August Open Spaces Vol. 20.8

 

Open Spaces   Vol.: 20.8

By John W. Vander Velden

 

August 26, 2020

 

Now that August comes to its conclusion, we know that summer is nearing its end. I hope you have found ways to enjoy your summer. For most, Jackie and I included, the summer of 2020 has been unique.

We did not take our usual summer escape this year. Dreams of Door County, Wisconsin will remain for another time. But we haven’t remained locked behind our doors either. Of course there is work’s demands. Work being very different for the two of us. My work is very close to home, Jackie’s is...well a little further away. Yet we have enjoyed the summer within its limitations.

I feel that every day is a gift from GOD. Even days under the shadow of a pandemic. The attitude makes it easier to get out of bed in the morning. Yet it remains difficult at times to be excited by EVERY new day, but I believe being so motivated is worth the effort. You may find comfort in the fact that I do FAIL to find rosy glasses some morning. Maybe more often than some.

Here the school year is beginning. COVID-19 shapes the way schools have opened. Many continue off sight learning. E-learning it is often called. It strains teachers, students, and parents, trying to find the best ways to teach, the best ways to protect children and staff. Things will remain different for a time, but I am confident it is only temporary.

 Though our school years are behind us, behind our son’s well, the virus yet influences our lives. Jackie and I do our part. We wear our masks, avoid crowds, practice social distancing, use hand sanitizer often, and wash our hands. We recognize that all of us face this danger together, and small things can make big differences. And fortunately our household remains well.

It is our hope that yours is also.

Now for a bit of writing news.

Next week I begin revising the draft I completed in May. Taking on that project in earnest means the other project on which I had been working must be set aside. Though I regret leaving the book length work I have worked upon these months incomplete, I know I will return to it on my next “dead writing time”, such as when  I send the revisions to the editor. I have no idea how much time will be needed for this first revision, but it is my hope to complete it early next year.

I will keep you posted.

Now I have reached the end of this installment of “Open Spaces”. Take care my friends, make your choices carefully, consider the needs of others, especially the weak and vulnerable, share kindness, and above all remember that GOD loves you.

May His love comfort you and ease your mind during these unprecedented times, and that He guide your feet to open spaces where you will find peace.  

With CHRIST’s love, and blessings,

John W. Vander Velden

Author of Misty Creek and Elizabeth’s Journey

 

         If you wanted the link to my 1^st Virtual Author’s Event here it is....

 

https://youtu.be/DTCx2-9tB2A

    

Thinkin' About Love

Thinkin’ About Love                

By John W. Vander Velden

 

Some feel that love is simply an emotion. A feeling that people acquire that comes along and sometimes disappears.  Something intangible that may be driven by hormones. The fortunate, they say, are those who have that affection aimed at another that shares the same intensity of feelings. Love is an emotion...

Love is that but it is not ONLY that, at least not from my perspective. It’s OK to disagree with me, I’m no expert. I see love through a much wider lens. I am, presently, writing a standalone novel titled, “Severed Ties”. One of the threads that I have woven within that story is the cord of love. A binding that is more than a chosen feeling.

You see I know that GOD is love. The terms are not necessarily interchangeable but it is an important link of the concept of what GOD is in relation to HIS creation...in relation to us. One of my characters tells the primary character as they part for the last time, “God loves you (Mike) and no matter what or where you go you have that love.” Greg laid both palms on the faded roof of his car. “And one more thing. Love is a cord that is stronger than anything. It is a binding that cannot be broken by distance or circumstance.” 

You see, my character, Rev. Gregory Mainstay is trying to convince his new friend that love is more than an emotion. It is a force that binds everything together. But even after Michael, the main character, has been told those words, he is not ready to take the concept at its full value. No, he had been cut off from his family as a child. Death has taken most of those that helped raise him. Which to him is the ultimate separation. He questions his personal value, surely he is unlovable. He has been damaged by experiences of his youth, and those wounds have not fully healed.

Only the love he shares with his wife and their children seems the exception. Yet he feels that even those cords are frail and can fail him at any time.

How many of us feel as Mike? How many of us feel that we are unworthy...undeserving and that love’s fleeting connection is temporary? Probably most of us to one degree or another. And if love is only a feeling, then surely that feeling can pass to memory.

But I say love is more than just some emotional intangible. Love is an unexplainable force so grand and powerful that it binds EVERYTHING together. Love is the only thing that makes EVERYTHING worthwhile. Love can overcome adversity. And Love binds US all TOGETHER in ways we are unable to understand. Yes, “Love is a cord that is stronger than anything. It is a binding that cannot be broken by distance or circumstance.” Even death is unable to destroy love’s connection.

Though love surrounds us, we must be open to it. I believe that hate doesn’t really exist. Hate is just the absence of love. Just as cold is the lack of heat, and darkness is the absence of light.

GOD is love!

And GOD can lift us, through love, to places higher and grander than our imaginings are able to create. GOD’s love can displace the emptiness of hate that resides in each of our hearts, as darkness is replaced by light.

Those are my thoughts about love and it drives me to try harder, see deeper, and care more. I hope God’s love pushes you forward as well...

 (605 Words) 7-30-2020