O Navio e O Porto.

"Um navio está seguro no porto - mas os navios não são feitos para isso...”

John A. Shedd

As jornadas não se conquistam de uma vez por todas: quando chegamos ao fim de um percurso, ao fim de algum tempo, outro se apresentará, chamando-nos uma vez mais à necessidade de estarmos atentos, aprendermos e partilharmos o que encontrarmos.

Essa citação do navio me fez realmente pensar se não se passará o mesmo conosco, seres humanos frequentemente pequenos e facilmente assustados perante o vasto universo e a certeza de mudança...

Mas, tal como os navios, talvez aquilo que nos é mais confortável não seja o que mais nos faz aprender nem nos ajuda a realizar a nossa potencialidade.

Lança-te ao mar,

Navio,

E nada temas...

Tuas velas podem ser pequenas

e as ondas batendo na amurada

assustadoras e frias…

Mas eis que a Sul

Brilha a Estrela guia

e a noite

dá origem ao dia

e o caminho se faz Vida Maior

Pink - Just give me a reason

Right from the start

You were a thief

You stole my heart

And I your willing victim

I let you see the parts of me

That weren't all that pretty

And with every touch you fixed them

Now you've been talking in your sleep, oh, oh

Things you never say to me, oh, oh

Tell me that you've had enough

Of our love, our love

Just give me a reason

Just a little bit's enough

Just a second we're not broken just bent

And we can learn to love again

It's in the stars

It's been written in the scars on our hearts

We're not broken just bent

And we can learn to love again

I'm sorry I don't understand

Where all of this is coming from

I thought that we were fine

(Oh, we had everything)

Your head is running wild again

My dear we still have everythin'

And it's all in your mind

(Yeah, but this is happenin')

You've been havin' real bad dreams, oh, oh

You used to lie so close to me, oh, oh

There's nothing more than empty sheets

Between our love, our love

Oh, our love, our love

Just give me a reason

Just a little bit's enough

Just a second we're not broken just bent

And we can learn to love again

I never stopped

You're still written in the scars on my heart

You're not broken just bent

And we can learn to love again

Oh, tear ducts and rust

I'll fix it for us

We're collecting dust

But our love's enough

You're holding it in

You're pouring a drink

No nothing is as bad as it seems

We'll come clean

This song came up on the radio as I was driving to school this morning. This song really is an amazing message about how difficult relationships are – and nobody can escape that.  I like Pink because her music consistently declares the brokenness that results from the Fall and the shallowness of sin… and yet she doesn't know where to turn for something better and more lasting.  She resists the fairy-tale romance that seems to overflow our culture and drops a strong dose of reality: Relationships are difficult and painful because our brokenness complicates them. This song is filled with a deeply emotional and universal cry that is within all of us.  We know we’re broken.  We know relationships are hard and are often painful, yet we also know that they’re good and worth the effort. Love is messy because we’re bent and our hearts are scarred.  

However, no matter how much we try to straighter ourselves, we just can’t fix our brokenness or cover it up. It’s because we are dead in our sins and that’s why we are always crying out for life in the midst of our brokenness - a corpse can cry out for life, although it’s looking for life in all the wrong places.  When we say we are “broken” or “dead in our sins,” that doesn’t mean we literally don’t work and that we don’t cry out for freedom and wholeness.  It’s an acknowledgement that we aren't right, and we can’t fix ourselves. 

We're broken and so is the person we're trying to love. We get hurt, and we hurt others too. 

“We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). We can learn to love again, but we need to confess that we are bent and broken.

"Love is patient, Love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud". True love is self-giving, not self-seeking. True love puts the needs of others first. This is what Christ did when He left Heaven and came down to earth for us. May we always try to be Christ-like.  May God open our hearts and minds to the true love He has for us, and may we always seek to love others like He loves us.

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

 If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.

 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

~1 Corinthians 13:1-7

Forgive Us Our Trespasses...

"I'm not perfect - And I don't live to be - but before you start pointing fingers... make sure your hands are clean" ~ Bob Marley

...Let he who is without sin cast the first stone ~ John 8:7

I have made mistakes several times. We've all been there. There are times, however, I cannot seem to forgive myself. It's usually when I've said or done something that caused others to feel hurt. I know we have a sinful nature, we are are humans and we make mistakes... but some mistakes are just plain stupid.

When I do something I immediately regret, I often start thinking that I'd rather see myself hurt and hitting rock bottom, than to see someone else hurt because of ME. I can take everything you got. Give it to me. I can take all the consequences that I have done unto myself... but when these consequences reaches those I love... I break down... and I can't seem to get my head around as to why I did/said that.

Most often that I'd like to admit, I let my frustrations and insecurity speak louder. Then, I get into "defense mode" and start saying/doing things I don't really want to. All with the purpose that it will be good for all parties in the end. Plain stupid and selfish. 

But, enough of that. You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.

                 Forgive us our tresspasses,

                         as we forgive those

                                who trespass against us.

"A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them" ~ John C. Maxwell

Getting back up

A Chinese proverb says that If you get up one more time than you fall, you will make it through. 

It's a rather hard life for dreamers. I've tried to prepare myself for the worst, and aim for the best - like a special someone always tells me to. This time, however, I've been caught with empty hands. I wasn't holding on to wariness. 

When disappointment hits you, it feels like ten tons of bricks have crushed your heart, your hopes, and the future you have planned so carefully. All the plans you've made, all the sensations you've imagined you'd feel... they're all gone. They were gone when your dreams got crushed. Being disappointed when you don't expect is like being heartbroken. You just don't know how to look forward, how to move on. You just sit there and wait, hoping it'll go away or it'll fix itself up. Well, it won't. It just hurts more. Reality just keeps coming back and hitting you harder if you don't get back up.

Even in the midst of discomfiture, I will force myself to never be discouraged and to look past the bumps. If I reach a dead-end, I'll just turn around and start heading to another direction. God knows how much I've tried... maybe it just wasn't supposed to be that way. I know this is not a "No", just a "Not now" ... So, I'll just move forward, hoping the winds will bring me better fortune next time. 

Follow your heart... but take your brain with you.

Follow your heart... but take your brain with you ~ Alfred Adler

Love is only blind when your eyes are closed. "A mind is a terrible thing to waste" ... How can one balance the needs of the heart and the demanding rationalism of the brain?

We'd love to believe our hearts should be our guide but it can definitely lead you astray without assistant. 

My rational side always whispers to wait, to be patient, that things will eventually work itself out. I've waited a lot in life... waited for the right moment, for the right person, for the right place... I've made good decisions in waiting; Regardless of waiting or not, I've haven't taken the right road every time. Although, these decisions may have been not been the best, they surely served as a great lesson. 

The thing is... I want to believe in my heart, but it has tricked me before. I want to believe in the most rational decision, but it also has gotten me to the wrong path. I'd like to believe in balance... so where to find the balance? What is the balance? The balance is wherever you feel happy, comfortable, and hopeful it is the right decision. It's the right decision when you've found peace. 

What do you do when you've encountered a bifurcated road? Where do you find yourself after the decision is made? In peace, or troubled?

A grande verdade é que todos nós precisamos aprender a viver bem. A vida é um sopro que a qualquer vento se desfaz. Enquanto vivos, vivamos o melhor possível  ~ Crisbal Bueno