In Defense of True Love

With three friends getting engaged just this weekend, I decided to write an open letter to all the couples I know ... in defense of true love. 

Photo Credit: Daniel Tate

I saw the ring.

I saw the hope, brighter than your diamond, flash out at him; at the world; at me. No, it was something deeper than hope.

Love.
True love.

People don't believe in true love anymore and I lose my patience--what little patience I had to begin with--for these so-called realists. Those people--the embittered, jaded souls that they are--don't believe in true love because I guess they've never learned all of its pieces.

I've never known what it is to share that connection with another person, to let my soul entwine ivy-wise with theirs till the slightest tug hurts like fractured bone. I've never known what it is to live in dread of dread ... to lie awake at night worrying that the one my soul loves will be worrying: a mutual incapacity to think of anything apart from what that person might think of the thing in question.

I've never known it but I have seen it. Seen it in people like you. So I believe in true love because you've taught me. And those who don't believe in it? Can't believe in it? They just don't realize that true love hides under the nettle-leaf of a thousand courtesies.

To see a cup of water in the night, given by a clumsy, sleep-drugged hand, they call kindness.

They see you give up your own identity, that name which had been yours since birth, and bind yourself with a round silver promise to another human. You take his name and his heart and they call it a ceremony.
He fixes the brakes on your car and they call it a "to-do list".
They see the cup of coffee he made just perfectly and they wonder aloud why it wasn't a dozen red roses instead.
They see you lose a heated argument and let him have the last word and cry tears of hot release by yourself as you drive to the grocery store and they call it proof that the charm of your chemistry has faded; they don't realize that love, like any living thing, needs buffeting to set down roots.
In a moment of breathless, faithless crisis--a moment when he doesn't show a sliver of the infatuation he lavishes now, a moment when life has become like Sinai's forty years-those realists will draw close and whisper poison-wise,
"See? His love wasn't true love. Go on and leave and look for it elsewhere."
They don't see that the greatest material of which true love is knit is commitment and tenacity.
Your everyday choice to do his laundry, his bills, to share his interests, his people, his bed ... they name it "routine" and scorn it as they scorn the goodbye hug and "I'm headed home" calls.
They dub your patience "being used to him" and his quick out-the-door kisses "absentminded."
And those times he makes you laugh till your sides hurt and mascara inks your tears they'll call "good days" as if all the days between had ignoble titles.

They mean well, I guess, in their worldly-wise, weary-boned way ... but they can't know it is true love. They don't see that the service, the ceremony, the coffee and car-repairs and arguments and desert-treks, the routines and familiarity and absentminded kisses and "good days" ... these are the truth in the thing we call true love.

True love as I see it, as you've shown it, is a breaking yourself in half and giving that piece over, a breaking of one into two, a fitting of two into one: two lives, two souls, two personalities and wills and throbbing hearts. To make this love work, one must be malleable and able to fold in a thousand pieces, to build pieces on a thousand pieces to become whole again. A constant breaking, a constant healing, a constant no-longer-me-and-you but 'us'.

A thing without a name--those thousand pieces--are soon forgotten, disbanded, dissolved. The realists stole the name and cast it to the four winds and they can no longer see. So bind yourself under one name with a promise, call what you have by its name: true love. Defy the realists and better yet, teach them to see the beauty of your threads as you weave them day by day by live-long day.

I saw the ring.

I saw the defiance.

It made me smile and hope.

Let Me Call you Sweetheart?

....that is one love-song I absolutely despise. I mean, really. Ew. But I have to admit that I have an affinity for love songs in general. The other night, Sarah and I were sitting together at the computer helping a friend compile favorite songs for her trip to NYC! :) I was laughing over how many of the songs I suggested would classify as love songs. Haha

Though I'm a romantic, I don't go in for all the sappy, sad love-songs, nor the cheesy ones. Broadway and Vintage music have my numbers, as do Michael Buble and several country stars. :D  What are some of my favorites?

"Beyond the Sea" by Matt Belsante

This song is such a loved one it made it into a large part in my latest novel.. ^.^

"I Won't Give Up" by Jason Mraz

Such a sweet song. I love the dedication. :)

"Lucky" by Jason Mraz and Colbie Callait

One of the cutest little songs ever.

