What Pushes your Button needs Attention – Soul Talk

There are some people that just push my buttons!
Something about them sets off a chain reaction of thoughts and feelings. Perhaps they remind me of someone else or something that has happened in the past.
A memory echo bounces around my soul.
If I am going to be a good provider of Soul Talk I am going to have be aware of this response or I will potentially create walls in the conversation rather than bridges.
Perhaps the person shares a struggle, a point of pain, or tears start to glisten the eyes.
Listen to your heart. What is the first reaction? What do you want to do? What do you feel about yourself? What are you hoping to accomplish? How do feel toward your friend?
Do you want to problem solve their issues, offer your experiences as wisdom for them, or hold them as they cry?
Listen first and foremost to what is happening to you. Just by acknowledging that your reaction exists, enables you to be able set it to one side for possible later examination.
Being self aware of your reactions is the first step to becoming a safe person for others.
People will only feel they can share safely with you what is truly on their hearts when they know it won’t adversely affect you and when it won’t potentially damage the relationship.
Perhaps it’s a sense of profound inadequacy that reveals itself.
That you have nothing, no wisdom, no formula’s, no experiences to draw from.
I would suggest that your inadequacy is an opportunity to hear the rhythm of the Spirit (Holy) in your soul.
When there is less of relying on yourself then there can be more room for relying on God.
I am totally in need of God to help me, I may have some ideas and thoughts, but I am going to put those to the side at this moment to wait and listen.

The men and women who are truly filled with light are those who have gazed deeply into the darkness of their own imperfect existence. Brennan Manning

Questions to consider. What gets stirred in your Soul with certain people and why? How does it affect your relationship with them?
Barry Pearman
Image: DaisyCat77 Creative Commons Flickr
Blogger Labels: Button,needs,Attention,Soul,Talk,reaction,feelings,memory,provider,response,walls,conversation,person,pain,tears,Listen,heart,friend,wisdom,examination,self,People,relationship,inadequacy,formula,rhythm,Spirit,room,ideas,moment,existence,Brennan,bridges,reactions,hearts

Why Paul’s 'Fruitful Labour' is a Great Antidote to Suicide

 

“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don't give up.” Anne Lamott

To him darkness was a close friend. Always present, never leaving, clinging on like a wet shirt.
Life sucked. No joy, no hope.
As he sat with me I felt Spirit (Holy) sweep into the room.
‘Great’ I thought ‘It’s not up to me to try and get this person off a suicidal one way track’
Something lit up within me as I listened and watched the sadness pour forth.
An invisible Paul Simon started to whisper

Hello darkness, my old friend

I've come to talk with you again

Because a vision softly creeping

Left its seeds while I was sleeping

And the vision that was planted in my brain

Still remains

Within the sound of silence

There was a vision planted in his brain of death, hopelessness and suicide.
I saw something else though. I had a different vision, a compelling vision that drew me in and offered a lantern of light to him if he wanted to take it.
There was something of the creator that had been sown in this persons soul. Something of their (Daddy, Jesus and Spirit) very own nature that was needing to be released. I was given the gift of discovering it and bringing it to the world to see.
He felt like that there was nothing of worth within him. He felt like a complete failure, powerless, unable to move into his world and change a thing.
She could not see any beauty within her, nothing. She was ugly, there was nothing of beauty within her that would be desirable to others.
Hidden under all the accumulated rubbish of life was a seed that needed watering and nurturing.
That seed could bring much blessing to others if allowed to grow and mature.
Fruitful labour!
Paul was in a tough spot. Life was tough, real tough. Martyrdom was casting a decapitating shadow over this life. He was torn between two loves. To be with Christ or to be others and helping them grow in faith. He puts it this

As long as I'm alive in this body, there is good work [fruitful labour] for me to do. If I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I'd choose. Hard choice! The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can think of nothing better. But most days, because of what you are going through, I am sure that it's better for me to stick it out here. So I plan to be around awhile, companion to you as your growth and joy in this life of trusting God continues. You can start looking forward to a great reunion when I come visit you again. We'll be praising Christ, enjoying each other. Philippians 1:22-26

