Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, poet and political activist, writes in her poem "The Slave Mother:"
"Heard you that shriek? It rose
So wildly on the air,
It seemed as if a burden'd heart
Was breaking in despair.
Saw you those hands so sadly clasped--
The bowed and feeble head--
The shuddering of that fragile form--
That look of grief and dread?
Saw you the sad, imploring eye?
Its every glance was pain,
As if a storm of agony
Were sweeping through the brain.
She is a mother, pale with fear,
Her boy clings to her side,
And in her kirtle vainly tries
His trembling form to hide.
He is not hers, although she bore
For him a mother's pains;
He is not hers, although her blood
Is coursing through his veins!
He is not hers, for cruel hands
May rudely tear apart
The only wreath of household love
That binds her breaking heart.
His love has been a joyous light
That o'er her pathway smiled,
A fountain gushing ever new,
Amid life's desert wild.
His lightest word has been a tone
Of music round her heart,
Their lives a streamlet blent in one--
Oh, Father! must they part?
They tear him from her circling arms,
Her last and fond embrace.
Oh! never more may her sad eyes
Gaze on his mournful face.
No marvel, then, these bitter shrieks
Disturb the listening air:
She is a mother, and her heart
Is breaking in despair."
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, who was born free and later married Fenton Harper, had an opportunity to experience her own shrieks. When she married Fenton, he was a widower and father of three children. After they married, they had a child. Fenton Harper died leaving Frances a widow and four children fatherless.
We all are connected to other people. Each time someone dies, others grieve.
Grief has a growth aspect. A Persian proverb says, "One can shut the town gate, but not people's mouths."
Hannah Rose is the mother of two deceased children; Luke Shiloh died as the result of an abortion; Lily Katherine died as the result of a late-term miscarriage. Hannah Rose grieves the loss of her children, so do family members and others. Rose spoke with her sister at Ellerslie Leadership Training on April 13, 2012, about grief, life, love and God. Her sister says about Lily's death, "It tore me to pieces;" "I cried so hard and so much my head hurt." In addition to speaking Rose also blogs at http://www.roseandherlily.com.
Fathers are also affected by the loss of a child. Rock star Steven Tyler of the band Aerosmith writes in his autobiography Walk This Way about his abortion experience, “It was a big crisis. It’s a major thing when you’re growing something with a woman, but they convinced us that it would never work out and would ruin our lives. … You go to the doctor and they put the needle in her belly and they squeeze the stuff in and you watch. And it comes out dead. I was pretty devastated. In my mind, I’m going, Jesus, what have I done?”
In America since Roe v. Wade legalized abortion 55 million babies have been killed. Since China's one-child policy was implemented in the 1970s more than 336 million babies have been killed by abortion; that's more Chinese baby boys and baby girls have lost their lives to abortion than the combined total population of the United States of America and Australia.
A lot of lost family members need to be grieved. Chen Guangcheng is also helping with the grieving process and to stop loss of life. Chen Guangcheng is married to Yuan Weijing and has two children. Guangcheng, his family, friends and others have been subjected to persecution. He became internationally known for filing a 2005 law suit against a local government for forced abortions and forced sterilizations practiced as part of China’s one-child policy. Guangcheng's lawsuit was rejected, and he was placed under house arrest.
"Tejas" is the name the Spanish gave to the US state of Texas. The Spanish chose the name based on a Native American word for "friend."
Guangcheng, a blind self-taught lawyer, had friends help him to escape from house arrest in China in April 2012 and to enter the US embassy in Beijing. A deal was worked out between China and the United States; now Guangcheng lives in New York with his wife and children.
On April 9, 2013, he testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee On Foreign Affairs about his family's and other people's persecution in China and other ongoing human rights abuses in China. Guangcheng gave Congress a list of 130,000 Chinese officials involved in forced abortions and forced sterilizations.
