s-TEA-rife tempered by captivi-TEA

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5, NIT)

Strife. What is it? What causes it? What can one do about it?

My life must have it as I often realize my teeth are clenched. Even my shoulders seem to stay "clenched" lately. Up around my ears----until I intentionally pull them down, willing myself to calm down and relax.

Then, yesterday my iPad notes from 2 years ago opened wide for me to see:

• Strife---an inside job---it springs from within
• Strife---the enemy of peace and calm
• Root of strife = SELF-Worldiness, aka pride (opposite of pride is humility)
• Strife is conflict between our thinking and God's word.
• Mood-induced thoughts can keep me in turmoil, aka strife.
• Real issue--Whom will I love? God or the world? James 4:4 asks, "don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God?"

Good riddance for strife---submit to God, draw near to Him and as He reciprocates by drawing near as well, it becomes much easier to take every "rebellious self" thought captive.

(Continue reading).....God's word, that is.

God gracefully serves us cuppa after cuppa of humili--TEA, puri-TEA, and in-TEA-macy once we pour out the dregs of enmi-TEA and s-TEA-rife that have stained the insides of our former cuppa.

Estate Sale

11/20/10 Passing the corner of Shady Grove & E. Shady Gove, I saw the Jerry Copeland Estate Sales sign in a familiar yard. I was “taken aback” as Mama Davenport used to say.

Usually an estate sale is held to “dispose of a substantial portion of the materials owned by a person who is recently deceased, or who must dispose of his personal property to facilitate a move.” (Dictionary.com) If not death, then downsizing, possibly to assisted living, comes to my mind. I was wondering about the reason for this sale because I have a connection, albeit small, to that home.

The house is close enough to my neighborhood that I pass it fairly regularly. I rarely pass it that I don’t have memories come flooding back. I think back to the “woman of the house” who so willingly opened those doors of her home to a bunch of young Pi Phi (college sorority) alums. It was there that we planned an event for the on-campus girls, which would also be held at her house. Her home was warm and inviting because she was so hospitable. I’ve never seen a “for sale” sign there since those years in the early-70s so I assume she continued to live there. For years I could recall her name. Today I couldn’t. That saddens me.

What I do remember is the warm feeling I got every time I passed that house. I was reminded of the fun times with sorority sisters both as actives and alums---many who now are sisters in faith. Even in our college days, we learned to consider one another more important than ourselves and to be mindful of our thought life---keeping it pure. What we didn’t consider was how short life can be or how quickly the angst of aging can come. At least, it seems to me to come very quickly.

Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. (James 4:4)