CRY

Plethora Ministries

WORD WEEK 06-18-06

CRY

GENESIS 21:16 KJV

And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bow shot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.

GENESIS 23:2 KJV

And Sarah died in Kirjatharba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

GENESIS 50:1 KJV

And Joseph fell upon his father's face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.

GENESIS 50:17 KJV

So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.

PSALM 103:1 KJV

Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD.

MATTHEW 2:18 KJV

In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

MATTHEW 3:3 KJV

For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

JOHN 11:35 KJV

Jesus wept.

CRY

When was the last time that you remember having cried?

Disruptions, disappointments, betrayals, exclusions, deferred advancements, inappropriate dislodge of power, sickness, class bias, racial bias, gender bias, depression, destruction, disintegration of the dignity and the worth of human lives, prisons who capitalize on the births of African American males not yet born by projecting their life-paths by the age of three, wars that claim the lives of many who serve forever transforming the lives of their family members, famine, disease, brokenness, hopelessness, and poverty are some of the many reasons that might cause one to cry!

When was the last time that you remember having cried?

Pandemic unemployment, the United States work force crisis, disintegration in social and work ethics, drug-addicted babies who die as a consequence of having in utero exposure to drugs, children in Africa and India who die by the dozens as a consequences of malnutrition, revenue spent on the development of penal systems, and revenue retracted from budgets for recreation; music; humanities; curriculums all of which are presently defunct in the public school system as they are not deemed a significant enough investment are even more reasons that might cause one to cry!

When was the last time that you remember having cried?

Political mudslinging, the brutal murder of five youths over this past weekend in New Orleans who were shot to death, the threat of North Korea to "wipeout" United States forces in the event of war during a national meeting to mark Kim Jong-ll's forty-years work at the ruling party, the 40 Philippine families who had to flee their homes due to the onslaught of a volcano, the news that the United States officials received intelligence that al Qaeda operatives had been 45 days from releasing a deadly gas into New York City subways when the plan was called off by Osama bin Laden's second-in-command in 2003, and the finding/excavation of the Largato which sank 61 years ago with 86 sailors aboard are still even more reasons to cry!

When was the last time that you remember having cried?

Suffering is present throughout the world and occurring at a pandemic level daily! Suffering which is so great that the BELOVED OF GOD have become immune to and/or anesthetized by its profundity! Moreover, the passion of living abundantly and joyously appears to have been abducted by the sobering reality that hearts of too many of GOD'S people are becoming apathetic! Consequently, the physical and spiritual tear ducts of far too many Christians have begun to dry out because the BELOVED OF GOD have forgotten the power of tears, the power of crying, the power of weeping!!! Consequently, far too many of the LORD'S people have given up, given out, and have given in because they believe that their tears do not touch the heart of a loving and gracious GOD! Crying it seems to many of GOD'S people, appears to require too much work and does not appear to avert one's present suffering! Consequently, the big lake of tears that was kept fresh by the tears humanity through the ages, appears to be drying out and all that appears to remain is salty residue! Help us GOD!

When was the last time that you remember having cried?

The sickness of those whom we love, the death of those with whom be bear witness, the breaking of the family circle, emotional disconnectedness, malignant narcissism, basic courtesy buried by the desert sands of time, road rage, and the word "thank you" replaced by a spirit of entitlement and a lack of basic gratitude are still even more reasons why we should cry; i.e., why we should weep!

When was the last time that you remember having cried?

As we reflect upon the Biblical Scripture above, one of the common themes to which we bear witness in all eight verses is that of the blessing of tears; i.e., the blessing of crying: 1] The Egyptian Woman Servant, Hagar, cries beneath a tree when she feared the death of her son and Abraham's son Ishamel subsequent to being banished by Sarah. 2] Abraham mourns the death of Sarah. 3] Joseph, in reverence to his father, weeps and kisses his father's face. 4] Joseph's brothers who sought his demise, now wept in their having received his forgiveness. 5] David, reminds us in the book of Psalms, that he cried out of the depths of his soul unto the LORD! 6] King Herod upon hearing about the witness of the Three Wise Men slays all of the children in Bethlehem and the coast thereof and weeping was heard in Rama as Rachel was weeping for her children and could not be comforted! 7] Scripture foretold the arrival of he who ate wild honey and locust and he who cometh from the wilderness prophesying to the world the entrance of the LOGOS made FLESH! 8] Lastly, one of the shortest sentences and yet one of the most profound scriptures in the Biblical narrative, "JESUS WEPT!"