"Haven't Met You Yet" by Michael Buble and "Everything"

Two of the most adorable songs from one of the best modern-vintage singers.

"The Way You Look Tonight" by good old Frank Sinatra

"Fly Me to the Moon" by Frank Sinatra (again)

"Coffee in the Morning and Kisses at Night" by Dale Evans

This song just makes me so happy and cozy. ^.^

"Why Don't We Just Dance" by Josh Turner

"Would You Go With Me" by Josh Turner

(A favorite from the very first moment I heard his astonishingly deep voice. :D)

"The Lights of Old Santa Fe" by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans

Another precious one by my favorite cowboy-couple

"Sweet Afton" by Nickle Creek

(YOU HAVE TO WATCH THIS ONE BECAUSE IT'S ALSO A MONTAGE OF LADY MARY AND MATTHEW CRAWLEY! <3) 

"De-Lovely" from Anything Goes by Collin Donnell and Laura Osnes

(This couple is way too cute for their own good.)

There are more. There are so many more, because the world is just chock-full of good, cheery, sweet love songs. But these are the ones I will give you, and for further news, check out Meghan's post of her own favorites! :)

{From My Bookshelf}: A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken

"Oh, Rachel. A Severe Mercy again? Won't you ever stop harping on it?"

I beg leave, my friends, to trespass on your patience at least once more and give you a full review of this fascinating book. I suppose the best way to go about it would be the manner of the Spanish Inquisition likely simmering in your brains since I've talked about this book so much:

"What is it about?" I will reference the very helpful "back of the book" blurb to explain:

This celebrated story traces the idyllic marriage of Sheldon and Jean (Davy) Vanauken, their search for faith, their friendship with C.S. Lewis, and the tragedy of untimely death and love lost.

Right there. ^ That's it. This book is part biography, part romance, part philosophy, and part beauty. Mama had long told me I ought to read it, but the title kind of threw me off. Did I really want to read something called about a severe mercy? But from the opening chapter, written like a novel, this book captured something of my attention and held it all through.

"Who is it by?" Sheldon Vanauken...with many pop-ins and letters and quotes and wonderfulness from C.S. Lewis.

"Why did you like it?" Ye gods and little fishes! What was there not to like about it? I loved the romance and the image of the Shining Barrier--the fence around their love that Van and Davy had been so careful to put up. I loved the gentle breaking-down of the Shining Barrier as God penetrated it and turned them from Us to Us-and-God and, ultimately, God-and-us. I loved the nuances like the one above--the gentle philosophizing that is so impacting but so small and soft you would not notice it unless you were taking time to be still. Think about those three states of thought...so different just by a rearranging of words! Beautiful.

I loved the "Oxford years" and the image of cozy hearth and fireside, intelligent conversation, books loved and read, Christian fellowship in The Studio...England. Haha.

At intervals during the Oxford years, in the vacs, we went off on visits to friends or on longer exploring journeys. There were many one-day or two-day trips to London. There was a jolly Christmas in Yorkshire, full of family games and carolling in the misty streets, at the home of a college friend, Trevor. And a fort-night in Wild Wales with Bee and Peter, and Geraint part of the time, mainly climbing Cader Idris when it was fine, and reading John Buchan in the farmhouse when it was wet.

The people shared my love of a good book, witty, worthwhile conversation...naming every house they lived in. And of course, by the end, they were Christians and therefore we are bonded together in a special way.
I know this sounds strange, but sometimes I feel that I really don't know how to think. By that I mean I don't know how to think in the way other people think--in a way that lends itself to philosophy and conversation and the forming of the beautiful thoughts I love to read so well. At any rate, I suppose that is one of the purposes of reading much--you begin to recognize the path of such thoughts and to think them yourself. That is one of things I also loved about A Severe Mercy. It took quite a few elusive feelings I'd had about things and wove them into tangible words that I will now be able to point to and say "That! That is what I am talking about!"

"What did you learn from this book?" I learned how sadness is different from bitter grief and angry sorrow. I learned how obviously eternity is implanted in the hearts of men--I'd not seen it so clearly and undeniably before. I learned that it is possible to stay in love your whole life long and that quality time together is the glue cementing two people into one. I learned more about C.S. Lewis. I learned about Sheldon Vanauken. I learned that A Severe Mercy is a book I'll return to again and again. I learned a toast, ("If it's half as good as the half we've known, here's Hail! to the rest of the road.") and, to quote Lewise that "Christians NEVER say goodbye!" ;)

Get thee a copy as soon as possible! You will not regret the reading of it.

