"Tanto gentile e tanto onesta pare"

Tanto gentile e tanto onesta pare
La donna mia quand'ella altrui saluta
Ch'ogne lingua deven tremando muta,
E li occhi no l'ardiscon di guardare.
Ella si va, sentendosi laudare,
Benignamente d'umilta' vestuta;
E par che sia una cosa venuta
Da cielo in terra a miracol mostrare.

Mostrasi si' piacente a chi la mira,
Che da' per li occhi una dolcezza al core,
Che 'ntender non la puo' chi no la prova;
E par che de la sua labbia si mova
Uno spirito soave pien d'amore,
Che va dicendo a l'anima: "Sospira."

-Dante Alighieri

And for those of us who do not read fluently in Italian, here is the English translation taken from the book Introduction to Italian Poetry by Luciano Rebay;

"So gentle and virtuous she appears"

So gentle and virtuous she appears,
My lady, when greeting other people
That every tongue tremblingly grows silent,
And eyes do not dare gaze upon her.
She passes by, hearing herself praised,
Graciously clothed with humility,
And she appears to be a creature who has come
From heaven to earth to show forth a miracle.

She shows herself so pleasing to her beholders,
That she gives through the eyes a sweetness to the heart,
Which no one can understand who does not feel it;
And it appears that from her lip moves
A tender spirit full of love,
Which says again and again to the soul: "Sigh."


I was given a copy of this poem in my ideas and cultures class last Friday, and when I read it I was struck by how well it fits into what I have been reading in Captivating. This poem, written by Dante for his love Beatrice, beautifully illustrates the essence of a woman. Captivating talks a lot about the soul of women and how God created us to reflect the beauty and glory of God. We are called to reflect this beauty from the inside out. If you own a copy of Captivating I would suggest reading through chapter 8: Beauty to Unveil.

The woman described in the poem reflects many of the qualities Godly women should possess.
Her beauty does not merely come from her outward appearance, but from "the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit (1 Peter 3:4b)."
She is 'clothed with humility' which I can only imagine means that she was not trying to show off her God-given physical qualities (I thought that was a diplomatic way to express that, haha).
"I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God."
- 1 Timothy 2:9-10
The most striking part of this poem to me is the last line. This woman has the power to calm everyone around her. Their souls are merely left to sigh in her presence. They feel at ease around her, like everything is well in the world.
As a woman I wish that I possessed this power all the time. When my world is not chaotic I think I do have the ability to calm those around me, but when I am busy, stressed or sitting in traffic I tend to reflect a very different attitude. I become tense, shrewd and angry. The only way I will ever be like the woman in that poem, or similarly the woman in Proverbs 31, is if I present all of my emotions and frustrations to God. He can and has been changing me into a more peaceful person to be around. Whenever I feel like I am going to lose my mind, I repeat the verse from 1 Peter that I cited above. It does not mean that I need to be silent, because those who know me know that I can be very VERY loud at times, HA! But my spirit needs to reflect my acceptance of God's will for me and show others that they should accept it for themselves as well.

Don't be afraid to show the world the beauty that God has instilled in you. Allow Him to quiet your chaotic mind and fill you with the peace of His love.

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."
- Proverbs 31:30

What is that to you?

Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?") When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?"
Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me."
-John 21:20-22 NIV

I am the kind of person who hates conflict. It rips me up inside to watch someone I love go through a difficult situation. It hurts even more when I feel like there is something I could do or say that would make everything better. Lately I've been very good about waiting for that person to ask me for my two cents, but sometimes I will hand it out whether they want it or not. Why? Because in my mind I can 'fix' any situation.
In general we all want to fix our own problems and our loved ones problems instantly. Maybe you are watching someone go through a situation that you have already been through and you want to give them the easy road out. You know how the 'hard way' felt and you don't want to stand by and watch them go through it that way.

It's kind of like when your parents told you not to run by the pool or stick your finger in the light socket. But what did you do anyway? That's right, you ran and busted your butt on the wet concrete or you ended up with Albert Einstein hair and a numb finger.
The truth is that no matter what you have experienced and no matter how much you love someone, sometimes they just will not listen to you. And sometimes that is God's will for them. They may need to experience that difficult situation in the most painful way possible in order for him to build them up stronger than before.

And sometimes I HATE that!

But here's the point: as much as I want to, I can't 'fix' someone if God does not want to use me to help them. The best thing I can do is to focus on my own relationship with God and not become so concerned with everyone else's relationship. That is essentially what Jesus told Peter in the verse above from John. Jesus asks Peter point blank why John's future means anything to him. Peter should be concerned with following Christ instead.

We see a clear example of what happens when we interfere with God's plan in Genesis. In chapters 16-21 you can read the story about Sarah, Abraham and Hagar. Sarah was frustrated with God's lack of haste in his promise to build their family line:
'Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; so she said to Abram,"The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her." Abram agreed to what Sarai said.'
-Genesis 16:1-2

Sarah took things into her own hands because she did not truly believe that God was going to keep his promise. And what ended up happening? Sarah resented Hagar and Ishmael, the son she conceived. The whole situation resulted in jealousy and turmoil between them. When we interfere with God's plan and his timing, we end up making a bigger mess of our situation. Even though our intentions seemed honorable, people will still end up getting hurt.