Sometimes human life begins through brutal sexual relations, but God designed for sexual relations to be beautiful. A bed is not the only place for married people to make love. King Solomon's Shulammite wife says to him in Song of Solomon 7:10-11 New Living Translation Bible,"Come, my love, let us go out to the fields and spend the night among the wildflowers."
While most martial love making will not produce a new life, a Nembe African proverb advises, "Shy semen won't give birth."
Don't be shy in marital lovemaking. All people don't be shy to speak out against all types of abortion and involuntary sterilization and for life, love, freedom, justice and all that is good like our God. Manga Messiah says to His believers, "... But you will be my witnesses!!!....In Jerusalem...and to every nation...!...and to the end of time!"
Showing posts with label Disciplining. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Disciplining. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Friday, February 1, 2013
Heart Disease, Depression and Christianity
Following a diagnosis of coronary-artery disease and bypass surgery it is not uncommon to slide into depression. One of the reasons for the slide into depression is a break-down in our body's communication system.
Neurotransmitters are more than 60 chemicals in the body that communicate between neurons. Depression interferes with the production and processing of neurotransmitters which impacts heart disease and other diseases like diabetes, cancer, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, stroke and Alzheimer's.
Sometimes people consider physical health as more important than mental health. The reality is that they both need our regular attention, and failing to take good care of ourselves physically and mentally is dangerous. Many people know that heart disease can be fatal, but they may not know that so can depression. In addition to the link between hearth disease and depression, most of the 30,000 American suicides annually stem from clinical depression. "One out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's you," says author Rita Mae Brown.
Help to overcome all types of illness can be found through God, the Church and living according to the Word of God. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Amplified Bible says, "Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will]."
Disobedience to God is deadly. Obedience to God opens opportunities for eminent, enjoyable living. Neal Krause, a sociologist and public-health expert at the University of Michigan, has since 1997 conducted a study of 1,500 people. One of the study's findings is that people who maintain a mindset of gratitude for what's going right in their lives have a reduced incidence of depression.
Sometimes we do not even know that we are depressed. Michael Hyatt in his "Get Out of That Funk" article at michaelhyatt.com on February 6, 2013 lists seven questions to ask ourselves:
"Question #1: Am I getting plenty of rest?
Question #2: Am I exercising three to four times a week?
Question #3: Am I eating high-energy foods?
Question #4: Am I staying hydrated?
Question #5: Am I getting enough sunshine?
Question #6: Am I focusing on the positive?
Question #7: Am I hanging out with energetic people?"
Maintaining our health requires a multifaceted approach. Maintaining our health is loving God, ourselves and other people. Love is not limited to feelings; love is actions and interactions. In addition to a relationship with God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Ghost and living based on the Bible, help to live healthy can also be found through medical professionals and support groups. The North Carolina Black Churches United for Better Health involved 50 churches with 2,500 members mixing spiritual and communal life with eating better and exercising more. This group became a national group, called the Body and Soul project, with the same objective.
Your Christian fellowship may prayerfully consider starting a health support group if it does not already have one, and/or maybe your church could hold regular praise parties playing music by multiple artists including Gospel singer Debra Ashley, who has a song, "Praise Party," on her album, New Birth, and was healed from a heart attack. Praise parties are opportunities to celebrate creatively without excessive alcohol, illegal drugs and partner-sex outside of marriage. Some of the best medicines are humor, forgiveness and marital sex.
Health is a hot topic today that is a wonderful, worthy and wise way to fulfilling Matthew 28:18-20 Amplified Bible which says, "Jesus approached and, breaking the silence, said to them, All authority (all power of rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days (perpetually, uniformly, and on every occasion), to the [very] close and consummation of the age. Amen (so let it be)."