Crashing the Pity Party

    Following a wonderful post by Miss Raquel, {yes, I was clever enough to link to the post} I was thinking about Love. What a capricious word "Love" is in our English language. By "love" we English mean anything from Nutella to babies to period dramas, to Sherlock, to Thor, to our guy and our God. We are quick to say the word--indeed, "Love" is probably one of the top words in English vocabulary simply because it has so many definitions.

    As single girls and women we long for the day we will be loved by a good man, and most of the time we are content with God's love for now. Yep. That's the problem. Those two little words tacked onto the end of the sentence. "For Now." Don't lie--you know as well as I do that those two words chase after your thoughts like hounds after a hare.
    I am as guilty as the next woman of viewing this single life as an in-between-time. I seem to view these years when I am unmarried as a "waiting period" as if: "Oh, the Lord's love is good enough for me now until He decides to bring my man along and then...then it'll be over and we'll all run along merry as the day is long."

     But therein lies the whole problem. I've been reading C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters and came across a very intriguing bit of correspondence between Screwtape and his nephew:

“You must therefore zealously guard in his mind the curious assumption 'My time is my own'. Let him have the feeling that he starts each day as the lawful possessor of twenty-four hours. Let him feel as a grievous tax that portion of this property which he has to make over to him employers, and as a generous donation that further portion which h allows to religious duties. But what he must never be permitted to doubt is that the total from which these deductions have been made was, in some mysterious sense, his own personal birthright.” 

     I had to feel convicted over that quote. I, like many others, seem to view my time as my own. I assume that my life as a single woman will come to an end someday, and in the meantime I look forward to that end with great expectation. What none of us take into account is that we don't know which part of the future we will have.

     What  if this "season" is one God has called us to for the rest of our lives? What if we aren't to be married or--and I am not being morbid, just philosophizing--what if we aren't to live as long as we expect? Do you really want to live life as a single woman with your eyes fixed on the horizon, never seeing all the gifts strewn around your feet?

     The thing is, Jesus isn't interested in convincing us to wait. What He wants is for us to fall so completely, unutterably, wholly in love with Him that we don't count moments and hours and days and weeks and months and years. He wants us to be consumed with a passionate love for Him that outer circumstances don't affect our willingness to be His. Yes, even marriage. Because for all the "Love" that we might share with a godly man someday, it won't last. The warm fuzzies will fade. You will discover he's a man after all, and even Mr. Knightley sometimes props his boots in the middle of the good china. Marriage is simply another step of life. A precious one, yes, but no more important in the eternal scheme of things than any other event you experience.

    Sometimes I think I'm guilty of using my love for Jesus {or His love for me} as an antidote. "I love Jesus--I really do. And I'm loving Him so much today that I don't feel anxious to be married at all!" Such a love can hardly be deemed a whole-hearted, selfless, tender affection and devotion to a person. It smacks singularly of selfishness. "I love you till" or "I love you because"--not a bit of that profound way Jesus loves us:

"I love you."

    No reason, no conditions, no expiration date. He loves us simply because that was His choice. And in return we learn to love Him. (1 John 4:19)

     So this is not another post on How To Wait. It's not even a post on Waiting Is Hard. {which sometimes runs closer to my frame of mind} I really want you to understand that. I've written and you've read plenty of posts about Theory. I'm asking for some Practice. Some determination to crash our pity-parties and get going with this beautiful life God has given us. How it must sadden Him and make Him shake His head to see us entirely missing the point of Life.
Life isn't an endurance test!
     It's a privilege. We can't just sit here tolerating singleness as if it was a dry, bony desert we couldn't wait to get to the end of. I'm not writing a Guide Book To The Piteous Desert.
     Instead what the purport of this post is, is a challenge to each of us to build a vibrant, sweet, lasting relationship with Jesus. A relationship that begins today and extends to death and beyond. A relationship that will still be the source of your joy, your contentment, and your peace when {and if} you are married, when the children come, when the children leave, when you're retired, and when you're eighty years old, toothless, and mental to boot. A relationship that is based on His ideas of love--not your idea of an antivenin. Because really...when all's said and done and Jesus is in the equation, who gives a wimpy hairpin if you've got a man?

the boat song

I pretty much consider this the single cutest love-song/homemade music-video ever. JJ Heller and her hubby made it in their dining room with a few simple props, and came out with something beautiful, sweet, and happy. Watch it and be blessed. :) <3

to love at all is to be vulnerable.

