In my darkest hour
I uttered a tortured cry
What had happened in my life
That had managed to make
The whole thing seem sour?
As the time went by
I remembered my cry
And the awesome feeling
Of Truth, of one whom
I was forgetting
I felt an answer in my heart
Although He spoke no part
I found the answer in simple
Knowledge of God’s totally
Unconquerable Love
It felt it; it said
I am your God
I stand beside you
In all you say and do
I know everything in your soul
And you have My love, of which my heart is full
I am your God
When troubles and trials strike
I am close by, ever faithful
To every promise I ever made
What more do you desire?
I am your God
My thoughts of you
Far out number the stars
I keep your name deep within
My heart, you’re never forgotten and always cherished
I am your God
I know and feel your joy
I know and feel your pain
You may not always understand
But one day, you’ll se clearly
I am your God
I can see your torment
And I can strengthen you
And I can relieve your stress
Trust always in me, for I will give you rest
I am your God
You are never alone
I will be everything to you
Draw near to me, I love you
In everything that’s said against you
Just remember you are blessed
I am your God
Be always of good cheer
Be always of strength
For you are my dear child
I will hold you forever close to my heart
I am your God
I will give you everything you need
There will be no trial too hard
For I will give you the strength
I am your God
Though times have changed
Though I have been denied
I am always faithful to you
I have made you a part of my great kingdom
I am your God
Nothing will ever separate
Me from you, my love from you
Time can never separate a child and Father
I am your Father, I am your God
-By Sheri Gourley
An unknown Confederate soldier
We’ve all seen them, both in our high schools and in the media. Cliques of both boys and girls. Shows and books like Gossip Girl, The A-Listand movies like Mean Girls revolve around this phenomenon that is all too real in high schools across the country.
Belonging to a clique is based on shared values, and these values are usually superficial things – how you look, what clothes you wear, and undying devotion to the clique’s “leader.”
Exclusion and rejection from these cliques is extremely painful and difficult to deal with. Sometimes it makes it hard to even go to school. But there is good news for us. Jesus says in Matthew in Matthew 6: 19-21, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
If our “treasure” is belonging to a clique in school and keeping up with that group, that is where our heart is – and it will be constantly disappointed and frustrated. God loves us for who we are, and striving to love and accept others unconditionally as he does puts our “treasure in heaven,” where we will be ultimately satisfied. As difficult as it is to do, we need to remind ourselves that our value isn’t in how others see us, or following the spoken or unspoken “rules” of a clique. Our value comes from God, who created us, loves us as our creation, and accepts us no matter how we look, how much money we have, or what clothes we wear.
It is very hard to remember this during day-to-day life at school. Sometimes God seems so far away when we are dealing with drama and feelings of rejection. But when we turn to him, he listens. He can heal and change us from past hurts or things we’ve done to hurt others. Only he can show us how to really love ourselves.
Halloween is definitely in the air-everywhere you look there are costumes, candy, and decorations on display. But as Christians, should we celebrate this holiday with questionable spiritual origins? A great history of Halloween can be found here.
Obviously the whole “worshiping Celtic deities” and “blurring the worlds between the living and the dead” things don’t really fit into the Christian faith. But I think if we examine our intentions, I don’t believe Halloween is off-limits for Christians.
There is nothing wrong with wearing costumes, carving jack-o-lanterns, and eating candy with friends. I think those can just be seen as modern-day, fun fall traditions, not reminders of a Celtic festival of Samhain, simply because these acts no longer have any historical or religious meaning. They are American traditions, just like cooking out on the fourth of July or eating those candy hearts on Valentine’s Day. (I don’t care what anyone says, they are fantastic.)
Christians’ enjoyment of Halloween, however, should be tempered by an idea put forth by Paul in I Corinthians 8. Here he discusses not wanting to cause brothers weaker in the faith to stumble in regard to eating meat sacrificed to idols. As a Christian, Paul knows the religious implications of eating this meat are meaningless, since the sacrifices themselves were meaningless to these fake Gods. But Paul says: “Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.”
I don’t think this means if a fellow Christian is offended by your celebration of Halloween, you should stop. But I do think it means to respect his or her views, to not talk about it around them if they don’t want to hear it, and to be open to questioning about why you think it is OK. Don’t argue with them and try to change their minds.
My personal belief is, Halloween is a fun day that is taken way too seriously by religious people. I don’t believe God is offended if people celebrated this modern-day candy fest. But we need to be sensitive to those who don’t share those beliefs. It’s all a part of loving and serving others and encouraging them on their own spiritual journey.