The News

I read about it in the paper. I hear about it on the radio. I pick up the phone and it's there too. The news is everywhere and most often it is bleak and heart-breaking. Souls fighting. Souls taking the life of another soul. Souls ravaged by abuse. Souls drowning in a sea of alcoholism. Souls dying. Souls full of cancer. Souls starving because of drought and famine. Souls that are homeless. Souls robbed of hope. Souls in prisons of their own making. All this strife and pain resounds in a sad refrain in the news. I could put names onto these souls, so could you. Sometimes the weight of the news seems too much. Where is hope? Where is love? Where is kindness? Where is light? Darkness, despair, greed, bitterness, lust and sorrow tug at the hope that's inside of me and threaten to pull me under in the dark undertow.

I read this other book. I try to read it often because it tells me that there truly is Good News. It comforts me. It tells me that there is hope. It shows me purpose in the middle of the darkest night. It buoys the hope that is inside me. It cradles my fragile thoughts and emotions and reminds me that this place is not as it should be. I sometimes ask myself what difference does my life make in the middle of the bad news all around me. How can I change it? What can I do? Is it possible for this world to be fixed?

Jesus quotes in Luke 4:16-22 these words from Isaiah 61 that infuse me with hope and light. "The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me because God has anointed me. He sent me to preach good news to the poor, heal the heartbroken, announce freedom to all captives, pardon all prisoners. God sent me to announce the year of his grace - a celebration of God's destruction of our enemies - and to comfort all who mourn...." Jesus says he has good news. I believe that He is Good News. The enemies that he is talking about are everything that we hear in the news. It's murder. It's greed. It's homelessness. It's starvation. It's abuse. It's terminal illness. He has conquered those enemies. He has put in motion a plan that has given hope and light to the darkest of days; the worst news.

Jesus asks that anyone who has ears to hear the Good News, to spread it all around. He says to his followers in Matthew 5:14 that, 'You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world." If the Good News is in me, I have light to offer the world around me. Have you ever been in a room at dusk? As the light fades in the room, colors fade. The only colors that you end up seeing are the non-colors; black and grey. If you turn a light on in that same room, colors explode like a rainbow. Red, green, blue, yellow, orange all bringing the scene to life. That's what LIGHT does. That's what I do. I bring out the God-colors in this world. In the face of bad news, I have love. I have compassion. I have justice. I have grace and mercy. I have forgiveness. I have hope and joy. I have peace. I have hope. There is Good News for anyone with the ears to hear it...Jesus.

Weeding Therapy

Please read that title correctly. Not 'weed' therapy...just to clarify. There is something so cathartic about yanking ugly, bothersome weeds out of the ground. Some people punch a punching bag, some people run, some people scream at the top of their voice. Me? I pull weeds. There was a day a month or two ago when I really needed to blow off some steam, I weeded the entire yard in a couple hours. The weeds were really flying that day. Yesterday, I spent a couple hours weeding again. When I was finished, I felt so relaxed. I think it's because no one wants to help so I get to be alone with my thoughts for a couple of hours. I guess I really need that once in awhile.

I am one of those people who definitely recharges by being alone. I need time to process things. That time, if I am honest with myself, really points to areas in myself that need some recalibrating. Whether it's frustration, anger, unsettled thoughts, or just a busy brain, I find these times of being alone to really work out the kinks and refresh me for the next foray into craziness. I find that usually my frustration or whatever is unsettling me, needs to be looked at from many different angles. Weeding gives me time to do that. Weeding gives me time to sort out thoughts and get to the bottom of the issue. It also gives me time to pray. I find that weeding has double strength power for me. As I pull weeds out of the ground, I weed my thoughts. I pull out the garbage and I'm left with beauty, for the time being. If I don't weed, things get tangled up. Everything is a mess, it all becomes interconnected. Every issue is tied to the next. It all starts to seem hopeless and insurmountable. I'm not a drama queen, but if I don't get time to weed, my brain leans towards hysterics, which leads to headaches, which leads to more weeds! It's a bad cycle to get into.