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken."

-C.S. Lewis.

The Lord has been teaching me much in the last month or so. :) Some of the lessons are only half-learned, some of them still on the road ahead. But I am learning one lesson that--though it is still fresh and raw and a tad painful, I felt that I needed to share.

I speak of loneliness.

You see, this issue didn't come in the manner I was accustomed to seeing it in. It didn't come from watching yet another period drama and wishing I had a guy of my own. It didn't come from watching other friends' romances and wishing dismally for my own. No. It sneaked in at a back door. It came from an unexpected source.

It came in through one of the greatest joys of my life.

Bet you didn't see that coming, did you? By now I know you're wise to the cause for my loneliness. Yes, the Lord began putting His finger on this subject when Daniel and Abigail started a courtship. I prayed so so hard for a courtship between them. I had long nights of mental agony over the possibility of it not happening. The Lord blessed our family with the exciting news. Daniel and Abigail were officially starting a courtship. I was ecstatic. (and still am.)

But something unexpected began seeping in. Loneliness. The realization that something was going to change, whether I liked it or not. Daniel and Abigail have each other now, and though they both love me as much as ever, it is natural and right that I should take a back-stage seat and let them sail out of the harbor and onto the open seas.

And that was hard for me. I'm a passionate little creature and those I love, I love with a fierceness un-matchable. It made my heart ache fiercely to realize that I had to love them enough to let go.

That was the first lesson. I weeped a little weep over it one day and the Lord asked me clearly: "Are you willing to do this for me? Are you willing to be left behind? Because I need you here for now. Not out on the high seas. That is for them. This day I want you in the harbor, working among the docks."

Ouch. Lesson One choked down and swallowed and saved for a later date when I might need it again. I tried to let go completely. Of Daniel, of Abigail. Of my own need to feel loved and to have a special place in someone's heart. I thought I had let go. I really did. And then came the first, beautiful weekend Abigail and Daniel spent together as an official "couple."

It was hard for me.

Hard enough that I pinched myself repeatedly and scolded myself for being a selfish girl and then felt like bursting into tears every half-second. I was confused. Hadn't I let them go out to sea? Wasn't I content to stay in my harbor? What was wrong with me? Was it jealousy?

My eyes widened at this idea, but as I examined my heart I found (to my great relief) it was not jealousy. It was misplaced love. I love Daniel so much and I love Abigail so much that I was...well...to sound quite dragon-ish, I was hoarding them.

My Lord and I had another conversation on the subject:

"Lord, I love them so much! It is hard to let them go!"
Do you love them?"If this isn't love than I don't know what is. It hurts enough."
But do you really love them? Because I've given you an example of true love...love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy it does not boast, is it not proud, it is not rude, it is not self-seeking...

By this time I knew where the conversation was going, and I tucked Lesson Two away beside Lesson One. I was getting quite a collection, you see. I asked Jesus to help me love Abigail and Daniel the right way. To love them selflessly and to rejoice in this beautiful answer to my prayers. My heart was more cheerful and I felt that the serenity I'd tacked onto my face was becoming natural and unforced. But I suppose I still had rather more of the coal than the diamond about me because God was not quite finished. He's a Trinity, after all, and likes to give me gifts in threes....(actually, most of my best friendships in my life have been threesomes. Odd, that!)

Yup. Lesson Three still to be learned. He has sent one of my dearest friends to work at a camp all summer long--something she's prayed about for a long time. Since they began attending another church, I seldom see two of my other long-time best friends anymore. There is still no knight on the horizon.

I began to grumble within myself:

 "Lord, You're taking away my dearest friends and companions! You're changing everything I love so well as it is! What is it You are trying to teach me?"
Do you remember our conversation, my dear child?"Yes," I admitted.
And do you not remember that I have asked you to stay behind? His voice was not harsh or exacting, only gentle and grave.
"Yes." 

