“The more we believe that God hurts only to heal, the less we can believe that there is any use in begging for tenderness. A cruel man might be bribed – might grow tired of his vile sport- might have a temporary fit of mercy, as alcoholics have fits of sobriety. But suppose that what you are up against is a surgeon whose intentions are wholly good. The kinder and more conscientious he is, the more inexorably he will go on cutting. If he yielded to your entreaties, if he stopped before the operation was complete, all the pain up to that point would be useless.

C.S. Lewis “A Grief Observed”

I have chosen this piece for interpretation because sometimes it is hard for people to understand that life as a Christian is not always lollipops and gum drops, there are a lot of tears, plenty of trials and tons of tribulation. As Christians, we should grasp this understanding because if we are truly going to impact the world for Christ we need to be able to share the full Gospel – including the “hard parts” of Christianity.

“The more we believe that God hurts only to heal, the less we can believe that there us any use in begging for tenderness.”

Typically when people think about God they only think about the qualities of God that soothes the positive image of Him and completely shuns anything that would make God seem as if He were all powerful. It is like calling Him King and taking away His authority. Reading this passage one would more than likely furl their brow because it is beyond them that God would intentionally hurt us. However sometimes it is easily lost in the “feel good” gospels of today to truly embrace a relationship with Christ.

Christianity is more than good times; it is hurt and tears as well. When God allows painful or uncomfortable situations in our lives we can always ask for relief, but this passage lets you know that once one comes to realize who God is, the less likely they will be to ask God to relent. At those points it is clear that going through the fire only refines your knowledge of who the Holy One of Israel really is. God allows pain so that He can show us that He is truly the Comforter and He allows trials to show us that He is our Deliverer. What other way would you come to know the character of God?

“A cruel man might be bribed – might grow tired of his vile sport- might have a temporary fit of mercy, as alcoholics have fits of sobriety.”

Where would you be if God ever grew tired of watching you grow in Him? Dead…….spiritually dead. If God said for a moment alright let me not allow trails and tribulation into this person’s life because it is not necessary for them to “trust me” it is just better if they “believe in me”. Can you imagine what the state of Christianity would be today? There would have been no Jesus and no cross.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, before He was delivered to the Romans, Jesus Christ Himself was sorrowful. In the Garden He pleaded with the Father, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." Imagine what it would be like today had God said, “Okay Jesus, since I love you so, you don’t have to die on the cross.” There would have been no salvation, no remission of sins, no stripes by which we are healed; we would have had no intercessor to intercede on our behalf to the Father. But that is not how it went because the will of Christ was not granted, it was over ruled by the will of the Father and here we are today, blood-bought children of the covenant.

“But suppose that what you are up against is a surgeon whose intentions are wholly good. The kinder and more conscientious he is, the more inexorably he will go on cutting.”

God sends us through hardships to refine us and to make us better image bearers of Him. How can we emulate what we don’t understand? God allows us to go through pains and trials to give us a new perception of who He is in His Sovereignty. As Christians sometimes we like to package God in this neat little box and give Him a list of Do’s and Don’ts. When people think about operations all they can think of is the pain and the down time but they completely forget the phase of recovery.

Recovery can be defined as the “act of obtaining usable substances from unusable sources” or “restoration to a former or better condition”. God as the Master Physician through painful situations removes a lot of the hindrances that in the way of perfect relationship with Him. The more He realizes that preconceived notions, about who He is, halts your relationship with Him the more He is going to more he cuts. Jesus stated it clearly in John 15 when He compares us to a vine: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” If God never took the time to prune our lives through circumstances would we truly bear fruit?

“If he yielded to your entreaties, if he stopped before the operation was complete, all the pain up to that point would be useless.”

When things that seem unbearable in life close in on us, as Christians the first thing we do is say it’s the enemy and pray that God removes the circumstance. But what if day after day goes by and the situation still looks the same, does that mean that God did not hear you? On the contrary it is the exact opposite of that. God’s will is always perfect even when we don’t understand it. His plan is to grow us through trials, pain, and suffering but those are the exact things what we a Christians want to avoid. Imagine just for a moment what your life would be like had God stopped His pruning process all for your pleasure. You would still face the same issues over and over again. You would be “ever learning” about the same situations. Everything that you had gone through would become obsolete and the learning cycle would be on constant repeat.