When was the last time that you remember having cried?

The act of crying is a gift given by the gracious presence of The Holy Spirit that enables us as human beings to absorb the shocks of deepening spirituality! Crying tempers us on numerous levels as our tears access a place in our spirits and in communion with the LORD that words evade! The act of crying is cathartic for the wounded soul and the parched spirit. We are witness bearers via the Prophets in the Old Testament who remind us that our strength, fortitude, vision, hope, song, and petitions are often conveyed to the LORD not only by words, but via our moans and groans and tears which the HOLY SPIRIT maketh intercession! The Crying of the BELOVED OF GOD provokes the gentle hand of GOD to carry the Beloved Wounded over mountains, through valleys, and across oceans.

When was the last time that you remember having cried?

Each and everyday that we encounter current events nationally and internationally, we become instantly unified with others when we are witness bearers of their rivers of tears. Crying is a universal language that unfolds in the lives of the rich and poor; the white, black, yellow, and red; the famous and the unknown; the controllers of power and those oppressed by such power; the strong and the weak; the embraced and those for whom an embrace is feared; the restored and the broken; the accepted and heralded; the rejected and the outcast.

When was the last time that you remember having cried?

The tears of the righteous man/woman moves the gracious hand of GOD to action! Crying may be a companion of Prayer, Meditation, Reflection, Spiritual Reading, Praise, Contemplation, and Mission, all of which will bring about a glorious transformation in the life of the man/woman of GOD! Consequently, tears are not an obstruction but function like that of a river that transports the wounded from one destination or point of contact to another destination or point of contact. What a profound change could be made in the world if all of humanity cried a large lake of tears!

When was the last time that you remember having cried?

In seasons of distress, CRY! In seasons of brokenness, CRY, In seasons of numbness, CRY! In seasons of confusion, CRY! In seasons of grief, CRY! In seasons of despair, CRY! In seasons of sickness, CRY, In seasons of disappointments, CRY! In seasons of war, CRY! In seasons of peace, CRY! In seasons of celebration, CRY! In seasons of stagnation, CRY! In seasons of brokenness, CRY! In seasons of betrayals, CRY! In season of loneliness, CRY! In seasons of transition, CRY! In seasons of uncertainty, CRY! In seasons of woundedness, CRY! In seasons of abandonment, CRY! CRY! CRY! CRY!

Crying is not only evidenced by our tears, but it is often articulated in our passion and our pain and their capacity to he used in the healing of another's brokenness! Tears, like pain, have no gender. Perhaps, they are what makes us human! As the events unfold in all of the verses above, we are reminded that we should take great comfort in the grace and loving presence in power of YAHWEH!

Subsequently, as each event/narrative unfolds, we become witness bearers to the transformative power of tears as we are reminded the life happens and that twenty-four hours can radically change the remainder and course of one's life as well as human history! As we reflect upon each of the aforementioned verses, we become witness bearers to the pathos, prayers, disappointments, fears, concerns, and betrayals, that are the catalyst for tears! The tears of the righteous have accompanied days that have acquiesced into nights, nights that have acquiesced into days.

When was the last time that you remember having cried?

When we encounter Jesus in our suffering and when everything familiar to us appears to be communicated via our tears, Jesus touches us in a way that causes our suffering and brokenness to become our comfort and strength. Throughout the sacred text; i.e., from the book Genesis to the book of Revelation, we as the Beloved Community of GOD are petitioned to embrace the spiritual necessity that the Divine Journey will summons the necessity of the tears and the act of crying. When we abandon the parameters of human reason alone and "tap" the consciousness of GOD, our lives become transformed in our realization that our lives are really not our own, but gifts birthed by the unfathomable love of GOD! The Holy Spirit causes something to happen to us, with us, and in us as we know that victory and triumph can only come from divine intervention which on many occasions has been activated by crying; weeping; tears as witnessed above!

When was the last time that you remember having cried?

