Gravity

 

 By Brenda Graff

What do you do when you find yourself being pulled under by a tidal wave?  Insurmountable odds facing your every moment?  How does one prepare for disaster?  Do you bank up or buck up?  I don’t care if you board, hoard, and store up in preparation for devastating circumstances…it can still catch you off guard.  Like with the devastating floods we have recently in our area this past month in Texas.  Many families unexpectedly met head on with disaster and watching their belongings and some lives swept away suddenly. 

I remember how many times, I’ve boasted at the fact that I was prepared to go through whatever God would have me experience…after all, I totally had faith in Him, I thought.  It wasn’t until in later years, I figured out what faith walking was really all about.  I am reminded of a movie I watched recently called Interstellar, a 2014 epic science fiction film starring Matthew McConaughey, playing the character of (Cooper). The film features a crew of astronauts who travel through a wormhole in search of a new home for humanity.

The scene:
Cooper and TARS (a robot) detach their shuttles into a black hole, sacrificing themselves to collect data on the singularity, and propel (co-partners) Amelia and CASE (robot) faster by reducing the ship's mass. As the shuttle falls into the black hole, gravitational forces rip it apart, ejecting Cooper into the interior, which resembles a tesseract (a four-dimensional analog of the cube).

He finds himself at first sight in fear of death unable to control the circumstance as he is witnessing and viewing into what seems to be his daughter’s room the day he was departing as she sobs on her bed more than 50 years earlier. 

He had remembered what a fellow astronaut had said to him regarding death.  “You know you’re dying when you see your kid’s faces”.  He starts frantically screaming, “No-no-no!”

Was this an illusion?  Is this the final moments before last breath?

It was a very intense, heart wrenching scene.  I watched in anticipation, this life hanging in the balance and stuck in this dark, dreadful, black hole.  

Would Cooper survive?  How will he get out?  Is there light at the end of the tunnel? 

Yes, Cooper survived, it was never his intention to stay in the black hole permanently, and eventually he reunited with his daughter, who was now on her death bed of old age.  

You see, Cooper, panicked and became so distracted and busy trying to solve a problem he basically had no control over, that he lost time and years with his daughter and son.  He arrived to her virtually non-aged due to the wormhole and time difference in dimensions.

Determined to get back to his family he didn’t give up.  He figured out a way through the black hole.  He refused to get stuck there.

How often do we find ourselves drawn in by the black holes of this life?  The gravity of grief, regret, and gargantuan fear pulls at us....persuading us to stop living, only focus on the frightening circumstances or loss.

We can get caught up in situations that are truly beyond our control, and begin to panic.  We fail to see that God sees the full picture.  We only get a glimpse.  Some tend to fear the unknown, and their future without not knowing what is going to take place.

  

It is frightening to get a phone call that is lurking with bad news.  I know, I’ve been there.  Once you get the information, what do you do with it?  Scream, cry, and shout at someone?  Kick the dog?  Drown yourself in misery and self-pity?  You might do all of these things…and it would be a normal human response at first, but I’m not advocating the kicking of any pet!  But, we must not get stuck there!  How many years are wasted in anguish, grief, unsettled anger, doubt, or FEAR?

It is all based on FEAR!  The gravitational pull of fear can rip us apart at the seams.  It can tear families apart, cause businesses, and ministries to crumble.

Fear brings out many emotions more than just anxiety.  It brings with it a multi-personality mess!  Insecurity rears its ugly head causing relational conflicts.  Sorrowful grief that last too long leads to lasting depression, and isolation in turn causing more anxiety.  

It is a vicious cycle. Anger, regret, disbelief, and insomnia become your new best friends.  It blocks the view of the light at the end of the tunnel.  

It is in those unfamiliar, unidentifiable defining moments where true faith begins to emerge.  How in the world could anyone experience light, if they had not been in darkness?  Healing if they had not been sick?  Forgiveness if they had not been forgiven?  We cannot wallow in that hole too long, otherwise, gravitational forces will rip us apart, ejecting our souls into a chronic state of confusion, doubt, and chaos.  

We don’t have to live that way.  If we could just understand that Jesus Christ, the one who loved us, more than His own life… is with us at all times.  He is there in the midnight hour when fear grips us with thoughts of “What If’s?”  

He sees every tear hit the ground,

every sigh of disappointment, every grieving moment we experience, and He is telling us DO NOT FEAR, DO NOT WORRY, DO NOT BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING 365 times in the Bible! Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning. (Psalms 30:5)

Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Isaiah 41:10
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Matthew 6:25-34
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ... Psalm 139:7-10
Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. Psalm 23:4
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Psalm 91

1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.”