I think this interpretation matters today because, as those who are going after God, we have to understand God’s nature. God is holy, just, and faithful. We have to get the understanding that everything in this walk will not always be good, but it will always be for our good, even when we can’t understand it. God is Sovereign, which means He does not have to explain His actions to anyone but at times He chooses to. When He allows pain, trials, and tribulation in our life it is because He is refining us for a new level in Him.

Old Man with Enormous Wings

I would like to use a pass on this post.

I really enjoyed reading The Boys Next Door, it's really enlightening. AS I read the story I just sat and thought about the characters and what they have to face or go through on a daily basis to live a normal life. The story took a whole new outlook when I went on the trip to AFI today. Just being amongst men and women who are just like the characters in the story made the story all the more real.

In the story you have the characters who don't really realize that anything is wrong with them they just live life the way that they know how to live life. It was the same for those over at AFI. Even though they have what we classify as developmental delays they still strive to live a fulfilled life just the way that we do. Whether it is working at the snack bar, running for a committee, learning job skills, or just coming everyday to hang out with their friends, their lives are meaningful to them just as going to school, working, or hanging out with our friends are meaningful to us. Though we have our differences, we are still very much the same.

I actually have an aunt who is in a group home and has been there for quite some time. The last time I saw her was a t my grandmother's funeral and I remember her saying "Don't cry she is in a better place, it's going to be alright." Ironically enough I already knew that but others around may have thought she was just talking but even though she does not operate on the same capacity as the average person did not make her any less of a person. She tapped into things that the "average person" that day could not realize.

Polk Art Museum

On the banks of Juniper Springs,
Splashing of gentle waves,
Songs of birds,
Rustle of trees,
All heard in the tucked away oasis.

Though connected to the source of life (water),
Death is still inevitable,
Among the plethora of green,
Others slowly fade away,
Slow and quiet,
As not to disturb the picturesque scene.

The reflection of life in the waves,
The buzz of insects and the sounds of spring,
create a familiar cadence,
to the tune of nature to which they march.

Cool water on my feet,
Under a shade tree I find serenity,
I close my eves and get lost in the leaves,
That rustle at the shores of Juniper Springs.



I went to the Polk Museum of Art for this assignment, and I stayed there for at least 40 minutes. Being a newbie to Lakeland I never knew that this was something that existed in this town. It is amazing how during this first semester I am able to learn about hidden nuggets of culture and literature in this our class. While I was in the museum I went into the new exhibit that they have with the Japanese Textiles, Prints, and kimonos. I thought it was pretty cool. Thinking of it now reminds me of my 8th grade year in Hawaii (I was learning elementary Japanese and also learning about the culture - including the art of rolling sushi). I also noticed the artifacts exhibits for the Ancient Arts of the Americas exhibit. I did not get to spend a lot of time there because there was a class taking a tour but what I did see seemed rather interesting.

To my recollection I have never gone to an art museum and just stood and stared at a painting. I have watched people do it on TV and in movies but it was a whole new experience, doing it personally. It made me wonder if the artist actually took and easel and paint and painted it on site or if it was painted from a picture. As I stood and looked at the painting I finally figured out how people could stand there and stare for so long. I found myself getting lost in the painting (the colors, the brush strokes, and the calmness). It was just like being there as it was painted.

There have been field trips that we have taken this semester that will probably be places I visit after this semester is long over. I just thought this trip, as well as all the others, were really enlightening.

Reading for Transformation

"(1) the world of the text, (2) the world behind the text, (3) the world before the text"

When I was reading this article this struck me because often time we read a story, an article, or even the bible for that matter, it is often that we do not stop to think about the society from which text is developed. I find that sometimes, when I am reading, I am reading without any notion of thinking about cultural norms and origin of that text. While I was reading this article it just really made me think how much I truly have been missing because I have neglected to pay attention to those factors. A lot of times we read things and can’t understand them because we have connected with the time that the text was written.