Some theologians consider Paul may well have been suicidal. A hot debate topic. 
Regardless, Paul’s reason to live was found in the serving of others. He had an others centred life.
He wasn't ready yet to die, there was more to be done. In his darkest moment of life he found the reason for life.
Want to read more then check out my message What do you prefer - remain or depart? in Free Resources.
Question to Consider: What reason or purpose do you have for your life?
Barry Pearman

Image: seyed mostafa zamani Creative Commons Flickr
Blogger Labels: Fruitful,Labour,Great,Antidote,Suicide,Hope,Anne,Lamott,friend,shirt,Life,Spirit,room,person,death,lantern,creator,persons,soul,Daddy,Jesus,nature,gift,world,worth,failure,Hidden,Martyrdom,Christ,faith,Hard,Some,companion,growth,reunion,Philippians,

Behind the Clouds

 
Behind the Clouds
It's elusive sometimes
That light behind the clouds.
Elusive, but ever present.
Sometimes pale and shimmering like moonlight,
Or hard and bright like pin-prick stars
And sometimes with the eye shading brightness
Of a January sun.
Some days it's hard to remember
When the rain falls on and the clouds wrap around
Heavy and dank,
Dark and foreboding.
There's no umbrella for those winter days;
No hiding place to block the darkness.
But there are warm fires
And warm friends
And even some bright moments of madness
Mid winter dipping
On wild winter days.
Yes, it's always there somewhere
Maybe just out of reach
But waiting and faithful -
The light behind the clouds.
Ruth Penny
Image: kevin dooley Creative Commons Flickr
You can read more from Ruth at the website her family oversee. Sadly, Ruth passed away in 2008, I was privileged to know her.
Blogger Labels: Behind,Clouds,Elusive,Sometimes,January,Some,Heavy,Dark,umbrella,winter,friends,Maybe,Ruth,Penny

Touching the Soul of the Other– Soul Talk

Shackled by a heavy burden
Neath a load of guilt and shame
Then the hand of Jesus touched me
And now I am no longer the same
He touched me, oh he touched me
And oh the joy that floods my soul
Something happened and now I know
He touched me and made me whole
William J. Gaither

It was a chorus of my youth, sung with much gusto.
I need touch. My Soul needs the touch of another to destroy the walls of isolation and fear.
What is touch? For some the word ‘touch’ is loaded with experiences of being inappropriately physically touched.
The ‘touch’ I am referring to is about touching the soul. It might include appropriate physical touch, but most likely it will be some words, a smile, a gesture. Something is conveyed from deep within one person into the soul of another.
Isolation is broken.
Connection is made.
Hope is delivered.
Something intangible is stirred up, released and comes alive.
We have so many conversations where information is passed from one to another. Nice pleasant conversations, but when you walk away from the interchange of words nothing has changed within you.
Then there are others where perhaps a few simple words were said to you that touched something deep inside you.
It might be words such as ‘Your loved’.
How do we learn to touch?
Listen! Tune your soul to listen to what is happening in the other and to what Spirit (Holy) whispers into your soul.
To touch requires us to Know, Explore, and Discover what is within the soul of the other.
There are no easy 5 steps to learning how to touch. It will be a matter of learning via listening.
What experiences of being touched with words or gestures have you experienced? Comment below.
Barry Pearman
Image: axel Creative Commons Flickr
Blogger Labels: Soul,Talk,needs,walls,isolation,words,person,Connection,Hope,Nice,interchange,Listen,Tune,Spirit,Discover,steps,conversations

Suicide of the Soul

Out of the corner of my eye there was an Asian man trying to get my attention. 



















He was pointing and gesturing to look behind the car I was sitting in with a friend. 

In the rear view mirror I could see a young man lying on the ground. Jumping out of the car I could see him at the foot of some steps he had come down.

