The Ichthys Letters: Loss and Grief

Greetings, 

I am so excited to share this Ichthys Letter with you all today. There are more on the horizon as well. Since I began this series back in February, The World of Kedoshim has grown. It is no longer just a vision hanging on my living room wall and in all honesty, there is actually less space on that wall now. 

As I continue to work on the next part of the story in book 4, The Hope of Inheritance, this letter takes us to the end of The Cyprus Journal, but just before the beginning of The Hope of Inheritance. This is a season of transition and change and I can't wait for you to read this. Consider it an introduction to book 4. 

Yes, I know, I'm just getting started, but do not worry, there is a specific reason I am releasing this Ichthys Letter now, feel free to post your guesses in the comments below. 

The Ichthys Letters: Pain and Glory

Greetings, 

I am so excited to share this Ichthys Letter with you all today. There are more on the horizon as well. Since I began this series back in February, The World of Kedoshim has grown. It is no longer just a vision hanging on my living room wall and in all honesty, there is actually less space on that wall now. 

As I begin to work on the next part of the story in book 3, this letter takes us to the end of Finding Philemon, just before Demas and Onesimus leave for their journey to Rome around 95AD. Many of the Founders are long gone and this one letter will usher in the final era of The World of Kedoshim. Yes, I know, I'm just getting started, but do not worry, there is a specific reason I am releasing this Ichthys Letter now, feel free to post your guesses in the comments below. 

The Purpose of Pain- An Emotional Recovery

Greetings,

In my last post, The Purpose of Pain- An Emotional Reality, I shared about the reality of emotional pain. It is important to realize this reality but it is also important to realize that there is a road to recovery. I know what you're thinking, why on earth is he talking about recovery, I can deal with this reality in my own way and on my own time.

The Purpose of Pain- An Emotional Reality

Greetings,

I started this little series a while back, the first post is entitled, Thoughts on the purpose of pain. I've been thinking about it a lot more lately and thought I'd share a bit more.

Thoughts On The Purpose of Pain

Have you ever wondered what life would be like if there were no pain? How different would life actually be? Would we really be all that different?

I have often thought of this, and even more as of late with some news I heard recently. Sometimes I've wondered why pain even exists, what its true purpose is. To be honest, it hasn't always made any real since to me. Life is full of so many different hurts and all types of suffering and I just don't really understand why sometimes. If it were up to me I don't really know if I even would have brought the concept of pain and suffering into this world.

It's really hard sometimes for me to see what goes on in the world and then to think any other way. However, I've always known that pain is a part of what God can, and does, use to make miracles happen, but there is just so much of it.

Our world is broken and while I have never really thought that the purpose of pain was about Judgement or His wrath, it can be difficult to see it in any other light. I realize that all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory, but would He really take the concept of pain and use it to pass judgement on His beloved children.

If you think about the way a parent disciplines a child, we often do bring some type of pain to our children, whether we ground them from TV, put them in time out, or when we start embracing more of a tough love approach. Each of these causes some type of pain.

One of the things that I learned a long time ago was that there is more than just one type of pain. There is Emotional Pain, there is Physical Pain, there are even Mental attributes to pain, but most importantly there is Spiritual Pain. All of these types of pain have a purpose I'm sure, but why?

I've come to believe that maybe the purpose of pain changes with circumstance, situation and experience. So, there is not really one purpose but many. You could say that pain is the result of sin, which some would argue, or you could say that pain is only in this world so that the light of God can use it to break through the darkness that has taken hold of each of us in some way or another.

None of us are perfect are we? We all have something we struggle with and to me, that's where the darkness has the higher ground. You could even say that we experience pain so we can learn from it, I'm not sure how that would work but, there it is.

Maybe there is an answer that I just haven't been able to comprehend yet or maybe there really is no purpose behind it. I think that it's worth some research though. So, I guess I'm going to commit to doing some research about it and go from there. For now, Let's just leave it open and see where God leads.

Blessings in Christ and Thanks again for visiting us at "The Gathering Room."

"Times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord." 45.3.20

M.J. Elliott