I don’t think I or any person of FAITH should have to keep battling with those who do NOT share that (PERSONAL) faith. THAT is how arguments start, that is how wars start, that is how conflict and separation start. And I just want peace and love – that’s all. It is nobody else’s business what I PERSONALLY believe, therefore it is not my job to explain, convince or convert another in or to ANY FAITH! If you have taken a vow as a Priest of any faith then you may disagree, but I am just me – I’m just a woman, with my own daily struggles, just a Mum, I like to think I’m an artist and like to use paint and words to create pictures but I’m not a Priest – I don’t WANT to preach to anyone! I hate being preached TO – LOL. I like to learn and I like to study things that are in my heart to learn about and that includes the Christian faith and the bible even though my terrible memory doesn’t always keep that knowledge in such a way that I can pass it on to others without re-googling! But that’s me, that’s personal, that’s not you whoever you are. YOU have faith in what you want to have faith in and I will have faith in what I believe in. I can only help what I am doing. I know what I know, I believe what I believe and I have to LIVE with that. YOU live with YOUR OWN convictions – whoever YOU are. Yes I like to write about these things, I like to write poems and paint pictures sometimes – that is me expressing my thoughts, feelings, dreams, loves, faith, sharing my journey – I don’t actually care if you like what I have to say or paint or create – OK – That’s up to you. I don’t care. I might feel a little sad about it because it comes from my heart but that’s OK because that’s my business too. But even though I have started calling myself a Christian because that is my walk, my decision, my faith, it doesn’t mean I hate anyone who doesn’t agree with me or follow me – of course not! I love you all (especially my friends and family) and I am still interested in hearing about, learning and understanding all other points of view, scientific principles and faiths, because they are all ways of looking at the world and we are all human beings living in this world together. I want to understand what others believe about their place in the universe and I want others to understand what I believe about my place in the universe – But – we can’t all understand everything – because we are all INDIVIDUAL. We all have a different starting point, we all have a different perspective, we all see the world through our own eyes, with our own experiences, in our own language, from our own generation, from our own struggles and victories. And because of this – faith should be just that – faith – a personal understanding – and what is understanding? – a thought – and what is a thought? An insubstantial thing that comes from an image in the mind that only that individual mind can make sense of. So… I will continue my own walk of faith and I encourage you all to continue to make your own individual walks in life and I look forward to sharing ideas, thoughts, feelings, dreams etc. with you all – my dear friends and family who I have chosen to talk to through this media. If you don’t like my decisions, well I can’t help that, I can only help my own decisions and I will leave your decisions up to you. But I still love you all, I still want to talk to you and listen to you and spend time with you – Peace be with us all.
If there is anyone in the world today that should be an inspiration to all people, be they young or old, with a physical disability or an emotional one – or not; even if you feel you are doing pretty good in the world today and don’t really have many worries. But perhaps you strive to do better, you would like to aim higher in life, maybe you think, you know, others may have it better than you and you feel you are lacking…think again – here is a man who really has a reason to be in despair, to give up and just say the world has won. But does he give up? Does he live in despair? No he doesn’t. Watch his amazing story unfold, be INSPIRED and remember what Nick says: “I know there’s something more…”
An introduction…
Nick is an inspirational speaker. He speaks from the heart about how God has changed his life. There are many videos of Nick speaking but here are a couple that really spoke to me…
This one had me laughing like a loony and crying like a baby…
If you don’t take anything else away from Nick’s inspirational messages – remember what he says when he says: If you don’t get a miracle – BE the miracle for someone else! How awesome is that? And perhaps give away a few hugs today…
It is a poem that builds on the theme of ‘I AM’ – I AM is what God calls himself “I AM that I am means he is forever and unchanging – eternally God. All of the I AM lines are taken directly from scripture and are in direct response to the needs and suffering of humanity (the I ams in the first half of the poem.) Also taken from scripture but then built on around my own depression and anxieties. The train represents the journey, the tunnel, the turning point. The moment God found me and told me who he is and how he can save me from my despair. The scriptures are scattered throughout the bible, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. They could be stand alone poems – yes – but they are very much both dependent on each other. The first half can be read as very much set in the now, in contemporary times, and many may relate to any or all of the themes of human suffering highlighted, the second half of the poem comes directly from the bible and so it shows that even with the time span and language difference, God is still answering our calls, they are the same human conditions wherever in time you care to read about them. In this way it confirms that God is as he says – the I AM – forever, unchanging, the beginning and the end, always alive, always working in people’s lives. That is what the poem represents.