Forming and maintaining good friendships through disciplining is good for us and good for others. Dr. Derek Grier says in his book, 60 Minutes of Wisdom Insight In an Instant, "I do not need a prophetic gift to predict where you will be in five years. Anyone can forecast your tomorrow by looking at the people you hang around today. First Corinthians 15:33 says, "Do not be misled: 'Bad company corrupts good character.'" Imagine what good company might do! Many people have questioned the importance of becoming part of a church. I think the answer can be illustrated in nature. I have read that when geese form the V formation, the whole flock adds over 70 percent to its flying range. When each bird flaps its wings, it becomes uplift for the birds that are following. Please don't mishear me. Don't just join any church, but find a church where you experience uplift. Find a church that flies in divine order, and then don't just sit and stare; connect your gifts and talents to the formation."
Please share an on-line comment about Christian groups that uplift others in the areas of physical and/or mental health. Also tweet with me. My Twitter name is Michelelove30. Recommend this article on Google.
Neurotransmitters are more than 60 chemicals in the body that communicate between neurons. Depression interferes with the production and processing of neurotransmitters which impacts heart disease and other diseases like diabetes, cancer, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, stroke and Alzheimer's.
Sometimes people consider physical health as more important than mental health. The reality is that they both need our regular attention, and failing to take good care of ourselves physically and mentally is dangerous. Many people know that heart disease can be fatal, but they may not know that so can depression. In addition to the link between hearth disease and depression, most of the 30,000 American suicides annually stem from clinical depression. "One out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's you," says author Rita Mae Brown.
Help to overcome all types of illness can be found through God, the Church and living according to the Word of God. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Amplified Bible says, "Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will]."
Disobedience to God is deadly. Obedience to God opens opportunities for eminent, enjoyable living. Neal Krause, a sociologist and public-health expert at the University of Michigan, has since 1997 conducted a study of 1,500 people. One of the study's findings is that people who maintain a mindset of gratitude for what's going right in their lives have a reduced incidence of depression.
Sometimes we do not even know that we are depressed. Michael Hyatt in his "Get Out of That Funk" article at michaelhyatt.com on February 6, 2013 lists seven questions to ask ourselves:
"Question #1: Am I getting plenty of rest?
Question #2: Am I exercising three to four times a week?
Question #3: Am I eating high-energy foods?
Question #4: Am I staying hydrated?
Question #5: Am I getting enough sunshine?
Question #6: Am I focusing on the positive?
Question #7: Am I hanging out with energetic people?"
Maintaining our health requires a multifaceted approach. Maintaining our health is loving God, ourselves and other people. Love is not limited to feelings; love is actions and interactions. In addition to a relationship with God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Ghost and living based on the Bible, help to live healthy can also be found through medical professionals and support groups. The North Carolina Black Churches United for Better Health involved 50 churches with 2,500 members mixing spiritual and communal life with eating better and exercising more. This group became a national group, called the Body and Soul project, with the same objective.
Your Christian fellowship may prayerfully consider starting a health support group if it does not already have one, and/or maybe your church could hold regular praise parties playing music by multiple artists including Gospel singer Debra Ashley, who has a song, "Praise Party," on her album, New Birth, and was healed from a heart attack. Praise parties are opportunities to celebrate creatively without excessive alcohol, illegal drugs and partner-sex outside of marriage. Some of the best medicines are humor, forgiveness and marital sex.
Health is a hot topic today that is a wonderful, worthy and wise way to fulfilling Matthew 28:18-20 Amplified Bible which says, "Jesus approached and, breaking the silence, said to them, All authority (all power of rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days (perpetually, uniformly, and on every occasion), to the [very] close and consummation of the age. Amen (so let it be)."
Forming and maintaining good friendships through disciplining is good for us and good for others. Dr. Derek Grier says in his book, 60 Minutes of Wisdom Insight In an Instant, "I do not need a prophetic gift to predict where you will be in five years. Anyone can forecast your tomorrow by looking at the people you hang around today. First Corinthians 15:33 says, "Do not be misled: 'Bad company corrupts good character.'" Imagine what good company might do! Many people have questioned the importance of becoming part of a church. I think the answer can be illustrated in nature. I have read that when geese form the V formation, the whole flock adds over 70 percent to its flying range. When each bird flaps its wings, it becomes uplift for the birds that are following. Please don't mishear me. Don't just join any church, but find a church where you experience uplift. Find a church that flies in divine order, and then don't just sit and stare; connect your gifts and talents to the formation."