3 Surely he will save you
    from the fowler’s snare
    and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
    nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
    nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
    ten thousand at your right hand,
    but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
    and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
    and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
    no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
    you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 “Because he[b] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
    I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
    I will be with him in trouble,
    I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
    and show him my salvation.”

Brenda A. Graff / Founder of
FOOD FOR SOUL MAGAZINE

I Cry in Colors

-Brenda Graff

I once read a beautiful poem my daughter, Amanda wrote when she was about 9 years old.  It was comparing emotion to colors.  I was astounded at her ability to write with such clarity in discussing such depth in feelings.  I'd share it, but feel that one day that poem will be published.  My son, Cody who is now 12, often says that he relates the color red to anger.  There is much truth to that.  Feelings can be affected by viewing certain colors.  

For Example:

The Prison Service started investigating the possible impact of calming color schemes after the riots at Strangeways, Manchester, in 1990.  Color specialist Angela Wright, who has worked as a consultant for the Prison Service in the past, says color has the power to influence behavior because of its "psycho-physical" effect. "Color is not just a visual phenomenon, it produces a physical reaction.

Blind people can distinguish between colors with their fingertips because of the energy different colors emit." Her "prison palette" includes purple for a chapel "to help contemplation", blues with a touch of yellow for study areas, and orange for the canteen.

Pink clink: Doors at Bronzefield are painted pastel pink "Orange is a mix of red, a physically stimulating color, and yellow, which lifts the spirits and stimulates self-confidence. Orange focuses the mind on physical comfort, for which food is vital. Pastel shades, which are being used in Bronzefield, are low intensity and so don't tend to elicit strong reactions, she says. They can be soothing though.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3790963.stm

I know this to be true as I was studying the psychology of Criminology, pink was often used in prisons for a calming factor. 

Red was forbidden in some more potentially aggressive prisons. 

When I was reminded of my daughter's palette of emotion poem, I thought of the crisis that has been hitting our country, the devastation of our nation through violence in the streets, lives lost, devastating storms, losses beyond measure, political ridicule, diseases, and even rioting religion.  It is enough to make one want to pack up and soar to an island away from news media, messed up folk, and a very morbid and often confused society.  

It literally makes my inner soul weep incredibly when I hear such news.  I may not know a single person involved in whatever tragedy is being aired, but I feel it.  Sometimes, I feel it so deeply, it can take sometimes days or months to just get the thought out of my mind, and yet it is in some way ever present.  

I pray for them, I pray for the families.  Often, I still ask... "God why?"  Then when I see hope emerge out of those situations, or a community come together in love, uniting on a universal scale to aid those hurting, I cry for joy...so touched, so inspired, so in awe of God's Omnipresence.  I cry for the black, I cry for the white, I cry for the immigrants lost in flight.  Those trying to break free from their countries of famine, desolation, and abuse...my heart can find no reason or excuse to not shed that tear.  My eyes have no distinction when it comes to nationality, race, or religion.  My tears fall just the same, just as hard, just as painfully for them all.

A photojournalist took this photo 4 Syrian child, thought he has a weapon not a camera so she Gave up !  https://twitter.com/NadiaAbuShaban/status/580457804810551296/photo/1

To look upon a nation, or a world without God, should make us cry in colors (no prejudice) and mourn as Neamiah did.

Nehemiah’s Prayer: 1:1-10

The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. 3 They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” 4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.

He pleaded for the country, for forgiveness for the people, including himself and his family. (Nehemiah 1:5-10)

If anyone has the love of Christ within them, then how oh how can one profess it, and yet turn their eyes and hearts away?  How can one get angry and refuse to help our foreign lands, our neighbors, and even those considered to be unlovable? Imagine Christ at the last supper, washing the feet of His enemies and dining with the very one that was going to deliver him to His own death?  (John 13:1-17)

I believe that Christ tears must have been filled with the color red, not because of anger, but because His heart must have been pained for the soul that was about to be lost, the one that He entrusted, taught, shared with, loved with all He had within Him.  Despite the pain, He kept on bleeding love till He finally bled out.

What color is your tears?  Are they partial, impartial, and operating in their own opinion of who deserves to be loved, helped, or prayed for?  Do we choose who deserves mercy, and or when we should bother to shed a tear in joining in another's sorrow?  Are the tears filled with gray areas?  Are there exceedingly dark hues overtaken by resentment, anger, or bitterness?  

I Cry in Colors

The color of my tears have echoed out much sorrow.

They weep beyond the grave's of our nation's tomorrow.

I pray the Lord may see and hear our plea

for the ones who are praying and holding Him near...

to end and calm this country's fear.

