I have been in a reflective mood this week.
Perhaps it’s because my cold took all the energy out of me.
My desire to do too many tasks in a day was lost somewhere between the bed and the couch.
And so I lingered and thought deep with my heart.
I felt like I was listening to heart whispers.
It’s like my soul was listening when my body could do
It’s like God was giving me a chance to clean my soul as the medicine was cleaning the germs from my body.
Reflecting upon the scriptures for the week I marveled that we are solidly in the New Testament, with readings that focus totally on the New Covenant.
No Old Testament scriptures during this season of Easter.
Just celebration and awe regarding the resurrection of Jesus, the Christ, the anointed one.
How many ways can I reflect upon the resurrection . . . especially when my physical body doesn’t feel at all
As I lingered in this quiet state, my heart whispers reminded me of my favorite author whose words mesmerized me several years ago.
His name is Mattie Stepanek.
He is no longer living on this earth but he is very much alive in my heart.
Mattie’s book, ‘Heartsongs’ penetrated my soul in such a way that his words often return to me to fill empty spaces in my soul.
Mattie died at age fourteen after he gave the world a gift of hope, after he gave us words of resurrected life.
Just as Jesus appeared to the disciples to calm their fears and encourage them to touch and see the Truth standing before them, a young lad’s words appeared in my heart.
Mattie had an enthusiasm for life.
He loved sunsets and rainbows and rock collecting.
His love for people was contagious.
His words reflect his love of all things wonderful.
God calls us to believe in the the Word made flesh, the new covenant, a new song, a new heartsong.
Mattie Stepanek LIVED life and saw each day in a new color,
Here are some quotes from Mattie from the time he was three years old.
“My disease is a very rare form of muscular dystrophy, called disautonomic mitochondrial myopathy” . . . “The doctor said, 'He can't last a week.' And I did. And they said, 'There's no way this kid's going to last a month.' And I did. And so they said, 'Two years. He's not going to make it.' Two years. 'Five years. He can't do that.' I lived to be five years. 'He's never going to hit double digits.' And here I am, a new teenager.” . . . “I would not have lasted a minute, literally a minute, on this Earth without God and angels by my side, because I was born. And right as I was born, I went into a respiratory arrest. So, big things that keep me going are friends and family and God. And another thing is looking forward to what's going to happen tomorrow”.
That’s resurrected life. I should mention that three of his siblings died from the same disease before the age of three.
Mattie continues, “While we are living in the present, we must celebrate life every day, knowing that we are becoming history with every work, every action, every deed.”
Mattie knew that our actions toward others, our love toward the unlovable, our being present in someone else’s life makes an impact forever. Each of us is making history simply by being present in another’s life.
Mattie said, “Sometimes my body wakes me up and says
Mattie celebrated each moment of a very challenging life.
He never knew when he’d land in the hospital, when his breathing would stop even with a tracheotomy and a breathing machine.
He said, “I feel that God has given me a very special opportunity that I should not let go to waste.
I use the gift he has given me.”
Mattie’s gift? Words of encouragement, heart whispers, heart songs. Mattie rose to the occasion daily. He rose above his disability to give others a sense of hope.
“I do fear death. But what I actually fear is not dying.
I mean, true, it will be sad. But I know that there is a better place waiting for me. "
Mattie was secure in his faith.
He knew God had a special place for him as God does for all of us who choose New Covenant life.
This next quote from Mattie is so profound.
“Sad things happen. They do.
But we don't need to live sad forever.”
That’s the key. I have heard from so many people where we live about the darkness and cold of winter that affects many of us.
The only way we might be able to rise above this pressing sadness is to think beyond the cage of darkness and focus on light of hope.
As Mattie says, “We don’t need to live sad forever.”
Mattie would be the first one to tell us that we have an ever-loving God who can draw us into His bright light, who can draw us out of the darkness.
Mattie continues, “A heartsong doesn't have to be a song in your heart. It doesn't have to be talking about love and peace. It can just be your message. It can be your feeling. Some people might even call it a conscience, even though that's not really what it is. It's your message, what you feel like you need to do . . . Even though the future seems far away, it is actually beginning right now.”
These words from Mattie speak of the present-ness of God and remind me of God’s continuous whispers into my heart.
When Mattie calls upon God, he is very straight forward.
“It doesn't matter how you pray. Just pray. . . . . God gives me hope that there is something greater than us, something better and bigger than the here and now, that can help us live.”
“Keep all special thoughts and memories for lifetimes to come. Share these keepsakes with others to inspire hope and build from the past, which can bridge to the future.”
“We all have life storms, and when we get the rough times and we recover from them, we should celebrate that we got through it. No matter how bad it may seem, there's always something beautiful that you can find.”
Now that’s what I call Resurrected life.
Perhaps each of us can find a moment each day to listen to our heart whispers, that childlike understanding of life-happenings that are hard to comprehend.
I need a quiet place to focus on my heart whispers.
Perhaps we each can find new meaning to resurrected life when we listen with our heart.
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