Alvin Ailey as a rising choreographer many years ago choreographed a dance piece entitled "CRY." At that time Mr. Aliey was unable to afford a gift for his mother and in his desire to honor her and all mothers of the world, he choreographed "CRY!" Mr. Ailey had undoubted encountered the pathos of our humanity and rendered movement, passion, and expression to the transformative power of tears!

As each of us progresses on our journey to the Celestial City of GOD, may the loving and gracious hand of GOD comfort you in response to your tears, may the words that only your tears can render expression grant you peace and release, may you forever be reminded that a tear does not fall from your eyes that does not escape so without the attention of GOD!

ISAIAH 55: 11
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

K. Mason(c) 2005

For your convenience, all of the links to Plethora Ministries sites are listed below. All you are required to do is "click" and be blessed! Please pass this on family members, friends, co-workers, and other travelers on their journey to spiritual integration and wholeness.


Blessings
Plethora MinistriesPlethora Ministries

Click here for Web log Page [contains additional reflections not sent via mail and pictures]Comments may be entered in any entry of your choice
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/i/t/i/itiswell.htm

Click here for "IT IS WELL" Musical Midi

plethoraministries@yahoo.com
Plethora Ministries
Please spread the word to others you know and if they are interested in receiving the

WORD Of Reflection Devotion weekly , please have them send an email to plethoraministries@yahoo.com and state in the subject line: "Request for WORD."

Please feel free to write Plethora Ministries with your comments:

K.Mason

(c) 2005

WAIT ON THE LORD

Plethora Ministries

WORD WEEK 06-11-06

WAIT ON THE LORD

ISAIAH 40:28-31

KJV28Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. 29He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 30Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

WAIT ON THE LORD

Fear, anxiety, brokenness, helplessness, disempowerment, hopelessness, suffering, and oppression are a few of the daily dynamics that hundreds and hundreds of the BELOVED of GOD experience far too frequently. Pandemic suffering is so great that the motivation to live and the intrinsic desire to wait on GOD appear too great of a charge to fathom much less implement. Consequently, far too many of the LORD'S people have given up, given out, and have given in because waiting on the LORD appears to require too much work and does not appear to abate one's present suffering!

This "weight to wait" is one dynamic that causes the dedicated, the humble, the committed, and the courageous to question not only the issue of whether or not GOD hears, but question at a more profound level if GOD really cares about the concerns that matters to each of us! Help us GOD! We reside in a world that provides each of us with implicit and explicit messages that speed as well as instant gratification equals proficiency. While the aforementioned is far too often an occurrence, there are other instances when real progress and transformation are and can only be authenticated by the SLOW WORK OF GOD!

Success is heralded as money equals movement equals prestige. While many can access and generate revenue and while the media attempts to dictate to whom should be rendered the spotlight, the aforementioned indicators are not necessarily markers of success nor do they indicate consultation with the LORD. However, “the weight of the wait” becomes greater as we see the secular world making strides and gains and the faith community appearing as though it is stuck in freeze-frame!

This dynamic of waiting is one that is tempered by the gracious presence of The Holy Spirit. When we wait in anticipation for the movement and the manifestation of the blessings of the LORD in the pulling down of strongholds, the release of shackles, the manifestation of healing in the presence of sickness, the activation of congregational growth, and the answering of petitions, the "weight of the wait" will become lighter if we trust GOD. The Prophet, Isaiah, reminds us that they who wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength, fortitude, vision, hope, song, and their spirit as it is the breath of GOD that carries the Beloved of GOD over mountains, through valleys, and around oceans like the winds that supports the wings of eagles causing them to soar!

While we wait on the LORD, this act of trust, faith, and grace is one of a myriad of ways in which we are grown by the LORD and purified by the SPIRIT. Blessings authenticated by GOD do not necessarily happen over night though they could should GOD desire.

Throughout history we are witness bearers of those who saw the vision and trusted GOD in the midst of their disenchantment and suffering. If the truth were investigated, each of us would arrive at the conclusion that it is the presence of the LORD that sustains us in the period of the "wait without weights!"

