Thursday, September 8, 2016

Heal: Five Minute Friday

Five Minute Friday. I missed it last week. The prompt was 'Path'. I was helping another teacher prepare her classroom for the school year. I spent some hours Thursday painting in her classroom. I also painted some on Friday while my girls watched a movie. I spent more hours Monday painting in her classroom until it was finished.  Here's Kate's Linkup!!

This week's prompt is "heal".

Go.

The first passage that came to mind was Ecclesiastes 3.
"For everything there is a season,
    a time for every activity under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die.
    A time to plant and a time to harvest.
A time to kill and a time to heal.
    A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to cry and a time to laugh.
    A time to grieve and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
    A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
A time to search and a time to quit searching.
    A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear and a time to mend.
    A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate.
    A time for war and a time for peace."

But opposite a time to heal? A time to kill.

So that's where I'm going. I don't like to kill. I really lack that drive. Unless it's insects. Or poisonous spiders. But up the ante to small rodents? I cringe. I did finish off a mouse for my cat one time and then burst into tears.
My husband is trying to trap a raccoon in our backyard. It's leaving its waste in a pile. I want to 'catch and release'. He was willing to sit up late with a rifle.
We've done neither because apparently it's illegal in our state to do either without a permit.

When his 17 year old cat was internally dying, to put it nicely, he decided to take the cat out and finish the process himself.

He has a strength I don't have. To end suffering is a passion of mine, but I am interested in healing to end suffering. Sometimes to end suffering, death must happen.

In my own life? It's time to kill pride. Time to kill selfishness. Time to kill the thought that I'm able to do things on my own without God. And really? That kind of killing will bring healing and end suffering in a power that I'd never possess on my own.

What else needs to die so that life can come forth? Plants die so animals can live. Animals die so humans can live. Humans die and are buried and plants live off that, right? Plants also die for our consumption.

Ultimately, the time to kill came for the Roman soldiers that nailed Jesus to the cross. And that killing led to the ultimate healing for all eternity.
A time to die will come, and in reflection of that, let us make the most of this time to live we are in.


 (Kari Jobe- Healer)


Love,
Tammy

12 comments:

  1. Interesting perspective. I'm not a fan of killing either.

    Tammy, you might want to know that the image for FMF on your post is blocking a portion of your text.

    Great post though. And I love Kari Jobe!

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    1. Kimberly,
      thank you. There's a 'shrink to fit' box that was left "unchecked". :)
      And thank you for the comments. I'm so glad to share great music!
      Love,
      Tammy

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  2. To tear down (Kill)and to to build up (heal) - I thought it was interesting how those were put in the same stanza. During the plague, killing rats was probably a good idea. Sometimes we have to tear down before we can rebuild (heal). You've given me some good food for thought here. Shalom, Tammy!
    (I'm having trouble with blogger: https://bluecottonmemory.wordpress.com/2016/09/08/awkward-humor-and-healing/)

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    1. :) Thank you. It's so good to "see" you after a long long break!
      I really enjoyed your post as well!
      Love,
      Tammy

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  3. This is a tough one, Tammy. I come from a place where killing was necessary to prevent even worse things from happening. There is evil with which you cannot reason. The only thing you can do is obliterate it, and leave a hole so deep in the survivors' communal memory that they will mend their ways from sheer terror of what may befall them.

    Am I at peace with that? Yes, I'd go there again.

    Do I sleep well? No. And I never will.

    Healing and killing can be one and the same, and the dichotomy imposes a terrible burden.

    Tomorrow, 22 combat veterans will commit suicide.

    #1 at FMF this week.

    http://blessed-are-the-pure-of-heart.blogspot.com/2016/09/your-dying-spouse-204-soft-side-of-hard.html

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    1. Andrew,
      I was thinking of you as I typed, for certain. You see, I am so very thankful that my husband, yourself, and many others are given the strength to kill when it is necessary.
      I know that I did kill the mouse to end suffering, but oh I didn't want to. (And it was a rather gruesome guillotine. My BBQ grill scraper has a very sharp edge and a long handle.) We no longer have that scraper.

      God bless you and all those who have battled for the safety of those of us who cannot fathom the evils out there.

      Love,
      Tammy

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  4. I love how a single word can take people in such different directions! Great reflections here. I'm not a fan of killing either, but it's true there is a time for it and sometimes killing and healing are intertwined.
    I love how you sum it up: "Ultimately, the time to kill came for the Roman soldiers that nailed Jesus to the cross. And that killing led to the ultimate healing for all eternity."
    I like the song too. (#25)

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    1. Lesley,
      thank you. At the end, Jesus is everything. He's the only thing that matters. :)
      Love,
      Tammy

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  5. Wow Tammy! This is awesome! Your husband and my husband should get together lol But it is so true though about killing those things in our lives that prevent healing. I enjoyed this!

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  6. THIS: "Ultimately, the time to kill came for the Roman soldiers that nailed Jesus to the cross. And that killing led to the ultimate healing for all eternity. A time to die will come, and in reflection of that, let us make the most of this time to live we are in." I'm over in the 59 spot this week.

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  7. I have a suspicion that even the most hardened combat veterans have a space in their minds that recoils from killing. I think our distaste for death points to another verse in Ecclesiastes 3:11 - He has set eternity in the human heart. We have this inner knowing that death, no matter how natural, is also completely unnatural.

    This one will have me thinking for awhile, dear friend.

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