Each of us needs to weed. It truly keeps us sane. Do what you need to do to be alone for awhile. Do that weeding in your mind. Getting rid of the clutter up there is healthy. As for the other kind of weeding, try it. It just might be your thing too! (One thing though, I am not available to weed your garden. You plant it? You weed it!)

Carpe Diem

For as long as I've been a part of the Seatter clan, and probably for years preceding, a clock hung on the wall of the kitchen just to the left of the garden doors in Jeremy's parents house. It always let us know how many hours we had spent around the table feasting, talking, laughing and enjoying each other's company. Yesterday was one of those days. Hours spent in that room doing just that. The only difference was that the clock was missing. I looked for it. In it's time honored place now hangs a picture of Jeremy's mom, Valerie, and her friend Tina on the day that they made it to Mount Everest Base Camp back in March of this year. This got me thinking...

For all of us, time passes. Our lives are marked by the minutes, hours and days that we live. Most of those moments are forgettable. We check the clock to see is we are late for a dentist's appointment or if we are missing our favorite show on TV. The many mundane minutes that we squander doing nothing particular while our dreams are wasting away seem like such a tragedy. I get it though, we all have responsibilities and demands that must be met but doesn't it seem kind of crazy that we sacrifice the things that we really want to do in life because the 'other' stuff eats up our time. There has to be some room for both??!! If you sacrifice one for the other, disasters are bound to happen. Let me give you two illustrations. I knew this guy, he got married young. He was in love, he was happy. He had a dream of family and life with his wife and kids and he was living it. One day he sacrificed that dream for a different one, one that could only be lived out by himself. He left his family, his first dream, to pursue his second dream. He no longer has a family and I don't imagine there is as much fulfillment as he thought he second dream would bring because he's alone. Here's an example of the other side of the coin. This makes me crazy. I know so many women that have given up the things that they are passionate about because they have children. There is no room in their lives for their passion anymore because they have kids. The thing that they are sacrificing, their dreams, the things that they are gifted at, are the very things that kids need to be shown. Kids need moms that are alive and that are pursuing their dreams. There is a balance. There is time for both. There just aren't easy answers that we like for solutions.

Wasted minutes could be replaced by photos of a Mount Everest climb. We need to mine out those minutes from our days to pursue dreams. Everyone has a dream. My sister-in-law wants to record some songs that she's written. I have been kicking around the idea of writing a book. My dad wants to have some chickens and horses on his acreage. My friend wants to become a mid-wife. Some want to travel. Some want to create. Some want to teach. Some want to farm. Some want to race. Some want to heal. Some want to change the world. We only have one life. Carpe Diem.

Brotherly Love

Well, summer is passing all to quickly. It has been busy and fun thus far. One thing that has been an adjustment for everyone, but mostly for Coen, has been the reality that his big sister is around all the time. All year while Elle was in school he would ask (usually a half an hour after I put her on the bus) when Elle would be home. Now he's not sure what to do with her and her with him. There have been numerous episodes of complete and utter meltdown between the two parties. It's like they are learning all over again how to be with each other. It seems so hard for both of them.

Last week, I was speaking at a camp full of teenagers. It was a great time. I really loved being able to share every night about God's love and how that love translates into real life. While at camp, my kids had many tantrums. Elle, because Coen was all up in her business, and Coen, because he was on the bored side and just needed someone to throw stuff at. One morning this was all unfolding while we waited for breakfast. I noticed a girl and a boy, close in age, sitting at a table having coffee together. It was not the first time during the week that I had witnessed this morning ritual. I had asked them a couple days earlier if they were related and they told me that they were brother and sister. I was totally moved and shocked to see these two siblings taking time away from the craziness of camp to sit at a table together and take a few moments to connect in the morning. Pretty incredible. As we waited for breakfast, the tattler came over to complain that the annoyer was pushing and I saw a perfect opportunity to talk to the tattler about brotherly love. A picture of it was sitting across the room having coffee in the morning sunshine. An older sister, a younger brother. Most likely ten years earlier a tattler and an annoyer now sharing moments together before another day started and they wouldn't have a chance to be together. I told my tattler to take a good look at the coffee drinkers. I told her to remember that her brother, though truly annoying at times, really is the best friend that she could ever have and though it is really hard to love him at times, it is not optional.