Please share an on-line comment about Christian groups that uplift others in the areas of physical and/or mental health. Also tweet with me. My Twitter name is Michelelove30. Recommend this article on Google.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Woo 'Em
God loves to woo us and others constantly. The Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life study in 230 countries as reported in the January 8, 2013, issue of the newspaper USA Today found that Christians make up 32 percent of the world's religions followed by 23 percent of Muslims, 16 percent of unaffiliated, 15 percent of Hindus, seven percent of Buddhists and another seven percent of Jews and other faiths.
God and believers have been loving and living Matthew 28:18-20 Amplified Bible which says, "Jesus approached and, breaking the silence, said to them, All authority (all power of rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days (perpetually, uniformly, and on every occasion), to the [very] close and consummation of the age. Amen (so let it be)."
Pastor and author Francis Chan says about making disciples in his article "A Time to Make Disciples" in the January/February 2013 issue of Relevant Magazine, "Realistically, the task will require a life-time of devotion to studying the Scriptures and investing in people around us. Neither of these things is easy, nor can they be checked off a list. We are never really "done." We continually devote ourselves to studying the Scriptures so that we can learn with ever-greater depth and clarity what God wants us to know, practice and pass on. We continually invest in the people around us, teaching them and walking with them through life's joys and trials."
Making disciples is starting and stretching relationships by investing in people qualities like the love and the truth of God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Ghost. Ephesians 4:15 Amplified Bible says, "Rather, let our lives lovingly express truth [in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly]. Enfolded in love, let us grow up in every way and in all things into Him Who is the Head, [even] Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)."
What a tall order! Don't feel up to it? No worries mate. God's got your back. Philippians 2:13 Amplified Bible says, "[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight." God lives inside of believers, and He passionately desires and is able to love people through us the way they need to be loved. Trust God. Don't listen to the terror tactics of Satan trying to convince us love doesn't work or is too much trouble.
Today we have so many ways to communicate love, truth and the other goodness of God not only in person but also through cellular telephones, email, Skype, instant messages, text, mail and other modes of communication. Be creative and consistent in cultivating loving communication. It's impressive that Christianity is the world's number one religion, but still billions are not lovers of Christ and the billions who are lovers of Christ need to be nurtured to new levels of overflowing with the character of God for all eternity.
An eternity doesn't mean that God has called us to love beyond our limits. Sometimes we need to say "no" to say "yes" to the best disciplining. Our first relationship is with God, then our spouse and ourselves, then our children, then other family and then others. If you talk to God and find that a business colleague has priority over God, spouse or family, ask God for forgiveness and transformation. God is willing, able and faithful to fix it.
Some of us don't like differences and change and tend to just develop relationships with family not wanting to do anything like African-American Jarena Lee who in the 19century in one year traveled 2,325 miles on foot to preach 127 sermons. She also became the first woman approved to preach in the African Methodist Episcopal Church which is the first black-controlled Christian denomination in the United States of America. Neither Lee nor Jesus limited themselves to biological relationships, so neither should we. Imitate God. Stretch out. Ask God to prune out criticism and judgement from your heart. Someone beautiful is waiting to be shared. Embrace a diversity of people instead of noxious, needless, negativity. Cooperate with God to lose the "No es posible" attitude. Romans 15:7 Amplified Bible says, "Welcome and receive [to your hearts] one another, then, even as Christ has welcomed and received you, for the glory of God."
Biblical disciplining contains much common sense that can be corroborated in scientific research. Proverbs 25:2 the Message Bible says, "God delights in concealing things; scientists delight in discovering things." John Gottman, Ph.D., has a Love Lab at the University of Washington where he conducts counseling and research on couples. Dr. Gottman writes in his book The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work that friendship between partners is critical. Friendship is desirable in marriage and other disciplining efforts. All relationships are disciplining opportunities.
