A Christian’s heavenly journey with his feet on the ground. Treasures shared that are discovered along the way.
Please note that this blog has now moved to: "Senior Eagle walking with Father"

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Peeled Bananas

Oh the joys of doing the weekly shop. My wife and I go together. With a trolley each, we start at opposite ends of the supermarket and compare notes when we meet in the middle. While deliberating over my purchases I often notice a lone husband on his cell phone to his wife - presumably , “Darling, which sort of cornflakes did you say?” while I smugly work through my list.

I’ve long realised that a degree of detective work is needed in the supermarkets. Often, at first sight, the contents of the packages and cans may not always live up to the expectations of the outside labels. For example “Pure natural blossom honey?” What does that mean? ‘Honey’ yes, but doesn’t all honey come from blossom and is there such a thing as ‘unnatural’ honey? That leaves ‘pure’, which I take it to be a euphemism for ‘honey blended from various sources and heat treated.’ What is ‘farm fresh corn-fed chicken’ supposed to mean? Are they reared in batteries, deep litter, free range and are they organically reared? So what you see isn’t always what you expect.

All very mundane. But are we real and open to people and God , WYSIWYG like a peeled banana? Do they see us as we really are?

This was brought home to me the other day, when during a good-humoured exchange with a friend, he said “You are a top bloke, but when I first knew you years ago, you were a bit stuck up!” He had a point. I used to be very closed and not in touch with my feelings that much. I’ve changed since, a process that is ongoing.

I remember in my second year as a shy boy in high school, a teacher wrote in my annual report, “I wish he would come out of his shell.” Sounds a bit like a tortoise or a snail! I did emerge as I grew up, but there were certain sides of me that were unconsciously kept well hidden , perhaps because of shame or false guilt. By adulthood I already had coping mechanism in place to deal with this deficiency.

The problem is, being closed separates. It can be a barrier to open communication and conversation stays mainly from the head and not the heart. Of course, if we are closed to people we will also be hiding those areas from God. The solution is to invite Jesus into those hidden hurting areas of our life and find freedom to be ourselves, which as I discovered is an ongoing process.

“- by their fruit you will recognize them.” Matthew 7:20 New International Version


5 comments :

  1. Michelle said...

    Wanted to send you a note but couldn't find contact details on your site. This doesn't relate directly to this post, but to all of them in general. Much of what you teach/share reminds me of a Ministry which I am involved in called Wholeness Through Christ (http://southafrica.wholenessthroughchrist.org/) - was just wondering if you have heard of this ministry (there is one in the UK too - http://wholenessthroughchrist.org/)? It is always a blessing to read your blog.

  2. wayfarerjon said...

    Thank you Michelle. My wife and I have been involved with various healing and counselling ministries in our journey over the years. And yes, we did belong to Wholeness Through Christ. It was very helpful at the time and we necame heavily involved in giving out, plus being on the team of a Christian Centre. If you would like to say further you can contact me on wayfarerjon@googlemail.com.

  3. Peter (Faith For God) said...

    Hello,

    This is my first time to this blog and I have to say that this post in particular was a real eye opener. I often try to open up to people yet I feel like a lot of the time I am unsuccessful. I think that my problem is that even though I am making the effort I have not dealt with the real problem within myself.

    In Matthew 7:3-5 Jesus says "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

    I need to work on myself and take down my own barriers before I can break through someone else's.

    Thanks For this Post

  4. wayfarerjon said...

    I think you are right in your first paragraph. When we open up our heart to Jesus he will take us to where we became closed and He wilol open us up there.

  5. Tamela's Place said...

    The solution is to invite Jesus into those hidden hurting areas of our life and find freedom to be ourselves, which as I discovered is an ongoing process.

    Yes it is and he is so very patient with us which i am very thankful for. But i am reminded of what someone told me once that it is the process of our lives that Glorify God!