By this time I couldn't stand to be downstairs amid all the hubbub. I had a headache. It was about 10:30. I said my good-nights and hurried to get ready for bed, turned out the light, and took up the conversation again. (This time with some tears thrown in for emotional relief. I'd been needing a good cry.) "Lord...it does seem a very hard lesson to learn...being left behind. Why is it that You want me to be alone?"

I could almost hear Him laugh. I could almost see Him smile. Rachel, He said, am I not large enough to replace everyone? Abigail, and Daniel, and Maryanna, and Joanna, and Morgan and Katie and all the rest of them? I am the Lord of the Universe. Can't I fill the holes they leave in your life? Can't I fill them so you don't even know they are there, or ever had been there? Depend on Me. In Me and only in Me is true joy, and affection and Love. I am all you need.

His voice in my heart quieted me, dried my tears, and lulled me to sleep. Lesson Three. Learned for real this time. 

I share this with you, hoping you know that I'm not perfect. I've not arrived. For all I know there's still a Lesson Four ahead. Okay. I'll even confess that the last conversation related...yeah...(up there ^) only transpired last night.

It's that new. 

It's that fresh. 

But it's that important.

 I share these things with you because I know that some of you girls are in a similar spot. God is leading you in a quiet path of seeming loneliness. New relationships aren't happening, and old ones are changing. Fact is, you aren't even sure you want the change if it hurts so much. You see the beautiful things the Lord is doing, and yet it hurts so much you aren't sure if the old shabby things weren't the best after all. Recently on Google+ I posted this status: (Yes, vanity! ;) 

Learning to let go of How Things Were is the only painful part of receiving the gift of How Things Will Be...there is always that little moment of panic when one begins to wonder whether the old ways were pleasantest after all. But the Will Be is the real joy, the real end...everything else is just shamming about and Pretending. 

I hope this post encouraged some of you, boosted a spirit or two, and did a bit of good. But if it didn't do any of those things and if I am the only one who can relate, I know one thing. It was good for me. Thanks for reading. :) 

                       Love,

                              Rachel

"Let's see...who will be next?" (!!!!)

They're a couple! <3

When a best friend combines with a best older brother, you know life's good. :)

The Beautiful Branding

We are called to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are called to lay down our lives for them as Christ has laid down His life for us. Most often we think of missionaries and martyrs when this topic comes up. After all, aren't they the ones day in and day out laying down their lives to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Yes, that is true. And I am so grateful for all these men and women who have been called to that capacity.

But sometimes laying down our lives is a bit more subtle. I have been thinking on this topic a lot recently, and even the sermon at church on Sunday tied in. (in a strange Rachel's Mind sort of way.:) The preacher spoke on the Great Commission in Matthew 28, and about how we are called to spread the love of Christ wherever we are. We can "go," "baptize,", and "teach," but the base-line of it all is that we share Christ with others. This is something I've been convicted of recently in my life. Through God's grace I try to live a life pleasing to Him. I try to be a good testimony through my blogs, and other places. But how many times have I personally shared the Gospel with someone?

I ask myself that question and my mind blanks out. Have I? Have I? Yes, I have spoken of Jesus to perfect strangers before, but I cannot bring to mind a time I've actually told someone the Gospel on my own, apart from any event where that was my mission. Just an everyday conversation with someone, telling them about the great Love that has saved me. It pains me to realize and confess that. True, some of it is because I've been blessed to live in and associate with a group of people who already love Jesus and I haven't had many opportunities to have in-depth conversations with unbelievers. But that isn't an excuse. I need to look for opportunities to share my Savior with others. How can I keep from singing this glorious news?

That was Part One of the thoughts going through my mind. But the other part was loosely connected and reverts back to laying down our lives for others. I went from thinking about telling others about Christ to living for Christ. This means sacrificing our will, our dreams, our comfort and giving it over to Jesus so that He can make it perfect and beautiful through our brokenness.

It happens in life, sometimes, that we feel the Lord's hand in a situation and we move forward and our hopes and dreams run ahead of us and suddenly we come up against a wall. The door is shut. There is no way through that wall for us. We turn around and see Jesus standing there behind us.

"Lord, why would You have me do this thing only to make me turn around and go back the way I came?"