Ask God today to cause you to not act distant and difficult but rather overflowing with the love of God and all the goodness of God that lays the foundation for new love and nurtures old love. A new friend/disciple and an old one will appreciate and thank you for eternity.
God and believers have been loving and living Matthew 28:18-20 Amplified Bible which says, "Jesus approached and, breaking the silence, said to them, All authority (all power of rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days (perpetually, uniformly, and on every occasion), to the [very] close and consummation of the age. Amen (so let it be)."
Pastor and author Francis Chan says about making disciples in his article "A Time to Make Disciples" in the January/February 2013 issue of Relevant Magazine, "Realistically, the task will require a life-time of devotion to studying the Scriptures and investing in people around us. Neither of these things is easy, nor can they be checked off a list. We are never really "done." We continually devote ourselves to studying the Scriptures so that we can learn with ever-greater depth and clarity what God wants us to know, practice and pass on. We continually invest in the people around us, teaching them and walking with them through life's joys and trials."
Making disciples is starting and stretching relationships by investing in people qualities like the love and the truth of God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Ghost. Ephesians 4:15 Amplified Bible says, "Rather, let our lives lovingly express truth [in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly]. Enfolded in love, let us grow up in every way and in all things into Him Who is the Head, [even] Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)."
What a tall order! Don't feel up to it? No worries mate. God's got your back. Philippians 2:13 Amplified Bible says, "[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight." God lives inside of believers, and He passionately desires and is able to love people through us the way they need to be loved. Trust God. Don't listen to the terror tactics of Satan trying to convince us love doesn't work or is too much trouble.
Today we have so many ways to communicate love, truth and the other goodness of God not only in person but also through cellular telephones, email, Skype, instant messages, text, mail and other modes of communication. Be creative and consistent in cultivating loving communication. It's impressive that Christianity is the world's number one religion, but still billions are not lovers of Christ and the billions who are lovers of Christ need to be nurtured to new levels of overflowing with the character of God for all eternity.
An eternity doesn't mean that God has called us to love beyond our limits. Sometimes we need to say "no" to say "yes" to the best disciplining. Our first relationship is with God, then our spouse and ourselves, then our children, then other family and then others. If you talk to God and find that a business colleague has priority over God, spouse or family, ask God for forgiveness and transformation. God is willing, able and faithful to fix it.
Some of us don't like differences and change and tend to just develop relationships with family not wanting to do anything like African-American Jarena Lee who in the 19century in one year traveled 2,325 miles on foot to preach 127 sermons. She also became the first woman approved to preach in the African Methodist Episcopal Church which is the first black-controlled Christian denomination in the United States of America. Neither Lee nor Jesus limited themselves to biological relationships, so neither should we. Imitate God. Stretch out. Ask God to prune out criticism and judgement from your heart. Someone beautiful is waiting to be shared. Embrace a diversity of people instead of noxious, needless, negativity. Cooperate with God to lose the "No es posible" attitude. Romans 15:7 Amplified Bible says, "Welcome and receive [to your hearts] one another, then, even as Christ has welcomed and received you, for the glory of God."
Biblical disciplining contains much common sense that can be corroborated in scientific research. Proverbs 25:2 the Message Bible says, "God delights in concealing things; scientists delight in discovering things." John Gottman, Ph.D., has a Love Lab at the University of Washington where he conducts counseling and research on couples. Dr. Gottman writes in his book The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work that friendship between partners is critical. Friendship is desirable in marriage and other disciplining efforts. All relationships are disciplining opportunities.
Ask God today to cause you to not act distant and difficult but rather overflowing with the love of God and all the goodness of God that lays the foundation for new love and nurtures old love. A new friend/disciple and an old one will appreciate and thank you for eternity.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)