May every soul that has a heart,

 entrust our Lord and take a part

in serving in whatever way, 

He has called us to pray today.

May the color of our tears produce a rainbow of resolution

to bring the love of Christ as the final solution.

May our tears be filled with mercy, and love that is true

within our nation and abroad as God has instructed us to do. 

-B. Graff
www.inspiremefoodforsoul.com
FOOD FOR SOUL MAGAZINE

Erica Campbell - You Are

Whose Got Your Back?

Who's Got Your Back?

Sunday eve, Mother’s Day, I was basically forced into watching a movie that I had no interest in.  How may you ask? I was exhausted after a very long morning, and decided to plant myself on the sofa.  An area usually unknown by my presence as I am usually on the go most of the time.  I rarely spend time in the living room.  If I’m not in my kitchen or at desk working, I’m driving somewhere.  Not today, I vowed.  I was not going to move once I got there.  I even had Hubby bring in my snuggly, and pillow…just in case I dropped into a coma of sweet dreams.

However, as I am laying there, my husband, and two of my boys had formed a consensus against my wishes to watch a chick flick, and not even a romantic one at that…just one of those feel good ones.  After all, it was supposed to be the day of which a mom had the right to choose whatever she wants right?  They put in “The Hobbit” the prequel to “Lord of the Rings”.  Now I realize this movie series has been famous and popular for years.  There are seriously dedicated Hobbit fans!

However, this type of movie just isn’t my sort of crave.  It’s full of freaky looking trolls, dwarfs, goblins, and faces that looked more like a grotesquely marred armpit, then any of the ugliest creatures I’ve seen.  

Then there is this horrible dragon with really bad dental issues.  Ugh...the sights and sounds almost caused me to go hibernate in the bedroom, but I couldn’t budge.  Too tired.  I tried to dose off in between the raging maniac battles, and demonic sounds of chaos of good versus evil, but it wasn’t happening.  Instead, I became mesmerized at a scenario that seriously caught my attention.  No, it captivated me!

There is a scene in the beginning of the movie where a father is fighting off a dragon named, Smaug.  Who was considered to be a "great" fire drake of the Third Age, considered to be the last "great" dragon to exist in Middle Earth. Smaug was furious as he swarmed back and forth over the village breathing fire, destroying, maiming, and killing everything in its path. 

"My armor is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, the shock of my tail is a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath death!" —The Hobbit, Inside Information

The scene:

Smaug, after reaching Lake-town, proceeds to destroy the city for their part in aiding the Dwarves. Bard, the father of Bain… having escaped imprisonment from the Master of Laketown, climbs atop the belltower and tries to shoot Smaug with arrows, though each attempt fails, harmlessly bouncing off Smaug's armor.

Eventually, Bain, Bard's son, arrives to aid his father with a Black Arrow. Unfortunately, as Smaug flies over, he claws at the tower. With the tower now being half-destroyed, Bard is forced to make a makeshift crossbow using a rope that held a bell, some pieces of broken wood, and use his son, Bain as a stand.  

Now picture this, the dragon is now viciously aware that the son is there, a precious commodity to the father, and wants to destroy him.  He not only breaths out fire at this point, but wickedly proclaims his attack.  Bain is trembling in fear, but still standing by his father.  Smaug lands, and looks towards Bard, sneering at his attempts to stop him.  The father braces himself on this broken tower positioning his son, with Bain facing him.  He balances the arrow across his son’s shoulder instructing him to be still. Bain’s back is to the dragon approaching, and becoming more threatening.  Bain keeps looking back as he can feel the heat of fire approaching.  Father using hand gesture, begs his son...“Keep looking at me, stay focused on me”.  “Be still!” 

The son would start to look back and the father would remind him, “Look at me”.  Bard notches the arrow, while Smaug charges him and his son. Bard fires his arrow, which hits Smaug straight in the chest on his weak spot. The dragon stumbles, knocking Bard and Bain off their perch, before flying back up. Clawing and biting at the sky, his internal glow fades as he dies in mid-air. Smaug's body, upon falling to the water, lands on Laketown's corrupt master, killing him.   

I couldn’t take my eyes off the movie at that point.  What really got me, is that we live in a world with a real demonic presence.  This isn’t fairy tale.  That breathing dragon in the movie is no different than the one that seeks whom he may devour on this earth.   

Think about this.  As believers in Christ, we often find ourselves having to fight off the Smaug’s, trolls, and goblins.  Some are uglier than the other.  Then there are some that are so beautiful, you can easily be deceived if not grounded in God's word, or walking with the leading of the Holy Spirit.  