But praise God for the gift of grace! Nothing that we do can stump God. He works everything out for His glory. Our screw ups may be big, but He is soooo much bigger. In Sarah and Abraham's case, God did bless them with the birth of Issac, even though they thought it would be impossible to have a child at such an old age.


So the next time you feel the urge to meddle in someone else's situation; STOP! Evaluate your own personal relationship with God and ask him to watch over them. The best thing you can do is pray for them and ask God to guide them through. And at some point He may use you to help heal them. Only you can discern that by listening closely for His voice.
If you continue to follow Jesus you will be able to hear his voice more clearly.

Remember that nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1:37)

The Word is Alive

'For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.'
- Hebrews 4:12-13 NIV

One of my favorite bands of all time is Casting Crowns. Their lyrics are powerful and as a group they are devoted to sharing the gospel with their listeners. On their newest album they have a song called 'The Word is Alive.' The song's chorus is definitely inspired by this verse from Hebrews. The message of the song is that God's word is alive and relevant. Even as time has gone by, when everything else fades, His word will prevail.

I blogged about this on my bands myspace (you can check out our link on the right, Habbakuk). Christians today seem to get bored very easily. In the age of ADD it seems like everything needs to be brightly colored and shiny to hold our attention.
But what about God's word? When I walk into church I am not greeted with pyrotechnics or circus performers (although some churches seem to be heading in that direction). As a practicing Episcopalian sometimes the only unpredictable event in the service is whether the rector will preach from the pulpit or come down to pew level. And I like that. Because for me each service has a completely different mood depending on the message of the readings and the sermon. I sense that because I have made the conscious effort to pay attention. ....let me repeat that last part just in case you missed it.
"I have made the conscious effort to PAY ATTENTION [caps added]."

We've all experienced those Sunday mornings or those times at home when we have heard or read scripture and felt bored to pieces. 'What does this have to do with my life?' 'I don't live in this time period, so how am I supposed to apply this?'

The truth affirmed in this verse from Hebrews is that, new flash, God's word is alive; it is ALWAYS relevant. It cuts through all of the glitz of this world and goes straight to our hearts. But we need to be paying attention. If you have experienced, as I have many times before, those waves of boredom as a result of hearing God's word, then you weren't really paying attention. You allowed the enemy to harden your heart to the message. Imagine how you would feel if you allowed yourself to be moved by the message every Sunday and every time you read. That's how you is supposed to feel! So next time you begin to doze off, figuratively or literally as we have all seen, ask the Lord to open your eyes, your ears and your heart to His word. He may reveal something you were not expecting.


Towards the end of the Casting Crowns song I mentioned is a spoken message that sums up the power of scripture and its ability to continually awe those who read it. I get goosebumps and a huge smile every time I hear this part of the song:

"The bible was enstrived over a period of two thousand years, in times of war and in days of peace, by kings, physicians, tax collectors, farmers, fishermen, singers and shepherds. The marvel is that a library so perfectly cohesive could have been produced by such a diverse crowd over a period of time which staggers the imagination.
Jesus is its grand subject, our good is designed as the glory of God is its end."


Who needs fireworks when we have a work of love like this right at our fingertips??

Balance in the Labyrinth

The room is so quiet. The only sound I hear is from the air vents, which act almost as white noise. My focus goes to the small 8ft. canvas on the floor – the labyrinth. It winds in 4 sections, ultimately leading to the center. It looks like all I have to do is walk with one foot in front of the other, not be embarrassed if someone sees me, and sit in the middle to talk to God.

As I go to begin walking, I feel an urge to get my bible and read as I walk. Ok. I take my bible from my purse, flip to the verses I read last night (Eph. 6:19-20), and I being to read and walk.
Now, this poses a problem to my small mind – reading and walking are difficult to do together. The mat was small and the path had lots of sharp turns. I would start to read and meditate, but immediately look down to see where my feet were going. When I watched my feet I would lose my balance, along with what I had just read.
Then I would read and allow the message to stay in my mind. I stopped only to notice that I was still on the path. I hadn’t been paying attention to my steps but on the words I read. When I focused my attention on the word in my hands, I was still kept on the path without losing my balance.

Earlier this morning I was reading chapter 10 in Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. She really nailed home the idea of using God’s word and truth to negate all the lies we once believed. We need to allow His word to guide our steps.

Hmmmmm…funny how this all comes together.

I always try to peek ahead to see where I may be going. I want to see the path and watch my feet so I won’t fall. But that’s where my focus goes – down to my feet and not up to my Father. I spend my whole walk trying to stay balanced and to not fall instead of asking the Lord for help. I need to allow him to guide my steps while I seek him and not my own safety. He knows the path he has laid out for me, and the more I fight his guidance the more I lose sight of him.
- He made me this way for a purpose.
- He laid out a path for me.
- He is the only way I will ever get through it.

So why am I so afraid to surrender everything to him?

My devotional last night made the point that I need to first build my relationship with the Lord. Only then will he use me as a vessel to aid others. I need to focus on our relationship, not his relationships with others.
“…what is that to you? You must follow me.”
–John 21:21-22

Allow God to guide my steps. Focus on the relationship and building it through prayer, reading his word and truth, and taking the time to listen for his voice.