First Aid skills kicked in and I made sure he was safe from traffic, breathing checked, help enlisted from others etc. 

At first I thought it was an epileptic seizure but when we found the empty pill packets we knew this was a suicide attempt. Emergency services were called for and soon an ambulance arrived. Police arrived too as they had been told about his distress and were out looking for him. He was soon receiving the best of medical attention.

Finding this young man was a completely random event. I just happened to be there at the right time.

It shakes you up.

To see the absolute desperation and confusion of a fellow human soul. To see the shocked and pained responses of those gathered around the body.

From my experience of working in Mental Health I knew what would happen to this young man. He would be shipped off to hospital, stomach pumped and then handed over to the psyche team for assessment and therapy consisting of medication and skills training. 

He would learn coping strategies for life so that when the negative thoughts etc. came along he would have some tools in the tool bag to get him through the pain. He might be assigned a some social worker that could help with finding work, accommodation etc.

All of this is good and needed, but as I sat next to his prone body on the asphalt under heat of a summers day, I wondered who would attend to the care of his Soul. 

Was any one doing this at the moment? Who would breath some Spirit (Holy) life into him? 

The medical well-being of the body was being scientifically treated. He would be given a hospital number and a little white wrist band along with a diagnoses to categorise his behaviour. 

Everyone reading his file notes would know something of his life, they would form judgements and boxes for him to be in.

His Soul was a place of desperation.

He desperately needed connection with maybe a few others that believed in him. That could walk with him, help him to check his perspectives and would, now here is dangerous word, love him. 

He needed people that would help him make connection with a loving God.

People that would not see him as a client, a patient, a body, an appointment, or a problem to be solved. This young man was and is a human being, created in the image of God to be both a recipient and participator of community. 

All the medication taken and skills learnt may well help him to function, but still the ragged raw need for him will be connection.

Connection of the Soul I have found is needed at the base of every suicidal person I have come across. 

People needing to know in their souls that they have value and worth.

This quote inspires my Soul.

Beneath what our culture calls psychological disorder is a soul crying out for what only community can provide. I see a healing community as a group of people who place connecting at the exact centre of their purpose and passion. Connecting with God (worship), others (loving service), and ourselves (personal wholeness). All else is either a route to or a result of connecting. Loving God and loving others lie at the core of God’s intention for his people. Larry Crabb

Who will tend the soul of this young man? Who will provide Soul care to him and those around him?

Could it be you?

Question to Consider: 

• What fears bubble up in you as I ask this question? 

Leave a comment below and your thoughts may well form good topics for future blog posts. The questions you ask are the same being asked by possibly thousands of others. Be their voice!

Barry Pearman
Image: D Sharon Pruitt Creative Commons Flickr

Blogger Labels: Suicide,Soul,desperation,human,Mental,Health,hospital,psyche,assessment,therapy,medication,disorder,purpose,passion,intention,Larry,Crabb,responses,strategies,diagnoses,souls,topics

Painting

Painting

Now space opens in front

While track of train proceeds

Away to depth of distance

Away, away

Draw us on, draw us on

Draw us on still further

Into mystery entrance grants

Meaningful experience

True intensity of meaning

There the background stands

Ruapehu stark

Cold, cold

Snow icing

Stretched and wedded to volcanic cone

I am shivering

Approaching the stretched cone

Tangentially from foreground

Train tracks slide away

Approach and leave well alone

Iced stretched volcanic cone

Solitary a station stands

There are no people here

No life, no life

Faintly hinting of people not there

Should each of us beware?

Beware of the hint of people not there?

Stuart Scott

Image: landscapephoto.info

Blogger Labels: Away,depth,Draw,Into,Meaningful,True,background,Ruapehu,Cold,foreground,Train,Approach,Solitary,life,Should,Beware,Stuart,Scott,Image,info,volcanic

How to learn about God when you have been Sexually Abused

I was sexually abused right throughout my childhood from when I was a toddler. I also grew up in a violent home. It was a lot like the movie ‘Once were Warriors’ at times. 