That is the temptation. And yet do we stop and wonder if, perhaps, our walking that far along that path was a way we were laying down our lives for others? It could be. Have we told Christ that the only way He can use us is if things turn out the way we want them to? Are we willing to be used to minister to another, to help the Lord accomplish His plan in another's life even if it doesn't appear to benefit us? Even if it seems it might hurt us?

Because I know that Jesus has a plan for my life, for your life. And He will use those situations to mold and shape us further into His image. His mercies are sharp, but tender. His ways are narrow but so perfect. Are we willing to be marked with His plan? It is a beautiful branding, but a branding all the same, and it might sting at times. We might "get nothing" out of a situation, have to turn around and go home and start from scratch. But if we were being used by Christ, He was still in the details. He brought you forth and He will bring you home.

I don't mean to make Jesus seem to take pleasure in wounding us. No! But are we willing to love our brothers this way? In the laying down our life for a friend? It's a sharp question that demands a quick throb from the thorn of Love planted in our hearts. A sweet, broken pain that heals as it cuts....

"Oh, bless our God, you peoples!

And make the voice of His praise to be heard,

⁹ 

Who keeps our soul among the living,

And does not allow our feet to be moved.

¹⁰ 

For You, O God, have tested us;

You have refined us as silver is refined.

¹¹ 

You brought us into the net;

You laid affliction on our backs.

¹² 

You have caused men to ride over our heads;

We went through fire and through water;

But You brought us out to rich fulfillment."

~Psalm 66:8-12

Just a bit of Love.

Do you ever get to that point in your personal Bible reading when there are just so many choices of where to read you get overwhelmed and end up reading a Psalm? :D Lately I have been doing that, but it was not entirely satisfying, so I did a sister-ish thing and asked Sarah to assign me a book to read.

 "Ummm....First John?" she answered, looking at me as if to be sure I was okay.

It was an off-the-cuff answer, but Sarah? I'm so glad you gave it to me! :D I hadn't read 1 John in awhile, but ever since I started reading I've been overwhelmed and delighted by the richness and tenderness of this book of God's word. Right from the start John gives the Gospel and tells us that he writes these things to us that our joy may be full.That, right there, is such a great reminder of what the Christian life must be. Full of joy and abundant in it.

Maybe it's because I'm a writer myself and I pay attention to little things like sentence structure, but I was also impressed by the very word choices John used. He piles words upon words in a way that leaves you feeling as if your arms were full to the brim with packages of God's love. There is no condemnation in the way John writes, only a desperate plea for us to recognize the love of Jesus for us. I love the first part of chapter 2:

"My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world."

Wham! The richness of the gift of grace is seen so clearly here, even by how we are addressed as "Little children." Not Dirty Little Sinners, not You People Out There, not Everyone in the World Who Needs a Savior, but as if Christ stooped down, gathered us in His strong, all-encompassing arms, and whispered, "Little Children, come to Me."

 Then in 1 John 2:22 he says, "Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also."

This verse is worded so flawlessly. It states the case of things with clarity and conciseness, without pointing fingers. It is so beautifully black and white and loving. Deny the Son and you won't have the Father either. But acknowledge the Son and you have both of Them. :)
In the end of Chapter Two there is a whole paragraph that strikes deep chords with me:

"These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him." (1 John 2:26-27)

I will admit that I struggle with loving the Prunes & Prisms variety of Christians--those who value propriety above a personal relationship with Jesus. We have all met these poor, constricted people who put on so many garments of "convictions" that they can scarcely breathe, they are so pressed on from all sides.

 I want to caution us all to only put on the convictions God hands us, not ones that Men, fallible Men tell us to put on. There are times when God may use Men to convict us, but listen for the Shepherd's voice and listen only to Him. As he says, we do not need to be taught by Men, for the Holy Spirit and God's word will teach us all things, as it has already taught us.
Did we need people to tell us taking a cookie from the jar was wrong as a child? No, we knew it was wrong because the Holy Spirit was teaching us. Do we need people to tell us to do or not to do something? No. Ask Jesus about it and He will show you His stand on the point. He will answer, and after that don't mind what Men say--you've got the approval of the Most High Lord.
 Anyway, I think I've succeeded in taking you for a hopeless ramble again, but I just thought I'd share some of the things the Lord had been teaching me recently. I hope it encourages one of you!