According to wikipedia, the definition of a Marionette is, "a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings...with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience..." Oddly enough, this puppet and it's Master have been the subject of my thoughts all day. And here's the train of thoughts put to words...
It's easy to feel like that puppet as a person who had a religious upbringing. And it wasn't a good feeling. Don't think that I blame my parents. It's more of an internal thing. Being raised to know what is right and wrong and what God wanted from me...it's the best thing parents can do for their children. But without a true relationship with God, a young person can begin to feel like they are being controlled by some hidden Puppeteer up in the sky, with no choice in the role or roles they feel forced to play. There's more of that to be said on another day...
Where my mind wandered today was to the strings that connect the puppet to its Master. In those moments of rebellion, when we're certain that we can walk on our own, make our own way, and we begin to reach up and cut or break those strings...you know what happens to the marionette. It's falls into a crumpled heap. It loses it's purpose and can no longer do what it was intended to do. I've been that marionette. I think most people can admit that. Then, over and over again, I've reached up and tried to tie my end of the string to His. Tried to reconnect on my own terms, to become again what I once was. Picture it, though...those knots in the strings. The marionette is once again connected to it's Puppeteer but it doesn't move like it was meant to...it limps because the knot changes the length of the string. There's a connection but the Puppeteer can't guide the puppet as smoothly as He once could. And, for me, the cutting of string and the tying of knots can become a way of life. Always trying to fix what I broke and get back to once was. It's the puppet trying to control the Puppeteer. And I just can't make it turn out perfect.
But what happens when the puppet stops moving, stays in that crumpled heap and waits? Would a Puppeteer leave its marionette there, broken and useless? Not the Puppeteer I know. In the story in my heart, the Puppeteer gathers up the strings and the puppet and gently lays it out on His workbench. He replaces every cut and knotted string with fresh, straight lines. He changes the costume, because it's time to make all things new, and this beautiful marionette has a dress that flows freely as the Puppeteer once again lowers her to the dance floor of the stage that He has placed her on. And because the lines that connect them are new and straight, He is able to move her in graceful motions that amaze the audience that watches. Whether the Puppeteer chooses to be hidden or revealed, the audience of onlookers cannot keep from admitting to His mastery of this beautiful marionette. By stopping and allowing the Master Puppeteer to fix his puppet, the puppet is able to find its new purpose, its new use on the stage where the Puppeteer places it.
"Praise be to the Lord, for He has heard my cry for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise Him." Psalm 28:8
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Starting again...
Why? Because it's time to put words to page again. I've been reading up on a few friend's blogs, catching up with old friends over wine and coffee, getting to know new friends at work, church, etc. And realizing how much life has changed, even when I feel frustrated because things seem to always feel the same.
Let me start with my coffee talk with my Little Sis this week. She's been away a long time and I miss our talks. From the very first words she spoke, I knew I had needed this time with her and to hear what she has been learning about herself and life and moving forward. She's grown so much and is becoming the INDIVIDUAL she was intended to be.
And even now as I think of her, these are the Words that come to mind..."Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn't quit kissing my feet. You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. Impressive, isn't it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal." (Luke 7:43-47)
Other recent conversations lately have left me wondering why people choose to live in the past, holding onto memories of the way things were, instead of making new memories and learning to love where their lives have brought them. I wonder, had I never realized my need to be forgiven many, many sins, would I have learned to be so very, very grateful for where God has brought me? Or would I be clinging to some fading mirage of what I thought my life was supposed to be and how I thought everyone else would turn out?
I just found myself deleting a paragraph about how I'm not who I was at any other point in my life. About how the dreams and thoughts and plans that I had throughout my life have faded and changed. It was wasted words. What's gone is gone, what's done is done. Moving forward is not about any of that. It's about dreaming new dreams and blossoming where you are, in the present, here and now. Even in the struggles and harshness of this current life, I would not wish to change anything or return to any other point in my life. You see, I have been forgiven so very, very much. More than anyone else could ever know or understand because it is MY forgiveness. No matter what doors open or close for me in this life, I will choose to be content while spilling my tears at the feet of the one who has forgiven me and who knows the very heart of me.
