Spiritual Furniture

Posted on July 21, 2013 by vincentsmithauthor

The eminent psychologist Martin Seligman said that we need to ask ourselves why our grandparents, when they were thwarted, when the people they loved rejected them, when they didn’t get the job they wanted, and when their children died, didn’t become depressed to the extent we do. The reason, he said, is that they had what he called ‘spiritual furniture’ that they sat in when things went wrong – things like belief in God who gave them strength and a believing community that stood with them in their pain. But Seligman went on to say that this spiritual furniture has become threadbare in our lifetime, and that’s why we cope so poorly.
The good news is that no matter how threadbare ours may be, Jesus still says to us: “Come unto me all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’

Posted in emptiness, Encouragement, Faith, God, inner peace, Inspirational, Life's journey, Living Life, Loneliness, Neurosis, Personal Growth, pilgrimage, Prayer, quietness, Religion, Spiritual Furniture, Spirituality, supportive community, Trials and testings, tribulation and trouble, Trust in God | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Taking a Jump

Posted on July 17, 2013 by vincentsmithauthor

African impalas, which can jump four metres high and ten metres long, are often kept in enclosures behind a wall that’s only one metre high. The reason is that impalas will not jump if they can’t see where their feet will land. Many of us are like that. We have the potential to do so much more and be so much more, but we keep ourselves imprisoned behind little walls that we’d love to jump over and could, except we can’t see where our feet would fall. The thing we most need is faith – faith in our gut feeling that there is a God who wills that our lives should be significant and who will guide and strengthen us to be just that. But faith always means being prepared to jump over the little walls that hold us back. Faith is the ability to trust what we know is true even though we cannot see where it will lead us.

Posted in Called and Chosen, Encouragement, Faith, God, Inspirational, Personal Growth, Religion, Trust in God | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Stepping Up

Posted on July 14, 2013 by vincentsmithauthor

There’s an old fable about a donkey that fell into a dry well. The owner couldn’t figure out how to get the donkey out, but since he’d been intending to cover the well he started shovelling dirt into it. The donkey soon realized what was happening and began to bray piteously. Then, to everyone’s amazement, he quieted down. A few shovel loads later the owner looked into the well and was astonished to see the donkey still standing on the floor level. Then he realized what was happening. With every shovel load that hit his back, the donkey would shake it off and take a step up. Finally, he stepped over the edge and trotted away.
The message is that when life shovels dirt on us the trick is to shake it off and take a step up. The Bible says it’s our troubles that make us mature. So let’s make them our stepping stones.

Posted in Encouragement, Faith, God, Inspirational, Living Life, Personal Growth, Spirituality, Trials and testings, tribulation and trouble, Trust in God | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

When More Feels Like less

Posted on July 10, 2013 by vincentsmithauthor

Someone has said that the paradox of our age is that we spend more, but seem to have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less. We have bigger houses, but smaller families; more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees, but less common sense; more knowledge, but less judgement; more experts, yet still more problems. We have more medicine, but less wellness. We do larger things, but not better things. We write more, but learn less; we plan more, but accomplish less. The one thing that clearly has not increased is wisdom.
In an age of instant accessibility to vast amounts of data we are tempted to forget that data does not guarantee knowledge, and knowledge does not guarantee wisdom. Yet wisdom is the one thing that reveals to us what we want most, and that is to understand what our lives actually mean. That’s why we need to go to God, the source of all wisdom, and seek it for ourselves.

Posted in emptiness, Faith, God, inner peace, Inspirational, Living Life, Personal Growth, pilgrimage, Religion, satisfaction, Spirituality, Trust in God, Wisdom | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Finding ourselves by not being absorbed with ourselves

Posted on June 30, 2013 by vincentsmithauthor

Thomas Wolfe once wrote: ‘The whole conviction of my life now rests upon the belief that loneliness, far from being a rare and curious phenomenon, peculiar to myself and a few other solitary men, is the central and inevitable fact of human existence.’ But Dr. Karl Menninger the famous American psychiatrist, while giving a lecture on mental health, was asked what advice he would give to people who were so lonely that they felt they could no longer carry on. Everyone expected him to answer, ‘Consult a psychiatrist.’ But to their astonishment he replied: ‘I would tell them to get out of their house, go across the railroad tracks, find someone who is in need, and do something to help them.’
It’s the same thing Jesus taught about the way we find ourselves when we stop being absorbed with ourselves.

Posted in Bible, emptiness, Faith, God, inner peace, Inspirational, Life's journey, Living Life, Loneliness, love, Neurosis, Personal Growth, Religion, satisfaction, Spirituality, Trials and testings, tribulation and trouble | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

What I don’t know is where I am going!

