There is always a path, even through the thickets

I subscribe to a newsletter from an organization called the Transforming Center and while this is primarily intended for those in spiritual leadership, i have found it to be very illuminating and edifying in my life.

However, I have always struggled to successfully implement the recommended practices into my own life. Somehow, the tempo and melody of my life don't allow for the refined orderliness that the adoption of consistent practices requires, nevertheless, my heart and soul yearn for the benefits of said practices. I know that the right response to such a statement is that "if you desired it badly enough, you would find a way to bring the practices into your own life", and i cannot say that i disagree with that. But, i have found to my great delight that even in my odd-meter life, a way has been made for me to find moments of silence and solitude - even amid the noise and the crowds.

That is simply a witness once again to the baffling economy of God. The same God who thought that it would be perfect if the Saviour of the world was born in a stable housing farm animals, to an unmarried young woman. The same God who thought that the first people to bear witness to this amazing event should be lowly shepherds, who in those days were considered so unrealiable with the truth that they were barred from bearing witness in court - brilliant plan!

The same God who fed 5,000 plus with five loaves and two fish - and still had food leftover! The God who led the people of Israel around the wilderness for 40 years when they could have been in the Promised Land in about two weeks via the direct route. The same God who allowed Jacob's heart to be broken at the thought of having lost his favorite son, Joseph as a meal for wild animals, when in truth, he was transported to Egypt for a much greater purpose than being a favorite son of one Jewish father.

The point is, that we will never be able to figure out how God is going to manage our lives and the lives of those around us, but we can be absolutely certain of the fact that He sees every single aspect of our existence, knows the desires of our heart, and is perfectly capable of bringing it to pass according to His perfect will. All that He looks for from us is the willingness to let Him make it happen. Sometimes learning to let Him be in charge takes 40 years of wilderness wandering. Sometimes, like the woman desperate for healing, it merely requires gently grazing the hem of his garment as He passes by, to be fully restored. 

More often than not, my life has consisted of brief grazes of the hem but even those have been magnificently rich in their transforming power. While i still desire to have a life with ordered times of silence and solitude, i know that for my Lord, turning my feeble and fleeting moments into epic sabbaticals is no challenge. He can find a way for me through the thickets and thistles of my life to meet with Him. How can I do anything but accept them with a joyfully grateful heart?  

Bloody Valentine

Today is Valentine's Day or Friendship Day in Finland. Is it just my advancing age that is making me prefer Friendship Day to all the mushy sentiments of V-day? Perhaps it is the passing years that have taught me to lower my expectations and focus more on the sure things like the constancy of my dear friends.
Another thing, how is it that though we have only (relatively) recently concluded with the Christmas holidays and had a three day weekend in honor of MLK, everyone seems to be dragging through life with listless enthusiasm. I find myself wishing for bed by 2pm and trying hard not to conk my head on the monitor at work...(i'm not really snoozing at work but i feel like it).
This day has not been a complete waste. I found an absolutely wonderful blog, chock-full of gorgeous pictures by some of Scandinavia's best artists. There is plenty on things to feast your eyes on. Check it out: http://nordic-aputsiaq.blogspot.com (I realize that this is a different blog service but it is worth the visit).

Ever the romantic, i sent this Valentine to my husband today. It's by a famous Finnish artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela. I really liked the kiss and only later realized the grim action taking place...oh well. But isn't that an apt example of how differently we all can experience the world depending on what we choose to focus on? Trust me, I am not one of those "let's just think happy thoughts" kind of people, however, i do believe that there is something to be said for not being a gloomy-gus about everything.

As luck would have it, i am once again writing this at night when my brain is barely functioning above the level of an earthworm and I am literally boring myself by this blather...my apologies if you are struggling to keep reading.
Just this morning, i had a super cool thought but i was brushing my teeth and running late and, well, now i can't recall it. I remind you of the earthworm status...
There is something i have been thinking about every night as i try to get comfortable on my worn out mattress...zero gravity. Imagine going to sleep in zero gravity. Do you think you would be able to or would you need to be swaddled in some kind of a pouch?

Happy Friendship Day, dear reader. I hope that you have at least one friend whose presence on this earth delights you.

Introductory bits

It is January 31st, 2013 and it is evening. Therefore, not a good time for me to begin blogging as my mind has pretty much run out of steam by this time of week and at this hour of the night. However, I am looking forward to putting my thoughts in a blog or two come morning. I find that my mind seems to race with wild and woolly ideas early in the morning, though i am decidedly not a morning person.
Since I hardly have anything scintillating to share at the moment, I thought that i would get the introductory bits out of the way with this blog.

I should perhaps explain my purpose for starting a blog. It is very simply to get the aforementioned wild and woolly thoughts out of my head and on 'paper'. My thoughts tend to center around theological questions and spiritual matters.

The title (and my blogger name "Tirlittan") are Finnish. When I was a child, my mother used to sing a song to be about a girl named Tirlittan, who was orphaned and forced to make her way in a world that did not necessarily receive her with open arms. Nevertheless, Tirlittan persisted without bitterness, relying on God. I loved the song especially when my mother sang it; it was at once humorous, a little dark and yet so charming.

The word 'tuumii' is the grammatically convoluted result of the Finnish word 'tuumia', which means to ruminate. I suppose I could have named the blog "Tirlittan Ruminates"...but i didn't.

Essentially though that is precisely what i do most mornings; I ruminate about things. It's as if someone comes by at night and fills my head up with thoughts that burst into a full-blown oratory upon my waking. I don't know if i am just tragically full of myself, but I find the thoughts zinging around my brain incredibly interesting. It's just that those moments of 'brilliance' are confined to the early morning hours and by the time i have a chance to write them down, they have all but deserted my cranium.

I suppose this blog is as much an experiment for me as anything else. If I manage to get my early morning ruminations recorded in some fashion and then have the opportunity to examine them with the workday-worn mind, perhaps i will discover whether they have any merit at all.

Well, that's about it. Time to launch the blog....