My hope is that I will learn to open my heart to people where they are now, as they are now, rather than holding them to who they were 20 years ago, 5 years ago, or 1 year ago. That I will not assume that I KNOW them because I KNEW them. My hope is that I will challenge people to grow, to think outside of their box or their comfort zone, to try something different and to change.
One of my favorite authors put together these beautiful words:
"And so my prayer is that your story will have involved some leaving and some coming home, some summer and some winter, some roses blooming out like children in a play. My hope is your story will be about changing, about getting something beautiful born inside of you about learning to love a woman or a man, about learning to love a child, about moving yourself around water, around mountains, around friends, about learning to love others more than we love ourselves, about learning oneness as a way of understanding God. We get one story, you and I, and one story alone. God has established the elements, the setting and the climax and the resolution. It would be a crime not to venture out, wouldn't it?
It might be time for you to go. It might be time to change, to shine out.
I want to repeat one word for you:
Leave.
Roll the word around on your tongue for a bit. It is a beautiful word, isn't it? So strong and forceful, the way you have always wanted to be. And you will not be alone. You have never been alone. Don't worry. Everything will still be here when you get back. It is you who will have changed.” (Donald Miller)
Let me start with my coffee talk with my Little Sis this week. She's been away a long time and I miss our talks. From the very first words she spoke, I knew I had needed this time with her and to hear what she has been learning about herself and life and moving forward. She's grown so much and is becoming the INDIVIDUAL she was intended to be.
And even now as I think of her, these are the Words that come to mind..."Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn't quit kissing my feet. You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. Impressive, isn't it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal." (Luke 7:43-47)
Other recent conversations lately have left me wondering why people choose to live in the past, holding onto memories of the way things were, instead of making new memories and learning to love where their lives have brought them. I wonder, had I never realized my need to be forgiven many, many sins, would I have learned to be so very, very grateful for where God has brought me? Or would I be clinging to some fading mirage of what I thought my life was supposed to be and how I thought everyone else would turn out?
I just found myself deleting a paragraph about how I'm not who I was at any other point in my life. About how the dreams and thoughts and plans that I had throughout my life have faded and changed. It was wasted words. What's gone is gone, what's done is done. Moving forward is not about any of that. It's about dreaming new dreams and blossoming where you are, in the present, here and now. Even in the struggles and harshness of this current life, I would not wish to change anything or return to any other point in my life. You see, I have been forgiven so very, very much. More than anyone else could ever know or understand because it is MY forgiveness. No matter what doors open or close for me in this life, I will choose to be content while spilling my tears at the feet of the one who has forgiven me and who knows the very heart of me.
My hope is that I will learn to open my heart to people where they are now, as they are now, rather than holding them to who they were 20 years ago, 5 years ago, or 1 year ago. That I will not assume that I KNOW them because I KNEW them. My hope is that I will challenge people to grow, to think outside of their box or their comfort zone, to try something different and to change.
One of my favorite authors put together these beautiful words:
"And so my prayer is that your story will have involved some leaving and some coming home, some summer and some winter, some roses blooming out like children in a play. My hope is your story will be about changing, about getting something beautiful born inside of you about learning to love a woman or a man, about learning to love a child, about moving yourself around water, around mountains, around friends, about learning to love others more than we love ourselves, about learning oneness as a way of understanding God. We get one story, you and I, and one story alone. God has established the elements, the setting and the climax and the resolution. It would be a crime not to venture out, wouldn't it?
It might be time for you to go. It might be time to change, to shine out.
I want to repeat one word for you:
Leave.
Roll the word around on your tongue for a bit. It is a beautiful word, isn't it? So strong and forceful, the way you have always wanted to be. And you will not be alone. You have never been alone. Don't worry. Everything will still be here when you get back. It is you who will have changed.” (Donald Miller)
