David Veliquette is the webmaster for this Singles Together site. He has also been in leadership since 2004 in this group. This is not meant as a place for personal musings, but will include other thoughtful articles as the concept evolves.
The Place of Peace
“Lakeview”
“A picture of peace is not
necessarily a place of peace.”
In December of 2008, I captured this scene of the lake adjacent to my San Jose condo. The thought that occurred to me while standing there, soaking in the warm rays of the sun and embracing the vibrant autumn view was this: A picture of peace is not necessarily a place of peace. The only true place of peace is at the corner of “Surrender Street” and “Acceptance Alley.” It is our place in God that remains placid in the recesses of our soul even in the midst of outward turmoil. It is a relationship with God, not a region of sod!
Little did I know that barely a year later I would embrace a long distance relationship that eventually moved my life from one coast to the other; leaving all that was familiar: family, friends, geography, ministry, etc. For several months it seemed that heaven had beckoned and the welcome sunshine of Florida had found a new constituent!
An unexpected breakup left me totally alone for 100 days in this strange paradise! Upon returning to California to a rental unit (as I was forced to become a landlord, as my condo was leased because of being “under water”), I grappled with the seeming incongruity of it all. I had returned, not to the familiar, but to a depressing sense of displacement. Yes, family and friends remained. But somehow my life seemed upside down even after returning to what had once been familiar.
Resolve or Repent
“Resolutions have faltered and failed from ruined resolve.”
New Year’s Day has dawned and gone! Resolutions have faltered and failed from ruined resolve. A resolve ruined by the daunting demand of unscripted circumstance.
Perhaps it’s because my good intentions are aimed at the sore and not the source. “Let me find a bandage or some Neosporin. Now, that should do it.” Perhaps it’s time to research the source!
Yesterday my planned visit with a friend in temporary rehab was cancelled because of a virus that initiated a quarantine. The specter of contracting infection kept me from relationship with a dear friend.
And as I reflect, it seems that I spend a great deal of time getting my “tent” ready to be presentable for relationship, while foolishly forgetting that my most important relationship is with the One Who sees right through that “tent” into my heart!
“Clothes make the man,” or so they say. And sometimes they deftly hide the evidence of failed resolve: to straighten my slouch and tighten my abs; or to delude myself into believing that this year I actually am going to give up chocolate!
View Comments