and there are reminders of this everywhere.

Read Full Post »

When the Door of the Past Creaks Open

Posted in Walking with God, tagged ##whygod, #badmemories, #darknessinvades, #hewillmakeallthingsnew, #ihavedealtwithit, #memories, #notalone, #thepast, #whenthedoorofthepastcreaksopen, thepastinvadesthepresent on April 27, 2022| Leave a Comment »

“I have dealt with it” (whatever it is), we say.

Then we hear, we feel the creaking

of the door

to the past

and we are right back there again,

staring into the blackness

of that night, that day, that season.

That time we thought we had left behind a locked door,

never to see the light of day,

never again to pinch and pierce our hearts.

Through the opening flood memories.

There are good memories,

but they are shadowed by the bad, the ending,

singed by the fires that ravaged those joys with sorrow.

As if the light of those joys is forever dimmed

by the inferno that brought it all

to ashes.

How is it that though it is done, has been done and dusted now for years, the door still creaks open, letting the darkness of that time flood back, stealing today’s joys? And, let’s face it, we cannot but say,

why God? Why do you let my today be darkened by yesterday?

Then, I hear it …

every.

single.

time.

Even when I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid,
for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
protect and comfort me.
You prepare a feast for me
in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
My cup overflows with blessings.
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord
forever.

And I hear it.

I hear it with my ears, but I also feel it in my deepest parts,

the click of the door,

the slide of lock.

I feel the warmth of the light with me,

inside of me.

I am not alone,

for my Creator, my Redeemer is with me.

I can face, not just tomorrow, but yesterday too.

He will make all things new.

Read Full Post »

The Song in our Hearts

Posted in life, Walking with God, WONDER, tagged #intimacywithgod, #notalone, #psalm139, #thesonginourhearts on July 18, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Sitting in a coffee shop recently a song came on and my fingers froze on the keyboard, my eyes lifted up from my screen and I could feel that uncontrollable smile form across my face. It was the song Unforgettable by Nat King Cole.

Unforgettable
That’s what you are,
Unforgettable
Tho’ near or far.
Like a song of love that clings to me …

I had a similar experience sitting in a church sanctuary, awaiting the start of a memorial. As I was reading the life story of the deceased, the pianist played Your Song, by Elton John and my attention was fully and completely on the words that were going through my head.

Oh I know it’s not much but it’s the best I can do
My gift is my song
And this one’s for you
And you can tell everybody this is your song
It may be quite simple but now that it’s done
I hope you don’t mind
That I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you’re in the world

What is it that causes a song to so reach into our being that we stop what we are doing and thinking, just to hear it more clearly … even though we know it so very well?

Within all humans is a natural beat, which we all walk to, within the confines of our chest and it courses throughout our bodies, from head to toes. Our heartbeat has a rhythm of it’s own and we are moved when we hear our own heartbeat in the heartbeat of another’s song. That reminder that another feels as we do, that we are not alone.

That is what I think Psalm 139 is all about. Here are a few of the first verses:”

“You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely”

In this an intimate knowledge of the psalmist, by his Creator, is acknowledged. In this is not only the intimacy of the Creator acknowledged, but also declared … as though the psalmist had made a conscious realization that he is not alone … as though one day the lightbulb came on, and the psalmist was stopped in an instant when he heard his own heartbeat … in the heartbeat of God.

Our father sings the song of our heartbeat,

telling us that we are never alone.

Read Full Post »

Not Alone

Posted in life, WONDER, tagged #cslewis, #iamnotalone, #notalone, #whatyoutoo, Friendship, romans12:15 on September 22, 2016| 1 Comment »

I always get a bit nervous when I get a notification for a comment on a blog post.

Could someone have noticed the horrible grammar? the run-on sentences? a spell correct that resulted in a risqué statement? maybe I offended their political, religious or dietary views? or, maybe it will be a comment from someone who knows me, and they are calling me a hypocrite?

Most of the time, though, the comment goes like this:

“I so needed that today” or “that is exactly what I am dealing with right now”

These comments are always the most precious to me, for they remind me, over and over, that

I am not alone.

For I can only write from the place of experience, having been there. I can only be sincere, if I have sincerely had the same thoughts, fears and wishes that I write about.

To discover that we share a life of experiences, thoughts and feelings that is parallel to another oxygen-breathy, fleshly human being is to find kinship, commonality, friendship that is soul-deep.

May we continue to experience the birth of friendships from that which we share. So, don’t forget to share your joys and sorrows, strengths and weaknesses, with those around you … you might just find that you are not alone.

“Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”
Romans 12:15

Read Full Post »