Ramblings

Touch

Posted on by K.L. Gilchrist
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

…see when you finally figure out that all you want and need is His embrace and His comforting voice in your ears and the warmth of the only God surrounding you with a presence you can’t explain that’s when you’ll know you don’t need anything else and at best what you can find is a poor substitute because you don’t need more food people beauty physical love adoration family homes cars clothes drinks smokes likes shoes excitement or any of that and some people say you only need Jesus and those people are right because once you launch through that spiritual door and the reality of what you never truly understood before ignites your soul and you get it got it good that there is nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing on this earth that will rapture your soul like the arms that contain the eternal golden transformational touch…

Face to the Son

Posted on by K.L. Gilchrist
Sun showing through fingers
Photo by Daoudi Aissa on Unsplash

the sun to govern the day, His love endures forever.
~Psalm 136:8 (NIV)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
~John 3:16 (NIV)

About Up

I love the Pixar movie Up. Almost all Pixar films are incredibly good with story structure and pacing, and that’s essentially why they are so memorable. But with Up, I think the Pixar storytelling geniuses were in rare form.

The beginning of the film is a fast-paced five minutes through the young, married, and middle-aged lives of Carl and Ellie Fredricksen. It starts with them as kids who want to be explorers and ends with Carl at the age of 70 after Ellie has passed away. In the middle, they buy a house, work selling balloons and photos to kids at the zoo, and plan on starting a family.

There’s a point, right in the very center of that montage, showing Ellie Fredrickson’s devastation as the doctor shares they will be unable to have children. But the scene right after she finds out, the picture of that is so deep, I’m not sure many other viewers grasped it.

Face to the Sun

As Ellie Fredricksen grieves her infertility, she sits outdoors in her chair with her face to the sun. Her hair blows about in the wind, signifying how she releases her pain in the sunshine. She doesn’t moan or complain. She simply remains still in the breeze, the sun warming her cheeks, allowing her disappointment to just…be.

No words. Just her face to the sun.

Release Disappointment

Pain is a part of everyone’s story. Actually, the only thing that is different from one human to another, is how we choose to handle our pain and disappointment. Pain avoidance never works. Resignation doesn’t really work either – it can lead to a less than fulfilling life.

The movie scene I described above is an illustration of the only thing that works when you experience real disappointment. Acceptance.

Face to the Son

Where is God when it hurts? Where is our Lord when the test results are bad, when the loved one dies, when the child rebels, or when the job goes away? What are we to do with our ever-present disappointments, the ones we may or may not pray about? What should we do? We turn our faces to the Son.

In Mark 4:39, scripture states that Jesus rebuked the wind and the waves, saying, be still. Be still meant…be cool…hear my voice…settle down. When we turn our face to the Son, we allow his voice to fill our ears and we stop listening to the noise of the raging storms of disappointment. Instead, we grow quiet, we see His presence, and we settle down. And when we settle, we can begin to accept that though the storm may rage, nothing will remove His peace.

As people of faith, we must understand that though the storms may continue, with our faces to the Son, we will go on.

Getting to Joy

Posted on by K.L. Gilchrist
Photo by Eye for Ebony on Unsplash

One of my favorite novelists once wrote a book called Getting to Happy. It followed the happenings of four African-American women whose lives took unexpected turns during mid-life. I loved the story (of course…I’m such a fangirl), and it made me wonder since life is so unpredictable, is it ever possible to get to happy?

What is Happiness?

According to an article in Psychology Today, in 2008 more than 4000 books were written on the topic of pursuing happiness. What is happiness really? By definition, it is the quality or state of being happy. And happy itself is the feeling of contentment, gladness, or delight over a particular thing.

But happiness, the feeling of being happy, tends to fade. So if you ever “get to happy” through whatever person, place, or situation got you there, the experience is sadly temporary. Though many make a big deal about pursuing happiness, most people end up on a “happiness treadmill,” searching for contented or glee-filled experiences. And if you receive the thing (relationship, baby, job, career status, better health, money, insert your heart’s desire here), your happiness meter hits the top but then begins to subside. And if you DON’T get the thing, your happiness meter doesn’t move at all.

I promise. I’m going somewhere with this.

What is Joy?

Here’s the thing. There’s nothing wrong with getting to happy. But there is something better. Getting to joy. (I know that sounds like a great journal title so please don’t steal it. I might use it. 🙂

The dictionary definition of joy is the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation. In a fickle world filled with ups and downs, to tie joy to people, places, or things is a recipe for disaster. God offers a direct path to real joy. It involves tethering joy to our relationship with Him.

Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Nehemiah 8:10

So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

John 16:22

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,

Romans 14:17

Getting to Joy

I know. I know. I know. God and Jesus don’t rank high on popularity lists these days. But what I know to be true is that every single thing I’ve ever chased after for happiness has either failed me or faded away. I can’t say that about Jesus. The more I attach my joy to the fact that I’ve been given a permanent home in his Kingdom, I don’t worry as much about whether or not I’ll be happy on earth. Actually, it becomes a moot point after a while.

On earth, I’ll seek to do as much good as I can and I’ll pursue God every moment and I’ll open my heart and forgive and work hard and love hard and be generous and humorous and free and I’ll chase joy through the only one who can truly provide it.

Happiness? I don’t know. Maybe I’ll reach it.

Joy? I already got it. Today and always. Absolutely. No question.

Amen.

Perfectly Imperfect People

Posted on by K.L. Gilchrist

Or why I’ll continue to write sinful characters…

Photo by Roxana Crusemire on Unsplash.

Why do I write about sinful people? Because they have a story to tell.

My first novel was about a deceitful husband who had an affair and his flawed wife who discovered the indiscretion. Neither character was sinless, and that was by design. There were lessons I couldn’t expose if the characters did everything the “right” way.

All stories don’t include teachable themes, but most Christian-based novels do. Well, except for books written about lost dogs, wild horses, and brand-new babies. Often, clean entertainment leans toward sweet and endearing. And the world needs those stories, too. But if a narrative must highlight forgiveness, it should include showing characters needing forgiveness. If a story details a broken friendship or marriage, sin on behalf of someone typically caused the rift.

In Christian writing critique circles, debates occasionally brew around whether the main protagonist in a Christian story should sin. Or, if they sin, should the prose show sinful actions within the scene. These conversations tire me, especially when I consider the bible, which did not omit the stories of:

  • Cain slaying Abel

  • Noah’s drunkenness

  • Miriam’s racist attitude toward her sister-in-law

  • Samson and his dalliances with Delilah

  • David and his affair with Bathsheba

  • Solomon and his collection of wives and concubines

  • Amnon’s rape of Tamar

  • Judas’s stealing and betrayal of Christ

  • Peter slicing off Malchus’ ear

  • Paul and Barnabus sharp disagreement over John Mark

The list goes on and on.

People don’t open the Bible to read stories about perfection – unless reading about Jesus. The Bible instructs on many things – and scripture often includes persons whose lives may or may not display righteousness. Still, we read on. And the Bible remains the best-selling book of all time.

From time to time, though I may have to defend why I’d allow a Christian protagonist to sin willfully, I’ll keep doing it. Brokenness and sin exist in the world, and it touches people. The goal of stories with Christian-based narratives isn’t to show characters being perfect. The goal is to show God moving in and throughout their lives in awesome ways.

So why do I write about sinful people and situations?

Because we’re all sinful, yet God always remains a part of our story.