I first made a commitment to Jesus when I was in my early teens and my relationship with Jesus has been very ‘off’ and ‘on’ my whole life.
There are things I have gradually learnt that I hope will help anyone reading this who ever went through any kind of sexual or other abuse in their lives.
Firstly what they preach in churches is not geared at all for us.  Even the verses in the bible are not geared for us.  It's like there is this big presumption that everyone is at the same place when they come to Jesus and sadly we are far from it.
For a start being a Christian is all about having a relationship with God, but how on earth does someone who has been abused by others understand what having a relationship is like.
It's about trusting God, but how can you even know what trust is, let alone how to trust anybody when you have been abused.
Christianity is all about love, but like with trust how can you ever really understand love at all when you have been so violated by people who said they loved you.
When you have been sexually abused it's like someone else took your body away from you and then you aren't really totally connected to your body anymore.  So when we come to God and we are told to give him our bodies (see below) how do we do this when we feel that we don't even own our bodies to give away to him.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.Romans 12:1

So right from the start you are disadvantaged when you come to God and I wish someone had told me this stuff right from the beginning.
When you have been abused it affects how you think about yourself and other people.  It makes you think you are dirty, not good enough, and not as good as other people.  It makes you powerless in relationships. It makes you vulnerable. It makes you a target for other people to abuse you. 
So when we come to God, we carry all this baggage with us.
It totally affects how we relate to God, but God does not see us as we see ourselves.
I have been to a lot of churches that were totally focused on the power of God.  Like he was this zapping machine or something.  They weren't focused on the love of God, which is where the power comes from.  When you have been abused you have experienced a lot of power that wasn't good, and really you don't need to be focused on power at all.
I remember a very long time ago I felt God wanting me back and I went to see a Christian counsellor just to have a talk.  I went in there all staunch and tough and told him my story without shedding a tear. 
At the end of telling him all this and priding myself that I was so together I said I don't want to come back to God because I never ever want to give my power away again. He then said that God never wants you to be powerless again. I just melted and cried my eyes out.
I have discovered a God of impossible things, who cares deeply for the broken, who said he came for the sick.  He has made it possible for us to be in a close loving relationship with him and be healed of everything we ever went through.
So how do we do this?
Once you give yourself to Jesus, that is all he needs for you to do.  He will sort out the rest. He will bring the people into your life to help you.  The thing is you can't really relate to God at all because of what you have been through and he totally gets that and so he puts people in your life that you get to learn though. 
He gets you to learn how to trust. He gets you to experience how to have healthy relationships by practising with others.  He gets you to experience what love actually feels like by receiving love from others.  He gets you to understand what good power is like, how gentle it is. 
The learning we have with others will of course be a rocky road and not plain sailing at all.  Sometimes you will just be with a person for awhile and then move onto someone else, or have breaks with people and come back to them.  And it takes a long time.  They need to be incredibly patient and understanding with you.  But gradually you learn the things God wants you to know.
Even now I really don't experience God much at all.  I only do when I am with safe people God has brought alongside me.  I am too mixed up by what happened to me.  I still struggle too much in relationships to relate directly to God.  Safe people are gentle and I am not used to relationships like that.  They don't impose their power over me and don't see me the way I see myself. 
I still have so much to learn about love, trust and acceptance.
Try not to push good people away that God sends into your life.
Anonymous
Question: What would it mean for you to be a safe person for others to experience what God is like?
From Barry. Sexual abuse is rife in our community. The damage done is profound and affects the person’s life in many ways. Sexual abuse is mostly hidden away with shame tormenting the soul and hindering a healthy understanding of God. If you would like to read more you might like to read an essay in Free resources called Dehumanisation and Sexual Abuse. The guest blogger has asked to remain anonymous for obvious reasons. Please pray for them. They are on a journey of recovery and are discovering that God is good.
Image: samcaplat Creative commons Flickr
Blogger Labels: commitment,Jesus,relationship,life,presumption,Christian,relationships,baggage,counsellor,person,Safe,acceptance,churches

Discovering the Hidden Treasure and Overlooked Pearl–Soul Talk

On the farm where I was raised there was area called the ‘Old Post Office’. It was the site of the first Wellsford Post office and the early Albertlander settlers of the late 1800’s would row up the creek and collect their mail. There was nothing left except the outline of an old well, but for a child there was treasure to be found.