In thinking about the world of a text, especially in relations to Scripture, sometimes when reading the Word it is hard to grasp some of the things that are going on because we are approaching it with a 21st century mind when it was written so long ago. In order to understand it in certain areas you have to understand all three of these factors.

This does not just hold true for Scripture but for all literature, whether current or not. In order to truly engage in the literature you have to put yourself in the place and time of the author because through their words they are trying to get you to see what they saw and feel what they felt.

We can always apply it to today’s situation and imagine the way someone felt or what they saw but until you see or hear the story through their eyes then you truly take away from what the text is supposed to mean.

Darkness, Questions, Poetry, and Spiritual Hope

"pause, listen to the question, repeat the question, and finally live the question as a process."

This statement was very profound today because it is in effect very true (in respect to life, faith, and other aspects of life). In our Christian faith it would be easy to think that our walk would be one of sunshine, roses, smiling and joy all the time but that would in essence be robbing our faith of the salt that makes it real. It’s about asking ourselves daily what God requires of us and really reflecting on that then dedicating this life to His cause. Being a Christian does not mean automatic perfection; on the contrary it means that each and every day can be another hill to climb, reminding ourselves of what we must do. A sinner can be transformed in a moment but to become a saint will take a lifetime or trials, tribulations, ups and downs. Your labor as a Christian will not cease until the Lord calls you home or until Christ Himself returns. It is truly a process.

“Facing darkness, ultimately, however, is not about darkness but about hope, about validating our spiritual hope.”

The same is true of the fact that darkness truly exists, it is important that we as Christians understand that powers and principalities do exist and that everything in life will not always be right or fair. Our understanding of that balance makes being Christian all the more worthwhile. Whether it is fear of a calling, of failure, of dying or unanswered questions about life it creates a breeding ground for this to be a control mechanism over your life. When we garner the courage to face darkness (fear, unanswered questions, etc) it is those times that we see Christ operate at the highest levels in our natural lives.

Nature Beckons

As graceful as a bird on the wings of the morning sky,
As delicate as the look from a swan's eye,
As protective as a mother is over her unhatched born,
As a tired bird rests till the morn,
Are all that nature beckons.

No one knows the way the wind blows,
The bend of the grass beckons to the east,
The ripple of the waves counter to the west,
All responding in reverence to the Creator of all things,
The grass, as all creations, bows in reverence to what the eye can't see,
No one knows the way the wind blows,
but His invisibility still commands respect.

We as creation are all God's handy work,
Created to enjoy one another,
The carefree yet careful construction of all kind,
titillates the senses yet boggle the mind,
The petal of flower,
the abstract of a bare tree,
The ecological balance of peace and serenity,
Are all that nature beckons.


I went to Lake Bonny Park for this assignment, and I stayed there for at least 40 minutes. At Lake Bonny the constant blow of the breeze was inspiring. I just closed my eyes and allowed the breath of God to be a reminder of His omnipotence. During what little quiet time I did have I meditated on the ripple of the waves and the bending of the grass that looked like it was bowing in reverence as a response to the wind.

After I left Lake Bonny I went to Lake Morton and was completely encapsulated by the number of birds that use it as a "vacations spot". There were swans, mallards, ducks, crows, all there in harmony feeding off of the bread of its many visitors. I walked across the grass and around the lake and noticed just how at peace the birds were there in spite of the human presence.

I snapped so many pictures and just t stood and admired the tranquility of the area. Though it was in downtown Lakeland, there was a peace around the area. It was undisturbed and REAL.

I really enjoyed this outing. I began to read the "Messenger" by Mary Oliver and found myself constantly stopping at the line "My work is loving the world". That's what I found myself doing today, loving the world. Many days I have just driven by and not taken the time to notice the beauty of his handy work. Not only trees, flower, mountains, and streams, but birds, soil, grass, and all the things that we see as something common. I loved the waddle of the duck, the grace of the swan, the call of the mallard, the touch of the constant breeze, and the blessings of his creation. Today nature beckoned and I answered the call.