Far too often the Beloved of GOD get the waiting process confused with the secular world's perspective of waiting which is often a softer way to abandon the well being of others. Consequently, believers embrace the weights of what they perceive as inactivity and abandonment and become weighted-down! Help us GOD! In essence, waiting on the LORD should not weigh us down but lighten the burdens because we know that GOD is in control! Each and everyday that we encounter the news, we get stanch glimpses of the myriad of ways that this whole dynamic of waiting gets played-out in the lives of the rich and poor; the white, black, yellow, and red; the famous and the unknown; the controllers of power and those oppressed by such power; the strong and the weak; the embraced and those for whom an embrace is feared; the restored and the broken; the accepted and heralded; the rejected and the outcast.

However, "the weight of the wait" should motivate the Beloved of GOD to action! Actions such as Prayer, Active Listening, Meditation, Spiritual Reading, Praise, Reflection, Contemplation, Self-Reflection, and Mission, all of which will bring about a glorious transformation in the Christian man/woman! Consequently, the wait is not a weight but a holy invitation for each of us to engage in an intimate relationship with a GOD who loves us with a love that is deeper then any ocean, wide as any valley, and high as any mountain top! Now, that is LOVE!

In times of distress, WAIT ON THE LORD! In times of brokenness, WAIT ON THE LORD! In times of confusion, WAIT ON THE LORD! In times of grief, WAIT ON THE LORD! In times of despair, WAIT ON THE LORD! In times of sickness, WAIT ON THE LORD, In times of disappointments, WAIT ON THE LORD, In times of what appears as stagnation, WAIT ON THE LORD! In times of family disintegration, WAIT ON THE LORD! In times of betrayals, WAIT ON THE LORD! In times of transition, WAIT ON THE LORD! In times of uncertainty, WAIT ON THE LORD! In times of woundedness, WAIT ON THE LORD! In times of abandonment, WAIT ON THE LORD! Yes, Beloved of GOD WAIT ON THE LORD who fainteth not, nor is GOD weary for when we call upon the LORD GOD, GOD always answers!

As the events unfold in the text of Isaiah, Chapter 40, we are reminded that we should be of good cheer as we wait upon the undefeatable presence and power of YAHWEH! Subsequently, as the events unfold, we become witness bearers as we are reminded of the an unnamed woman who yearns for healing and quests for deliverance from twelve long years of suffering whom we encountered in the prior week's reflection. As she recognizes that JESUS is present, it is likely that she recollects via flashbacks, her twelve years of suffering, praying, disappointments, fears, letdowns, betrayals, and watching others receive their blessings, all of which became days that have acquiesced into nights, nights that have acquiesced into days. She had to WAIT! However, when her deliverance was at hand, there was not a force in humanity nor nature that dared stand between her and GOD! In essence, we WAIT ON THE LORD, we are in actuality, waiting for the LORD to set things and motion for supernatural movement! When we encounter Jesus in our suffering and when everything familiar to us appears at risk because we are required to wait, Jesus touches us in a way that causes our suffering and brokenness to become the launch pad that catapults us to higher and greater dimensions in the LORD! In other words, your weakness becomes your strength, your brokenness becomes your fortress, and your faith becomes the reality!

Throughout the sacred text; i.e., from the book Genesis to the book of Revelation, we as the Beloved Community of GOD are petitioned to embrace the spiritual necessity that the Divine Journey will call into question, the necessity of the wait, which could cause some weight at times! Oftentimes, the require of sacrifice and the delay of gratification accompanies the life of him/her who thirsts, follows, and is compelled by the intimately transformative presence of GOD! Far too frequently, many of the Beloved of GOD are dismayed, while others are disconcerted, still even others abducted by fear when events and plans do not occur according to plan. Moreover, such distress is ignited like wildfire by the harsh reality when fear, disappointment, loss, and suffering occur when the Beloved of GOD is petitioned by the Spirit to wait. Waiting while we struggle with "It might happen, It could happen, It is likely to happen, and/or What if it did happen!" While our faith in GOD is couched in NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, so is the capacity and the power of the wait!

As we look at current events, both nationally and internationally, injury, destruction, suffering, and the pleasure principle are all at pandemic levels. Sensitivity, patience, morality, the necessity of being our brothers' and sisters' keepers, the honoring of those in their senior years, the feeding of the hungry, team work, the sheltering of the homeless, the liberation of the oppressed, and the readiness to die to CHRIST are all being sacrificed, because the dynamic of wait relies on GOD'S vision verses that of humanity.