I found it too. Pieces of old broken crockery and a cast iron oven door were excitedly dug up in my archaeological explore.
I had discovered treasure, nothing that was of any great monetary value, but I had unearthed an object from a state of hiddenness to being revealed to the world once more.
Jesus tells two wonderful little parables about discovery.

"God's kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidentally found by a trespasser. The finder is ecstatic—what a find!—and proceeds to sell everything he owns to raise money and buy that field.
"Or, God's kingdom is like a jewel merchant on the hunt for excellent pearls. Finding one that is flawless, he immediately sells everything and buys it. Matthew 13:44-46 (The Message)

Is there something within you that like that hidden treasure or pearl lies undiscovered?
Something that is of immense value, beauty and worth.
That when discovered by someone else they go to all sorts of lengths to bring it to the surface and reveal it’s beauty.
Many people however have a very strong belief that there is nothing of value or beauty within themselves. At the core of their thinking is a self loathing.
Larry Crabb describes it this way

There are times that I think of myself, that I have an image of myself, as a bright shiny red apple in the middle of a fruit bowl in the centre of a table. And when people look at me they sometimes see the shiny red apple and say, “That looks pretty good.” From a distance, I might not look too bad. I might look like a shiny red apple, and then maybe somebody takes a bite. And the first bite might be sweet. Get to know me a little bit, and I might be a pleasant guy and friendly and interested and involved and might even be helpful. But there is something inside of me that says if you take a second bite or a third bite or maybe a fourth bite, eventually, you are going to bite into the worm that is at the centre of my being.

Shame filled memories, guilt, work’s based religion all can reinforce this belief that at the centre of our being is a worm.
The good news is that if we have asked Jesus to come and live in our lives, if we have welcomed him through the door and he has taken up residence, then buried deep within us is a magnificent recreation by Christ.
Here is how the Prophet Ezekiel see’s it

I'll pour pure water over you and scrub you clean. I'll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I'll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that's God-willed, not self-willed. I'll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands. Ezekiel 36:25-27 (The Message)

I have a new heart and a new spirit within me. The stone heart is gone, it’s now a heart that’s God willed.
I am drawn to follow God, not out of religious legalism (yuk!) but out of pure delight and love.
I would love somebody to believe it is there, to know me, to explore me and to discover this hidden treasure and overlooked pearl.
In Soul Talk we go on a treasure hunt for the recreation of Christ.
 
Question to consider. What do you believe lies at the core of yourself? A wretched worm or a recreation of Christ? How has this belief been formed?
Barry Pearman
Image: 10b travelling Creative Commons Flickr
Blogger Labels: Hidden,Treasure,Pearl,Soul,Talk,Jesus,discovery,kingdom,belief,self,Larry,Crabb,image,fruit,bowl,Shame,memories,guilt,religion,recreation,Christ,heart,Spirit

5 Steps to being a Microphone for other People’s Voices

I was listening to someone the other day. I have known this person for many years. I have visited them in hospital when they were mentally unwell and listened to their rants whilst in a psychotic wilderness, patiently waiting for them to return.

