Linnea Coe, aged 15, living in Spokane,US, owner of the blog LIFE IN THE WORLD is a fantastic thinker and fabulous writer. I am amazed at the depth and clarity of her thinking, wonderful writing skill using simple words to effectively convey her thoughts. Here she is writing an interesting letter to pressure which all of us face in our daily life. At first it appears that she is going all out to praise pressure but in the end she gives an interesting twist by challenging pressure using God as a shield.
I am thrilled to reproduce her marvelous letter.
Dear Pressure,
Since you seem to have a lot of time to intrude on my life, I thought I'd drop you a line on how it's going. Then you don't have to work so hard to try to be sneaky about whatever it is you plan to do next.
I'd like to say that you are everywhere. I see you in the hallways, outside in the parking lot, in the cafeteria, in my classes, on the sidewalk, and even in my own house. You are not very subtle. Sometimes you come forcefully, and other times you are quite gentle. Either way, you are very powerful. It's not hard to see. I have many friends who have gotten pregnant because of you. Others, who have gotten drunk or smoked some weed or stolen something from a local store. No matter where I go, you are there too. Pressure here. Pressure there. See Pressure talk. See Pressure lie. See Pressure run. No one escapes you, do they? But through all my observations, I noticed that you take a most common form of people. You could be a girl next door. Or a group of teenage boys that were standing outside the school. You could be a teacher or a student. You could be anything! But, luckily, you are easy to identify. You leave your signature. The cigarette butt on the corner, the empty bottle in the trash, the pill case sitting in the bottom of her bag. You are like a famous villain. And you can't be stopped. Because we humans have Free Will. And Free Will is your biggest ally. You are strong, Pressure. And we don't often win a fight against you. We will give in and try that beer. Or go a little farther in that physical relationship. Or do some of those drugs. And we will fall because of it. Congratulations.
But you must consider something into your calculations; you have an enemy. You have a weakness. Encouragement. A form of yourself, come to think of it. Encouragement is the voice of reason in unreasonable times. Or the voice of wisdom in a stupid situation. She holds us back when you want to pull us in. She has many forms too. She could be a parent. Or a best friend. Or a pastor. Or a neighbor. Then again, so could you, but in that case, it wouldn't be much or a friend or a parent or a pastor. That is your cage. You are limited to those of weak will and mind. Those are the easiest for you to conquer. The most unstable.
And something else you seem to have forgotten is that the most unconquerable people are those who are backed by Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior. He is the Strong Tower. The Impenetrable Fortress. The Solid Rock. The Wall. And unfortunately for you, I'm on one side while you are on the other. You want to get to me, you have to go through HIM. And in that exciting endeavor, I wish you good luck. Cause you are going to need it.
Sincerely, Linnea
Please click here to visit LINNEA COE'S BLOG LIFE IN THE WORLD and check it out yourself.I am sure you will like her instantaneously.
When we enter a graveyard the abounding peace, all pervading calmness and the unusual quietness strikes us forcibly. There is no commotion, struggle, dissension, discord, enmity, ego clashes, domination, anger, competition etc. The entire place is an oasis of silence except perhaps for the chirping of some birds or the distant roar of vehicles.
Another striking feature is that some graves are well maintained and others are not. Perhaps this may be due to the fact that some relations care for their departed ones more than others.
Some of us would like to think that death is only for other people and not for us. We want to believe that we will live for ever. Some of us are overcome with remorse,regret and guilty feeling at the thought that when the person was alive we did not appreciate them enough or do enough for them and now it is too late.
Here are some photos to remind us of the fact that WE ARE DUST AND TO DUST WE SHALL RETURN. WE CAME WITH NOTHING AND WE WILL GO WITH NOTHING. THIS WORLDLY LIFE IS TEMPORARY. WE HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF OUR SOUL WHICH IS INDESTRUCTIBLE AND HAS AN ETERNAL LIFFE.
This is a comment written by Fred from Flying Embers in my other blog MY THOUGHTS,MY INSPIRATIONS.Fred is an inspirational writer and I have been visiting his blog for a very long time and drinking in the wisdom imparted by him in his wonderful posts.Please visit him and be inspired.
Once again you delve into subjects that cause one to stop and think, leaving the superficial issues of life and peering deep into the soul of man.
I have little confidence I can shed much light but I remember the echoes of those from the past that have faced these same questions and have given some insights which I will try and patch together here.
One must begin with St. Paul in his famous discourse in Romans 7 where he too struggled with the paradox of all who seek godliness. He ends his discourse with these words in versus 21–25 –
“So I find this law at work; when I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. Wretched man I am!
Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
His lament sounds much like your own, and mine as well. I heard it said that the one who seeks Holiness always feels he has done too little, and the one who doesn’t, says he has done too much.
John Owen sheds some light on this in this quote – “He is not a true believer to whom sin is not the greatest burden, sorrow and trouble.”
My only criticism in your “confession” is that the list of soul maladies is so much shorter than my own. When I see the pure light that Jesus walked in; the level of Holiness He displayed for the world to see; and the great love he showed for mankind, I can’t help but feel a bed of dust and ashes is the only place for me.
Ah! But our hope is in His great power to live and move through us in spite of our failings; and as you know, He never looks for perfection in all of our actions but accepts the small things we do for Him and makes big results by them; much like he takes the smallest herbs and overcomes the greatest diseases.
As Christians we cling to the hope that Christ’s blood shed on Calvary for our sins and failings and cleanses even the lowliest and gives hope to the hopeless.
Joseph, I appreciate your transparency and although you focus here on your shortcomings; I see throughout your blog the very things God is pleased with.
