Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you.
J. I. Packer

IV

tres

The prophet’s role was simply and objectively to speak what God wished to say. Whether or not the message was received was between God and his people. And yet to preach such a burning message, and to know that it was God’s word for the faithful, who rejected it, was painful. But this was the pain of the prophetic office, and to be chosen by God as his prophet always meant, in part, that the prophet would share in God’s suffering.

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Prophet, Martyr, Spy, Eric Metaxas

Have you ever watched an infant sleep? I’d venture to say it’s one of the most beautiful images the Lord has given us. The breath and the ease at with which it comes. No one has to tell an infant how to breathe. Naturally they understand to breathe in and their stomach completely pokes out. As they breathe out it comes back down. It’s honestly quite fascinating.

Do you see how humanity has lost this ability as it ages? Our breathe becomes quicker as our days become shorter. There’s no time to eat, much less be concerned about our breathing. Thus we induce panic attacks, insomnia, anxiety and so on. We enter into counseling because what else can we do? We blame how fast life is and quickly shake off relaxation techniques because we’re obviously too busy for that.

But what if we took the time? To breathe. Simply breathe. Like an infant. Slowly in. And slowly out.

Try it.

Did you get a little dizzy? If you’re breathing from your diaphragm you did. Why is that, you ask? It’s because your brain isn’t used to having that much oxygen – the oxygen it NEEDS. The amount of oxygen that it was created and intended to have.

We spend our lives destroying the way the Lord intended our bodies to function. I challenge you to take a few minutes to simply sit still and breathe today.

I’d argue that it could save your life.

…but I’ve spent time in libraries, not all of it asleep, and I have learned this: every civilized culture in history has discriminated against its abnormal members. ‘Schizophrenia’ is a civilized Western term, and so are ‘witch’ and ‘misfit’ – terms used to rationalize the cruel and unusual punishment doled out to extraordinary people.
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Tom Robbins

book porn

Red likes to send me things like the above link to distract me while i study.

fun fact about me: i really want an epic library one day.

no shame in my mild obsession with books

While sitting in my favorite chair at my house, textbooks sprawled out in front of me, I decide to grumble about the fact that I’m missing the National Championship to study.

Then I promptly fist pump and shout, “Taking one for the team!! The team of counselors!!!!!”

Toni proceeds to yell, “Helping professions!!! Fighting burning out!!!!”

This is how grad students in the helping professions get hyped up

#doinwerk

Burnout is the index of the dislocation between what people are and what they have to do. It represents an erosion in values, dignity, spirit, and will – an erosion of the human soul.
Maslach and Leiter (1997), Issues and Ethics in the Helping Professions

But plans are one thing and fate another. When they coincide, success results. Yet success mustn’t be considered the absolute. It is questionable, for that matter, whether success is an adequate response to life. Success can eliminate as many options as failure.
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Tom Robbins