They have been there many times. Each time broken a little bit more by the experiences of insanity.
Most people disregard them. They see the side effects of a tortured life and wall up their heart’s to not seek out any wisdom gleaned through the suffering. They proudly say to themselves ‘What would they have to offer’?
A few years ago I determined to deeply listen to this person’s voice and what was lying hidden under the cluttered messy exterior. The nuggets that lay hidden were astounding. They had sat in the back row of existence while others had gained the limelight. They had watched, prayed, cried and remained silent.
Now I am not a big fan talent shows like ‘X-factor’ or ‘America’s got talent’ but I like the concept of taking someone with a hidden talent and bringing them out on to the world stage.
So using this metaphor I would encourage you to be a microphone for other people’s voices.

1. Find the voice. There are many voices that are clamouring to be heard. Who are the people that are generally overlooked and disregarded? Their appearance or social skills may put others off from coming close to them. 
2. Listen to the voice. This step takes time. Listen to their story. Ask gentle questions sifting through the silt of experiences looking for the hidden gold nugget.
3. Refine the voice. Take that nugget of wisdom, polish it with them, and write it down.
4. Share the voice. You have in your hands a piece of voice gold. Share it to others. By your reading this blog, you obviously have some internet connections. With the persons permission put this wisdom into a post on your Blog, Facebook, Google+ etc. When you see some voice gold on Facebook hit the ‘Share’ button. Email your discovery to your friends. Tell me about it.
5. Reward the voice. Here is the real cool part. Tell the person how their voice is being received by the world. It might be the number of page visits that their post is getting. The comments made etc. Most of my guest blogs and poems are from people who in general find their voice is disregarded. They get such a huge buzz and encouragement when I tell them how their post is being received. I have often seen this whole experience as a catalyst for further change and growth. So for you the reader I ask you to please leave comments and encourage others to visit the posts I put up. It encourages the heart voice of the writer.

Some examples of voice gold for you to consider

• Maybe I was a leper?
• What fear forces me to do
• Peace making in the debris of a gambling addiction
• Why wouldn't God choose Rahab?
• In-valid Me
• There and back

I’m off to look for more voice gold!
Question’s to consider. What voices call for you to listen and be a microphone for? What’s stopping you listening to them?
Barry Pearman
Image: Stephen Henderson Creative Commons FlickrBlogger Labels: hospital,heart,wisdom,existence,talent,Listen,silt,gold,nugget,Refine,

When I’m Anxious I go to my Dad

He calls me his precious precious son. I melt at his words. Some thing peaceful happens inside of me.

I remember as a child going to my Father and climbing onto his lap. Snuggling into his chest I would find a place of security. The cropped picture above is one of my Fathers hand’s wrapped around my 1 year old body. Secure, loved and held.
I have listened to the ‘Father/ Child’ experiences of others and I know that I had something very special, even quite unique. 
My Father died a few years back and I miss his quiet wise presence. Some guidance when asked for and a place to be heard.
Where do I go to now for that sense of being held when the storm of life swirls?
I go to Daddy. My three closest friends are Jesus, Daddy and Spirit (Holy). Each have qualities unique to themselves but are also perfectly complimentary to the other.
Daddy welcomes me home with wide open arms. Swings open the banquet room doors and sits me beside him for the feast. I am loved, fed and curled up on his wide lap.
It’s all consuming, you can’t help but experience his infinite love, and the security it brings.
The love your cocooned in is beyond what your brain can comprehend.
You don't think, you experience.
It at times is overwhelming, while at other times it’s just being. No agenda, no ulterior motive.
You feel so small and inadequate, but some how when you are there you don't think about it.
Completely safe.
A never ending oasis in the desert of life.
When you come away you know things you didn't know before, something has transpired in you without you even knowing. It was beyond your control. It was a gift from Daddy that he knew you needed. He knows your deepest needs, beyond what you know yourself.
Each time you curl up on his lap it’s always a bit different because of the growth you have experienced from the previous time. It gently builds on itself.
How do we find this haven?
I suppose the first and probably the most important step is to come to the reality of need. The wandering son Jesus talks about in Luke 17:11-32 ‘came to his senses’. He wakes up to his need. Rejecting self dependency and self determination he returns home to Daddy.
This my journey. Coming to my senses, returning home, and finding a welcoming respite. Warmth, wisdom and rest.
Where do you go to for your security?
Barry Pearman
Blogger Labels: Anxious,words,father,chest,Secure,Child,guidance,life,Daddy,friends,Jesus,Spirit,qualities,banquet,room,brain,times,agenda,motive,oasis,gift,needs,growth,haven,Luke,senses,self,dependency,determination,respite,Warmth,wisdom,Fathers,doors