Posted on June 6, 2013 by vincentsmithauthor

Albert Einstein was well known for being absent minded. On one occasion he was travelling on a train and the conductor came to check his ticket. Einstein, however, had become so engrossed in his work that he couldn’t remember where he had put it. But the conductor told him not to worry; he had recognised that this was the great Doctor Einstein and was sure he would have bought a ticket. So he moved on to the other passengers. A little while later, as he looked back, he saw the great man down on his hands and knees searching under the seat for his lost ticket. The conductor went back to him and said, “It’s all right, Doctor Einstein, don’t worry, I know who you are.” To which the great man replied, “And I know who I am, you fool. What I don’t know is where I am going!” Which may well be true of many of us; so remember that “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5)

Posted in Faith, God, inner peace, Inspirational, Journey, Life's journey, Living Life, pilgrimage, Religion, Spirituality | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

If You Have to Tell Them Who You Are, Then You Aren’t!

Posted on May 31, 2013 by vincentsmithauthor

Gregory Peck once stood in line with a friend, waiting for a table in a crowded restaurant. His friend became impatient and said, “Why don’t you tell the maitre d’ who you are?” Peck responded “No. If you have to tell them who you are, then you aren’t.” Well, there was a lot of wisdom and insight in that. It reminds me of those words from the Bible that say: “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” But the question is, esteemed by whom? It may be nice to be recognized by head waiters or kids collecting autographs, but the only recognition that ultimately counts is the one I hope to receive from my maker.
It reminds me of a sceptic I once heard on the ABC’s Q & A program contemptuously say he didn’t recognise God, to which one of the panelists replied, ‘What you really need to worry about is whether He recognises you.’

Posted in Bible, Encouragement, Faith, God, Good Name, Inspirational, Religion, Righteousness, Spirituality, Trust in God | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Love isn’t love till you give it away

Posted on May 27, 2013 by vincentsmithauthor

Mary Martin, star of the Broadway version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific, was about to go on stage one night, as she had a thousand times before, when a note was handed to her. The letter was signed by Oscar Hammerstein, who was that evening on his death bed. The note was short. It simply said: ‘Dear Mary, A bell’s not a bell until you ring it. A song’s not a song until you sing it. Love in your heart is not put there to stay. Love isn’t love till you give it away.’
When the performance was over the cast literally rushed her backstage to congratulate her; she was always a superb performer but they had never seen her sing or act as she had that night. So Mary read to them Hammerstein’s note and said, ‘Tonight, I gave my love away.’ And that’s still the way we find it.

Posted in Joy, Living Life, love, Personal Growth, satisfaction, Spirituality | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Inexpressible Longings

Posted on May 23, 2013 by vincentsmithauthor

Some of the most poignant words in the Bible come from the Book of Ecclesiastes which says, ‘God has set eternity in our hearts.’ CS Lewis reflected that we often wonder why it is that we have such deep, inexpressible longings within us; longings which, in our youth, we suppose will be fulfilled if we go to live in some exotic place, or work in some exciting job, or fall in love with the girl or man of our dreams. Then we wonder why, if we are fortunate enough to achieve these things, the longings are still there. The answer, of course, is that no location, no occupation, no romance is sufficient to meet those dreams. A piece of music, a story, a place or a romance may awaken it more deeply within us. But, essentially, that longing is a spiritual yearning to be in a living relationship with God, who is the source of all life, and to whose presence we journey.

Posted in Bible, Called and Chosen, emptiness, Faith, God, inner peace, Inspirational, Journey, Joy, Living Life, love, old age, Personal Growth, Prayer, quietness, Religion, satisfaction, Spirituality, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Mother of all Deceits

Posted on May 22, 2013 by vincentsmithauthor

In the aftermath of terror attacks one often reads letters blaming religion for them. One such said: ‘Will it ever occur to the world that as long as the medieval nonsense we call religion is peddled to the gullible, ignorant and deluded, acts of horrific madness will continue to be perpetrated against the innocent.’ I can’t speak for religion in general, but, as far as Christianity is concerned, the illogic of such generalisations is clear when we remember that Jesus actually taught, ‘Blessed are the meek…blessed are the merciful…blessed are the peacemakers…love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’. Evil minds have always tried to legitimise their deeds by reference to some higher cause, whether it be nationalism, politics, religion, or even a football team. It merely emphasises something the Bible said long ago: ‘the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

Posted in Bible, Deceit, Faith, God, love, Religion, Righteousness, Spirituality, Terror, Terrorists, tribulation and trouble, Trust in God, War | Tagged , , | Leave a comment