TheBanyanTree: Soular Flares

[LaRose Karr]

Soular Flares

Yesterday I was chatting with a friend on the internet and he said, "I
survived the solar flare."

This morning as I woke up a thousand thoughts were flitting around and it
occured to me that themes of stories were forming in my mind.  Too many
threads to pursue just one train of writing.

As I told the Banyan Tree yesterday my first writing attempt on the internet
began in flames.

Flames are not always a bad thing.  They light up your world.  They take you
to the secret places of another's soul.  Sometimes they take you to a higher
place or a lower place, but they always take you to some place.

No one knows the sorrow or joy in another person's soul.  Cannot cast a
glimpse into the hidden places of the heart.

I rarely write about discomfort in the church even though it is evident.
Many people have been wounded by religions.

I attend a Baptist church but in no way regard Calvinism as the higher
doctrine for my life.  In fact, I consider Calvinism to be exactly what it
is, a man made theology.

For the past seven weeks of my life, I've spent time in mourning.  I have
been on a journey.  My husband and I made the decision to leave a church
where we were members for eleven years and I was a deaconess.  It was not a
decision to leave because the church people made us unhappy, there was
anything wrong with the people or we could not live under the teaching of
the Bible.

A young man, full of knowledge, three years ago became our pastor.  He was
recently out of seminary.  His leadership has not been good.  Not at all.
>From the beginning he argued with people, ran off seven staff members in
three years.

He did and said horrible awful things.  I eventually became part of the fray
because I dared to stand up and say, this is not right.  The leadership of
the church, while good men are weak in knowing how to deal with this
overbearing young man.

Do I blame God that I've been separated from a body of believers I love
dearly? No.  Will I not ever step foot in a church again? No.
I simply said, "We will leave this church."

I am a church secretary and began attending the church where I've worked the
last four years.  I am developing new relationships, and having to grow
within.  And I've got a lot more growing to do.  I do not serve a church.  I
serve a higher being.  I do call Him Jesus Christ.

If my story brought about the unrest in another soul this week, I am not
sorry.  I am happy.

I do not have a hidden agenda.  My writing comes from my heart.  I don't
want anyone to think or feel like I feel.  (The young minister said that's
what he does when he writes.  He wants people to feel like him.)

Not all ministers are that way.  Nor will I judge any future church or
minister on this current episode in my life.

My goal in writing is to touch people in a way that makes them reflect on
life.  I write from who I am inside, not who anyone wants me to be.

The person who helped me to first get published is a Jewish lady.  She wrote
one day and said, "There is this new Christian inspirational book series and
I think you should submit to it."

I love telling that story.  No hatred or bitterness between us.  Just
friends seeking each other's common good.

So take today and make it the best it can be.  There may not be a tomorrow
or even a tomorrow as you know it.  Love the people you are called to be
with at this time.  Treat them in the very best possible way, and if a
soular flare occurs, take time to reflect.

No one knows the sorrow or joy in another person's soul.  Cannot cast a
glimpse into the hidden places of the heart.

Blessings,
LaRose


"To be able to find joy in another's joy: that is the secret of
happiness." --Georges Bernanos