We deepen our faith walk and our relationship with CHRIST when our journey is accompanied by such a dynamic because waiting is a very active process! The spiritual life in CHRIST causes each of us to take risks, walk out on cliffs, venture down unknown paths, abandon that which is familiar and predictable, stand against the crowd, and remain loving and forgiving in the face of betrayals and trap layers while we WAIT!! When we abandon the parameters of human reason alone and "tap" the consciousness of GOD, our lives become transformed in our realization that our lives are really not our own, but gifts birthed by the unfathomable love of GOD! The Holy Spirit causes something to happen to us, with us, and in us as we know that victory and triumph can only come from divine intervention via the LORD! In essence, Beloved of GOD, rejoice in the LORD and be of good courage, wait I say on the LORD! For your waiting is not the indicator that life is taking you under, but is in actuality a door for the LORD GOD to endow your life with greater possibilities and blessings then eyes have seen and ears have heard! YOU are an aspect of GOD'S DREAM being fulfilled and GOD'S LOVE regenerating itself! They that wait upon the LORD shall RENEW their Strength!

ISAIAH 55: 11So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

K. Mason
(c) 2005

For your convenience, all of the links to Plethora Ministries sites are listed below. All you are required to do is "click" and be blessed! Please pass this on family members, friends, co-workers, and other travelers on their journey to spiritual integration and wholeness.


Blessings
Plethora MinistriesPlethora Ministries Click here for Web log Page [contains additional reflections not sent via mail and pictures]Comments may be entered in any entry of your choice
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/i/t/i/itiswell.htm

Click here for "IT IS WELL" Musical Midi

plethoraministries@yahoo.com
Plethora Ministries
Please spread the word to others you know and if they are interested in receiving the

WORD Of Reflection Devotion weekly , please have them send an email to plethoraministries@yahoo.com and state in the subject line: "Request for WORD."

Please feel free to write Plethora Ministries with your comments:

K.Mason

(c) 2005

I WILL SURVIVE!

Plethora Ministries

WORD WEEK 06-04-06

I WILL SURVIVE!

Matthew 9: 21-22

KJV20Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. 21She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed." 22Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment.

I WILL SURVIVE

As the season of Spring provides us with beauty for the eyes and fragrance in the air, we are reminded that all living things are renewed. Trees and shrubbery that were once bared by the blanket of Winter are now fully clad in their vestment of green hue. Flowers, both beautiful and fragrant, have struggled to make their entrance into the world after a season of slumber in the dark of soil and cold. Hope appears just when many of us have silently uttered to ourselves, "what is the use in continuing" or wondered will our presence in the world really matter or ever make a difference?

Since the beginning of time to the present day, human beings have made incredible advancements in Science, Medicine, Technology, and, Psychology. However, the one existential issue that still seems to plague each of us is that of something so basic, yet visceral, namely survival. Each and everyday that we encounter the news, we get stanch glimpses of the myriad of ways that this whole dynamic of survival gets played-out in the lives of the rich and poor; the white, black, yellow, and red; the famous and the unknown; the controllers of power and those oppressed by such power; the strong and the weak; the embraced and those for whom an embrace is feared; the restored and the broken; the accepted and heralded; the rejected and the outcast.

Beneath the basic pulsating drive of the survival of all living things is the dynamic of immortality verses extinction. Life is a gift we are told to open with gratitude, gentleness, and mindfulness. Commensurately, life may present many of us with a range of circumstances that appear insurmountable. Circumstances that have the propensity to impact not only our lives, but the lives of others both directly and indirectly profoundly. We are impacted on a daily bases by the increase in the cost of living and the deterioration in the quality of life. While some persons struggle to meet the obligation of their utility expenses, still others struggle to figure out from whence will come their next meal. While some persons struggle to pay a monthly automobile expense, still others struggle with the issue of displacement which might be a consequence of unemployment and/or foreclosure on their homes. While some persons have little to no regard for lives that do not impact their microcosmic world, still others' lives hang in suspense because no one desires to stand up and advocate for their rights. While the United States is a land rich in resources and prosperity, still far too many United States citizens are unable to become empowered by their basic constitutional rights, but are left destitute and outcast!