Yet, either way they all come from the same family of demonic power…Satan!  He and his posse fight hard to take down the villagers of hope.  He wants to deceive the dedicated, tear down the true.  He wants to do whatever it takes to keep you trembling in fear and disbelief.  Yet, our Father (Abba) is asking us to keep our eyes on Him.  I can hear Him now saying.  “Stay focused, don’t look behind you fearing the attack”, “I GOT YOUR BACK”! 

“Be still and know that I AM GOD!” (Psalm 46:10)

He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.  Psalm 91:4 NIV

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  Isaiah 41:10 NIV

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Deut 31:6 NIV

I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.  Psalm16:8 NIV

What a beautiful revelation to think of a father, but not just any father standing there telling their child…don’t move, don’t look back… “Trust ME”… “Don’t let the ugly threats take your focus off of ME.  I will take the enemy down, just watch me”.

Revelation 12:9

And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

Satan has especially waged war on women beginning with (EVE) and the rest of her offspring (which means anyone living) of those who hold true to their testimony of Christ.  But his time is coming!  Just know that in the realm of the unseen there are angels battling it out right now, and a Father who is urging us to stand still and secure ourselves in Him.  Whose got your back?  Our Abba Father,
El Shaddai (Lord God Almighty), Jehovah Shammah (The Lord is there), Jehovah Jireh (The Lord will provide), Jehovah Tsidkenu (The Lord our righteousness), Jehova Shalom (The Lord is PEACE).

Revelation 12:17 (NIV)

Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.

Revelation 20:2 (NIV)

He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.

Watch Clip

Brenda A. Graff
Founder
FOOD FOR SOUL MAGAZINE

A FUNNELING WE GO

I have a morning ritual when I reach my kitchen.  Each day I prepare for the process of making ice coffee.  I do this because... it is not only cost-effective, but better for you with a reduced 69% acidity, and the flavor is out of this world!  

After the grounds have saturated in water for 48 hours, I take a funnel and place it over an empty mason jar.  Then I place a cone shaped filter in the funnel.  Slowly, I pour the liquid grounds and watch the stream trickle below surface filling the jar with savory coffee.   

In my impatience, I sometimes pour too quickly and it burst the filter, causing the grounds to also fill the jar.   Therefore, causing me to start the whole process over again.

I don't like to repeat steps.  I rather do things right the first time.  As I think of that filter bursting, I reflect on how we sometimes conduct our lives as such.  How many times have you found yourself cramming in change overnight?  

You vow that you’re going to do things differently.  "This time is going to be different".  Then the bubble is burst with frustration, and anticipation of the Almighty ready to lower the boom on your bummed efforts.  Did you catch that?  YOUR EFFORTS! 

When did we ever start to believe that we were so self-sufficient we could handle everything?  Some believe they could conquer the world in one word, while changing the very core of themselves for the good of all mankind.  

Often believers become discouraged when failure seems to frantically funnel into the purifying places of their souls.  The process of purifying is going to take more than 48 hours.  It’s a lifetime event.  Change isn't something that happens overnight.  

Failure will be met with every about-face, unless we are being purified through the funneling of the Holy Spirit, God's word, and willingness to listen and learn of Christ's ways.  It is a necessary process.  Much like the coffee grounds that enter through the burst filter, ruining the savor of this black gold.  

If we try to filter out the impurities within ourselves too fast, and on our own, we will end up with grounds of disappointment, discouragement, and more delays, and having to start the process all over.

In this life, we will have delays!  There is no getting around it.

Yet, focus on the process, not the delay.  Who wants a cup of bitter tasting coffee?  Or to react bitterly to life? 

Delays are destinations that have been designed to purify the process of faith.  How quickly are you pouring into your funnel?  Is the filter going to hold?  You might need to allow the process to take however long it needs to percolate into the person God is calling you to be.  

Funneling faith is the process of filtering out self reliance, and personal opinions opposed to God's word.  God really knows what He is doing...and desires for us to depend on His design while directing our efforts.  

Numbers 23:19  God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

 The funneling process doesn't have to be a frustrating one.  If you focus on the journey more then the delay, you will find  your faith funneled with fervency.

Change will come before you know it...as metamorphoses evolves you into reflecting Him (Jesus Christ)...you will leave imprints on the world around you which will domino a chain reaction for a Christ centered change.

"You change your life by changing your heart." -Max Lucado

Brenda A. Graff / Founder
FOOD FOR SOUL MAGAZINE

“Often times God demonstrates His faithfulness in adversity by providing for us what we need to survive. He does not change our painful circumstances. He sustains us through them.”  ~ Charles Stanley