Category Archives: My Thoughts

See you through me

My Lord, my God I humbly pray
That you be with me here today
Please go before me
On life’s road
And strengthen me
To bare my load
Just clear my thoughts
That I can see
All people who have need of thee
Guide my lips throughout this day
Provide the words I need to say
That those who hear gaze up above
Let them be showered by Your love
That love You have afforded me
That stirs me up so I may be
A lamp unto to the folk I meet
On buses trams or in the street
And with the words that I impart
Please use as seeds to change their heart

The way

Yin and yang symbolise the Dao or ‘way’. This ‘way’ teaches that Yin and yang are two sides of the same coin. Two sides of Qi or Ch’i (life-force) which are complementary to each other and dependant upon one another. The goal is harmony. A balance between giving and taking. Sounds good. Makes sense, doesn’t it? On the surface, yes. But let’s dig a little deeper.

I agree that equilibrium is achieved by even-handed, just behaviour. It is vital to achieve harmony and health. For there is indeed a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, and in our broken, mixed-up world, even a time for war and a time for peace. But why must there be a time for war? Why not only peace? Is this tension really necessary? Must everything have a complementary opposite for harmony to be achieved? Contrary to the teachings of Daoism, I contend no.
If there is peace, why do we need war? If something isn’t broken, then it doesn’t need fixing. If something is complete, it doesn’t require anything else to make it more complete. In such cases, thankfulness is all that is necessary to experience joy and harmony. Appreciation and contentment maintain this state indefinitely.

Darkness is not the complementary opposite of light. Darkness is the absence of light. Just as, we don’t need evil to complement goodness. On the contrary, evil is the absence of good, not its opposite. Contrary to the Dao, where there is true light, there can be no darkness. In true darkness, all light has gone. The darkness of evil occurs when goodness is diluted, hidden or suppressed, when something pure is twisted or misused.

Yes, it is sadly true that we all too often have to experience loss to appreciate what we have had. But that is because we so quickly take for granted the good we have and never satisfied. We always yearn for more.

Question; when will you have enough?
When will you be satisfied?
Is goodness not enough?

Being fruitful

A man was watching his elderly neighbour planting a fruit tree in his garden.  He inquired of him as follows:

 ” You don’t expect to eat fruit from that tree do you?”  The old man rested on his spade.  He said “No, at my age I know I won’t.  But all my life I have enjoyed fruit … never from a tree I have planted myself.  I am just trying to pay the others who planted the trees for me.”

We all enjoy the fruit of another persons labour, as each generation has left something from which we now benefit.  Some individuals spent their whole lives developing all the technology, medication, transportation and never saw the end result.  And they have all been remembered for their inspired work.

God through Christ Jesus laid the foundations for mankind in such a dramatic way.  But it was not out of inspiration, no, something much, much deeper and longer lasting; LOVE.

May He grant us the wisdom to press forwards each and every day being fruitful in our lives.

Each lesson is part of life’s journey

By God’s good grace and hard work I am fortunate enough to be in a position where I have been able to train and learn new skills in my life.  If you don’t mind I would like to share one of them with you all.  My objective in doing so is to encourage you to enjoy the life you have been blessed with, try new things and thus grow as a unique individual.

After several lessons with my patient instructor and now dear friend Maurice at First Choice Motorcycles in Glossop, Derbyshire it was not until September 9th 2010 is when I passed my motorcycle test.  “Not bad considering my original intent had been to pass my CBT, get a lime green Piaggio Scooter with matching clothing, a Man-bag and then scoot around Manchester trying to look as cool as the Italian men I had seen whilst in on vacation in Bologna & Florence previously.” Well once I saw myself on a Scooter…”Oops! not a pretty sight!” I soon changed my mind needless to say.

Three days after passing my test I purchased my Triumph Tiger 955i.  A tall, powerful but easy to handle Endurance bike (if you’re over 6ft and strong as an ox lol). Nothing like a sports-bike! More of a ‘sit up and beg’ type.

At the young age of 48 I felt mature enough to respect not only the bike but the roads also.  Motorcycling is not to be taken lightly as it can be a very dangerous activity even with the right training, best quality protective clothing and to be perfectly honest I never set off on any journey without first praying, but more so now I am a biker!

Through  learning this new skill I have much improved as a driver, more respectful of other road users and I have learned to enjoy each and every journey I embark upon, be it on foot, two wheels or four.

Life is a continual journey, as I always say, and along each path we take there is an invaluable lesson to be learned to equip us further down life’s highway.

 

Lets Get Going

 

Hello everyone, friends, family and visitors.

Thank you immensely for your support and encouragement over the last few years, as I have been through some challenging times and was unable to spend hardly any time writing or promoting my blog.

It is good that we all go through difficult times because it tends to strengthen our resolve and most importantly our faith.

So I am back and I will try my utmost to bless you all with uplifting articles and testimonies. I am so happy to have support from so many people and look forward to working hard to keep this blog current.

Oh please pray that He uses me to bless and encourage other people all over the globe.

I am pleased to say that people view this site from the United Kingdom through to Australia.

Keep your spirits up and God Bless you all

Ian
(Editor)

I Heard More Than You

They said what I’d heard many times
It always felt the same
They had that look of bitterness
As they shouted out those names

They thought that I was cool with it
As it was not aimed at me
How could they be so cruel to others
It’s just a tragedy

Can’t they see they’re hurting me
Their ranting and their cynicism
Using that language and chanting those songs
Is out and out cold racism

Hey, you’re not like them lot
They smiled at me and said
They sure look wrong, and they don’t belong
That statement wrecked my head

I stood right there and challenged them
Do you think what you’re saying is right?
They looked confused and said to me..
Why are you bothered?  You’re White!

New Beginings

According to the Chambers dictionary the name January is derived Janus (the Roman god)

from the name Janus, who was an ancient Roman two faced god. Apparently he had one head with two faces, one looking to the past and the other looking to the future. He was also described as hypocritical and deceitful.
We that call ourselves Christians are privileged in a way that is unique to those in Christ, that we serve a God who only has one face that looks forwards and not backwards.
Each day, each moment is a time to celebrate the fact that we are drawing nearer to God with each passing moment, to celebrate the fact He has seen fit to allow us to see another glorious day, another chance to tell those around us of His wondrous love.

Let us not look back, but press forward, step by step being guided by His Grace & loving kindness.

by I. O. Straughan