I had been talking about God's love all week at camp. I saw it lived out in brotherly love. This is truly an expression and a lesson to be learned and cultivated. We only love God as much as we love our brother. Hmmm. I read a quote by Abraham Lincoln the other day that also really challenged me in this line of thinking..."Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them." This is my hope for my kids. Though they truly are enemies at times, I know what is possible, I've seen it. The part that really hits home to me about this whole thing is that my kids find out what real love looks like when I love. They see it when I love their dad. They see it when I love them. They see it when I love people that are hard to love. They see it when my love is more than words; when it has been translated into actions. They see it when I say that I love God and then love the people around me. They see it when I destroy my enemies by loving them...what a concept?!

Theories

I played a game awhile ago called Urban Myth. It was very enlightening. Most of the things that our mothers have told us over the years turned out to be myths. Carrots really don't do anything for your night vision. Watching television in the dark isn't going to ruin your eyesight. Spinach isn't a high source of iron. I was shocked. I had been watching TV with the lights on while eating my carrots and my spinach cause I was trying to cover my bases. It made me wonder how many other things that I am fed everyday as "gospel" truth really are just nice theories that people spout off not really knowing the whole truth.

This brings me to mosquitoes. Earlier this spring, there were so many wild and contradictory stories about mosquitoes that it made my head spin. It seemed every person I talked to had a bit of a different twist on why there were so many, what would get rid of them, and which wind had blew them here. None of these fabrications were based on fact and really did not change the glaring reality that there were mosquitoes and that there were a lot of them. Funny how people hear something and then choose to either pass it on in the next conversation that they have with someone or store it away in the memory bank as a wierd tidbit of information, which is what I did with the mosquito information after a good laugh at all the bunk that people spread around.

After playing this game and all the mosquito fables I started to really analyse what comes out of my own mouth. Am I merely regurgitating things that other people have told me as a means to carry on a conversation or do I speak about what I do know, reality and truth from my own experience? I can sure pick it out in the conversations that I have now. The more awkward you feel around the person you are talking to, the more the theories pop into the conversation. My theory is that we are more truthful and real with people that we know will see through our talk of mosquitoes, carrots and television. Generally speaking, we aren't that great at truthful and real, at least I'm not. It's easier to not go deeper than generalities and theories. To keep it all on a philisophical playing field is safe. It doesn't cause change in us if we only scratch the surface, and even then it may not even be truth that we are speaking.

I totally understand that it is impossible to have the real kinds of conversations with every single person that we talk to everyday. Those telemarketers would be in for a shock if you started telling them about your day and even more so if you asked them about theirs. Sometimes conversations are about relaying information, facts. Like when you talk to the tellar at the bank. They are more like transactions. You don't leave that situation and go and tell everyone that you paid your power bill and made a deposit for $235.00. No one really cares. But, when you have the opportunity to really talk and really listen, weed out the theories and take a risk. Be real. Ask good questions. Listen. It's no myth that we have a lot to learn when it comes to relating.

Gifts

Words. Sometimes words are gifts. Sometimes those word gifts can really get you through. A couple of weeks ago I was feeling kind of down, I felt drained of my passion and my energy to keep sloshing through the muck. The very things that I love to do rarely have any immediate payback. I spend most of my time encouraging people to succeed and to become the best possible versions of themselves. This is a lifetime process and I rarely see the finished product. I don't get the satisfaction of knowing that I have accomplished something. It's kind of ironic actually. The very thing that I do for other people, the hopes and dreams that I have for other people, I rarely feel myself. My dream to inspire and to encourage others doesn't usually give back.