Such an avalanche of life changing events can cause even the most grounded human being/Christian to question his/her survival if the "bottom falls out." While many persons project high confidence and might render the impression to others, that anxiety is not in their story, when he/she sits alone, the reality that 24 hours can radically change the rest of one's life forever looms ever presently, if the truth were revealed.

As the events unfold in the text of Matthew, Chapter 9, we are rendered a stanch glimpse of the collision of the triumph of hope over the experience! Though this pericope is brief in narration, it is pregnant with possibility and endowed with a sense of struggle and the will to live abundantly in the power and the presence of the LORD as evidenced by its content! Subsequently, as the events unfold, we become witness bearers to an unnamed woman who yearns for healing and quests for deliverance from twelve long years of suffering. As she recognizes that JESUS is present, it is likely that she recollects via flashbacks, her twelve years of suffering, praying, disappointments, fears, letdowns, betrayals, and watching others receive their blessings, all of which became days that have acquiesced into nights, nights that have acquiesced into days. For the unnamed woman, she was plagued with an issue of blood for twelve long years, yet for many of us we too are plagued with issues that angst us, some of which we harbor shame, shame that is never uttered, by held and cogitated in the deep recess of our souls. Help us GOD!

What this unnamed woman offers each of us is a reality check that when we have come to a place in our journey when we feel or believe that GOD has forgotten about us and when the road on that journey appears to be spiraling into more ambiguity and hopelessness, it is in this place that GOD comes to us! GOD is always present to us even at those times when it becomes difficult to sense his presence. In the 1939 movie based on L. Frank Baum's The Wizard Of OZ, we are reminded that GOD'S presence is always present to us when we reflect upon the scene when Dorothy and her cohorts are on their way to Emerald City. While success was on their horizon, the Wicked Witch of the West, decided place a field of poppy seed flowers before them to induce sleep. Subsequently, as the events unfold, we become witness bearers to a translucent and iridescent image of Glinda the Good Witch who over shadows the poppy seed field causing it to snow and awakening Dorothy and her sleeping cohorts! Moreover, the Scarecrow bellowed out the fears that many of us have uttered in one word that gets at a state of our threaten survival, namely, "HELP!"

What both the Wizard Of Oz and the Woman with an Issue of Blood illuminates for each of us is there are many instances when our survival becomes so threaten either we are seduced to sleep from the depression of having our survival repeatedly threatened or we have are impacted by blood-related issues that impact our quality of life like that of the Woman with an Issue of Blood. Further reflection on the Biblical narrative illustrates that this woman was dealing with an issue of life and death as blood is the life-force of the body. However, the great news is that we are one in the bond of love for he whose blood is the key to abundant life and he whose blood was shed for the remission of sin!

While this narrative does suggest that this unnamed woman was dealing with a blood-related issue, it also implies that the quality of her life was significantly impacted by such. In essence, she was uncertain if she would survive, but when she saw JESUS, the words "I can't take it any longer" were transformed into the words, "I Will SURVIVE!" These words were not so much articulated via her mouth as they were via her attitude, action, and ability to stretch herself even further in her suffering and ambiguity once she encountered Jesus! When we encounter Jesus in our suffering and when everything familiar to us is at risk of not surviving, Jesus touches us in a way that causes our suffering and brokenness to become the launch pad that catapults us to higher and greater dimensions in the LORD! In other words, your weakness becomes your strength, your brokenness becomes your fortress, and your faith because the certainty!