Heron

HeronBeside the creek I walk
Mangroves line the bank
Water flows no more
In creek at high tide
In the shallows transfixed
The heron stands
Almost like a strange branch
Transfixed
Locked in each moment
Of now, and five minutes
Following on
Sculptured in grey stone
Heron stands
Slightly pointed down
The beak points
To point where fish
May or may not be
Stuart Scott
Image:Airflore Creative Commons Flickr
Take Action!

Be part of the Turning the Page community

• Place a comment below
• Become a subscriber and have posts emailed to you 
• Pass the blog on to others
• If you found this via Facebook then ‘Like’ it, and also ‘Share’ it
• Click on the Google + button below
• Email a link to your friends
• Follow on Facebook or Twitter
• It’s word of mouth by click of mouse

Exploring the Heart–Soul Talk

Have you ever explored something very closely and intensely. It might be a flower, an insect, a soul.
Take for example a tree. Currently in my garden I have a plum tree absolutely laden down with plums that will be ripe in the next few weeks. I study this tree a lot, I am excited about the coming harvest.
The fruit is not the tree though. Looking past the fruit I see leaves, branches, bark, colours, moss, insects, cobwebs, droplets of water, small tiny insects that are barely visible to the naked eye. I pull out my magnifying glass and my exploration deepens. More is revealed.
All of this takes time and I become engrossed in the minute details of what makes up the tree.
The plums are the fruit of what the tree as a whole creative system develops out of itself.
Jesus talked about knowing the person by the fruit being produced.

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? Matthew 7:15-16

Fruit identifies the tree, what it inwardly is.
I was recently explored deeply and lovingly by someone.
They could see the fruit in front of them needed attention. So gently and carefully they explored my heart. They didn't have any fancy degrees, diplomas or certificates.
Mostly they were silent, and when they did speak it was to ask gentle questions and to offer reassurances. A gentle unheard prayer was lovingly offered throughout.
My heart was warmly explored and held.
The other person didn't push their way into my heart, hacking and slashing, revealing and ripping away my secrets in one fell swoop. Instead they were intrigued and curious about whom I am.
How do we explore another's heart?

• Stop. You need to pause in the busyness of life and with an air of unhurried leisure engage with the heart
• Listen. Take note of the words spoken and unspoken. The gestures, the body movements, the voice. Listen to everything.
• Ask questions. You may want to know some more, to understand further. So you ask gentle exploring questions.
• Don't give answers, problem solve or pray - at this moment. We so quickly want to solve this person’s problem, it will make us feel better to do so. Resist this at all costs. You need to allow the real issue of the heart to come to the surface at its own pace.
• Invite Spirit to the dance. To have Spirit come and dance between you and the other is wonderful. We are not alone, Spirit speaks to both of our heart’s. Some potential is being released between the two that transforms the situation.

Have you ever had your heart gently explored? You might like to comment about it below.
Barry Pearman
Image: ruurmo Creative Commons Flickr

Take Action!

Be part of the Turning the Page community

• Place a comment below

• Become a subscriber and have posts emailed to you

• Pass the blog on to others

• If you found this via Facebook then ‘Like’ it, and also ‘Share’ it.

• Click on the Google + button below

• Email a link to your friends

• Follow on Facebook or Twitter

It’s word of mouth by click of mouse Blogger Labels: Heart,Soul,Talk,exploration,attention,prayer,Stop,life,leisure,Listen,words,moment,persons,Resist,Invite,Spirit,situation,