In the middle of my slump. Three different people, two that I didn't know at all and one that has the gift of giving and have known for years spoke through the darkness that I was in. The first was a lady that stopped me at the pool to say that the words that I spoke at her son's graduation a year ago really impacted her and that even a year later she was still thinking about them. Wow. I think I was kind of stunned. Feedback is always nice, but I have come to not really expect it much. I was touched and left that brief conversation buoyed by the gift that she had spoken to me. The second encounter was with a mom of girl that I know from the choir I used to play piano for. I had never met her before, but she thanked me for giving my time and energy to use my gift for others. Again...wow. I started thinking, "Are these people even real?" They were speaking to the heart of who I am. They had no idea that I really needed to hear the words that they were sharing with me. The third gift came from a friend and neighbor. He came bearing gifts, a genuine Afghan rug, which I have dubbed 'The Magic Carpet', and a beautiful pashmina. The gifts were amazing, but it was the card and the hug that went with it that brought tears to my eyes. I felt like there were people who really saw what I was about. The gifts of their words helped me not to give up, to keep going and to give gifts of words to everyone that I encounter.

I don't know where you are at. I don't know how you are feeling about yourself. But I do know that you need words that shine a light on your soul too. You have immense value. You are making a difference. Your thoughts and ideas are important. Your smile brightens people's day. You are loved. Your words are gifts to others. Your passion is worth pursuing.

White Lightning

In writing this blog, my motto has been to change the world through words. It is something that I take seriously. I guess you could call it a passion. I find my greatest purpose in writing and speaking words that inspire people to come fully alive. Sometimes words need a soundtrack. This quote by Hans Christian Anderson kind of sums up the lack that I feel sometimes. "Where words fail, music speaks."  I have been moved by music and it has moved me towards life and action. One of my new favorite bands, White Lightning, is on a mission to move people and inspire through the medium of music. These words off their Facebook page describe what they are all about; "Energetic modern rock that will make you dance, thrash, weep and inspire fence sitters to be world changers." This seems to be a tall order, but they deliver. Steve Bosch, Enoch Rottier and Jason Grilo have taken a passion for music, life and for people and have crafted a manifesto of Peace, Hope, Love and Lightning that calls out to anyone with ears to hear, that there is more to life.

They too are wordsmiths, like myself, but their influence is broad and far reaching when the elements of lyric and song intertwine. The first track, Satisfaction, off of their first full-length album called See It All, is a challenge to look inward at all that we think that we need and ask the question, "Do you think that all that you desire will satisfy your soul?" Every time, I hear the words being sung with conviction in the backseat of my car by Elle I know that though she may not understand it now some day she will ask herself that question. Those words are emblazoned on her mind and my own. Answering this question honestly does become a catalyst for change in our world. It is a question that begs to be answered by this generation. The answer is echoed in the lyrics of the song 'See It All'. "I want to live the life of no regrets. Be free, live free. Know how to say no. Know when to say yes." These words are the heart cry of a generation bombarded by so many distractions that are fueled by consumerism, self-absorbed success and an every-man-for-himself mindset. Deep within each of us, there is a desire for something real. Something that we get to unlock about ourselves that gives us meaning and purpose in life. Something that we were created to do that goes beyond making a living and acquiring stuff.

I have come to believe that this world will never be changed by better politics or a reformation in money-hungry world powers. Reformation will happen through people who ask honest questions of themselves and others. Change will happen when people allow themselves to be moved from "fence sitters into world changers". This is change at a grass-roots level, where people live, work and play. It happens when we take the message of inspired people like White Lightning and run with it. As White Lightning continues to hone their skills as musicians, songwriters and entertainers they will fulfill their mission as reformers of a era that is seeking something more, something else, something to live for.

To hear some tunes, watch some live performances and get your hands on some epic inspired music check out White Lightning's website @ http://www.whitelightningmusic.com/