For this unnamed woman her survival was an issue as it related to twelve years of suffering. This narrative presents each of us as witness bearers with a similar inquiry, namely, "What thoughts, What beliefs about ourselves, What undisclosed hopes, prayer, and longing do we harbor that impact the quality of our survival because we await deliverance form the LORD? Throughout the sacred text; i.e., from the book Genesis to the book of Revelation, we as the Beloved Community of GOD are petitioned to embrace the spiritual necessity that the Divine Journey will call into question, one's survival. Oftentimes, the threat of survival accompanies the life of him/her who thirsts, follows, and is compelled by the intimately transformative presence of GOD. However, the threat of survival summons anxiety and fear in the believer as we have trepidation that the requirements will be great and the cost quite high! While we embrace the reality that an aspect of the spiritual experience is about euphoric rejoicing, we attempt and desire to stay clear and avoid the aspect of the spiritual life that requires our embrace of survival threat! The consolation of the journey accompanied by the question of survival is that YOU are NEVER ALONE BELOVED of GOD! ABSOLUTELY NEVER! NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS...GOD! NO MATTER WHAT DOES NOT HAPPEN...GOD!

Far too frequently, many of the Beloved of GOD are dismayed, while others are disconcerted, still even others abducted by fear when events and plans do not occur according to plan. Moreover, such distress is ignited like wildfire by the harsh reality when fear, disappointment, loss, and suffering occur when the Beloved of GOD encounters threats. Threats are couched it "It might happen, It could happen, It is likely to happen, and/or What if it did happen," while our faith in GOD is couched in NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS! The Woman with the issue of blood illuminates for each of us that he/she who has the will to survive must be willing to embrace the reality of risk commensurately. Despite her being outlasted, shamed, discouraged, misunderstood, prevented from equal access to opportunity, and despised, her suffering becomes the strength that ensures her capacity to survive once she has made conscious contact with JESUS!

Throughout the Holy Text, we are witness bearers to the reality that quite often a companion of transformation and spiritual enlightenment is the presence of threat. What an ironic statement we ponder silently, even right now in reading this reflection many of use are wondering how will those things which appear to keep us binded ever release their hold on our ability to surge forth? When we as witness bearers observe the interaction of Adam and Eve and their interface with the Tree of Knowledge, we witness the interplay of the threat of survival. When we as witness bearers observe The Call of Abraham, the promise to Sarah, and the Promise to Hagar from JEHOVAH, we witness the interplay of the threat of survival! When we as witness bearers observe the plight of Joseph in having been left in a well, sold, and betrayed, we witness the interplay of the threat of survival. There are numerous occurrences of this reality. The poignant and compelling question remains: Why is it for so many Christians does this occurrence become disconcerting?

As we look at current events, both nationally and internationally, injury, destruction, suffering, and the pleasure principle are all at pandemic levels. Sensitivity, patience, morality, the necessity of being our brothers' and sisters' keepers, the honoring of those in their senior years, the feeding of the hungry, team work, the sheltering of the homeless, the liberation of the oppressed, and the readiness to die to CHRIST are all being sacrificed, because the dynamic of survival threat accompanies the aforementioned. We deepen our faith walk and our relationship with CHRIST when our journey is accompanied by such threats. The spiritual life in CHRIST causes each of us to take risks, walk out on cliffs, venture down unknown paths, abandon that which is familiar and predictable, stand against the crowd, and remain loving and forgiving in the face of betrayals and trap layers! This is the PASSION! This is THE CALLING! When we abandon the parameters of human reason alone and "tap" the consciousness of GOD, our lives become transformed in our realization that our lives are really not our own, but gifts birthed by the unfathomable love of GOD! The Holy Spirit causes something to happen to us, with us, and in us as we know that victory and triumph can only come from divine intervention via the LORD! The threat of survival provokes the Beloved of GOD to go to the mountain top, see the danger, and the carnal end, while commensurately looking into the windowpane of eternity. Consequently, the Beloved is transformed like the face of Moses and like the garments of CHRIST!

In essence, Beloved of GOD, rejoice because the threat of your survival is not the indicator that life is taking you under, but is in actuality a door for the LORD GOD to endow your life with greater possibilities and blessings then eyes have seen and ears have heard! YOU are an aspect of GOD'S DREAM being fulfilled and GOD'S LOVE regenerating itself! What the Woman with the Issue of Blood offers us is this reality, when your survival is at hand, "PRESS!" Yes, "PRESS FORWARD" in the authority of the LORD that deeper intimacy with the LORD will enable you to not only live, but will enable you to claim one of the many banners of what it means to be Christian, namely, "I WILL SURVIVE" AND COME FORTH AS PURE GOLD!

ISAIAH 55: 11

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

K. Mason
(c) 2005

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