Are You Connected?

Connections to the faith community are extremely important to Christians. When we fellowship, we uplift one another; we teach one another; we pray for one another, and we love one another; therefore, connections made through fellowship are vital to a strong Christian walk. Our journeys are made lighter by the Christians in our circle.

We are encouraged to connect in hundreds of passages in the Bible. The following are just a few:

Even when two or three are gathered in my name, I will be there with them. Matthew 18:20

If iron sharpens iron, you must understand that one person will sharpen another. Proverbs 27:17

As you bear one another’s burdens, you are also fulfilling the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2

Together, we should contemplate how to stir up one another to love and to do good works. Hebrews 10:24

If we truly examine our faith walks, we will most likely see that when we were strong and were walking close to Jesus, we were probably connected to other Christians through formal and informal fellowship. If we think back upon the times we felt lost, alone, and without direction, we would most likely discover that we pulled away from our Christian connections, away from church, away from fellowship. I know this holds true in my own life.

Just last night, I attended a Ladies Fellowship Dinner at my local church. I made connections through meeting new women who sat at my table, and I got to better know women who attend my church. I experienced fellowship through our shared meals, prayers, and little extras like door prizes and other experiences. Best of all was listening to our speaker who connected to us all by speaking from her heart and sharing her testimony.

In my latest novel, ILLUMINATED, Cotton, the main character, drifted away from her connections to her childhood church. During that time, she drifted from Jesus and the people who loved her, prayed for her, and uplifted her. Cotton eventually found, however, that even when one drifts away, the WORD that Jesus placed in one’s heart remains there—possibly buried and difficult to access, but still there. She regretted, however, that she had drifted away.

We all may have times of difficulty connecting through church attendance or with other fellowship opportunities because we lead busy lives. I have been pulled away at times because of taking care of ill or dying family members. Connecting has been difficult when I travel because so many family members live so far away. Many people have illnesses of their own that prevent them from leaving their homes at times.

No matter the reasons we have difficult connecting at times, we must not allow those lost connections to continue. At whatever point you can, listen to the pulling of your heart, reconnect, fellowship, attend church, and reach out to your fellow Christians to strengthen you, to pray for you, and to uplift you when you need it most. And—just as important—be there for those who need the connections when they are discouraged. Jesus encouraged connections because he knew the value it has in your Christian journey.

What Is Your Mantra?

 

By definition, a mantra is a word, phrase, or sentence that guides a person through life. It can also be a kind of mystical call to place or keep a person in a particular state of mind. Sometimes, people create or adopt a conscious mantra to organize their thoughts and actions, and sometimes, a mantra can be more subtle—like an attitude. For a moment, think about your own mantra—whether it is an overt one or a covert one (that you may not even articulate). What is that mantra? Does it align with biblical principles?

In ILLUMINATED, the main character, Cotton Rivers, adopted a mantra early in her life: “Ignorance is its own reward.” At first, this mantra may appear to be a kind of oxymoron. But, in the beginning of her Christian journey, this mantra serves her well. If she doesn’t know about work requirements, she doesn’t have to perform them. If she doesn’t acknowledge a reality in her life, she doesn’t have to deal with it. If she doesn’t examine the biblical principles she learned in her youth, she believes she is free to operate outside of those principles and morality.

Unfortunately, the impunity she enjoyed throughout her life on Earth (in The Choosing Place) does not serve her well in her new situation in The Sorting Place (in Heaven). Her ignorance prevents her from “sorting” out her life and her choices in that life. Her ignorance impedes her from seeing the repercussions of her “choices” in The Choosing Place. Thus, her Christian journey is thwarted.

The entire Bible is salted with verses cautioning against ignorance.

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge…” Hosea 4:6

“Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.” Ephesians 4:18

“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.” Acts 17:30

Wisdom is exalted throughout the scriptures.

Now, I’d like to challenge you to think beyond the concepts of ignorance and wisdom to develop a mantra that is scripture or is based upon scripture that could guide you through your own life. Would it be a mantra of loving your fellow man? Would it be a verse based upon prayer and communication with our Lord? Would you devise a mantra that includes one of the Gifts of the Spirit?

In the remaining miles of my own Christian Journey, my Christian mantra (based upon Isaiah 6:8) is resounding louder and stronger in my head and heart: Here I am, oh, Lord. Send me.

 

The Christian Journey

 The Christian Journey

The Christian Journey is a term used to describe a pilgrimage toward perfection in the Christian faith as we follow Jesus. It is not an easy road or a straight road. Instead, it is a road marred with many pitfalls, potholes, detours and wrecks. Though we have the Bible as a roadmap along our journey, many choose to shelf their Bibles or to become distracted or led astray and, ultimately, end up in trouble on that journey. Each Christian has his/her own Christian journey, and few of those journeys are the same.

            Numerous novels and books have been written about The Christian Journey. The Pilgrim’s Progress, The Chronicles of Narnia and The Shack are a few of my favorites. Reading a novel that has The Christian Journey as a theme or a subtext requires readers to engage on a deeper level with the story because that story, necessarily, uses an allegorical framework. There is usually an interesting story on the surface, but the more significant details are written between the lines and in the reader’s head as the story unfolds. Readers are requested to engage with symbolism, metaphors, similes, and motifs, along with additional literary devices—all of which create depth in the story.

            ILLUMINATED is a novel about a woman who meets her unborn children in Heaven. It is an allegorical story about The Christian Journey. In the novel, Cotton Rivers loses her way as she becomes educated and pursues a career in broadcast journalism. Her beliefs are challenged after an accident requires her to re-examine her life and her “choices” in that life. Eternal salvation or Eternal damnation are the ultimate destinations of that journey, so it’s vitally important that she gets her “Sorting” right.

            Whether one realizes it or not, each Christian is on a journey and is charged with an examination of his/her life. The rewards are high, and the stakes are even higher. Sometimes, it is difficult to undertake such an examination, but one can always refer to books and novels on the subject, but the highest reference book on that subject is, of course, the Bible, and it is to be studied with prayer, fasting, discernment, and great care.

A great Bible verse to guide that journey is found in 1 John 2:6: "Whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which Jesus walked." Jesus's life is always our template for The Christian Journey.

 

ILLUMINATED: A Heaven and Earth Novel by Vicki Wilkerson

 Illuminated is A Heaven and Earth Novel by Vicki Wilkerson

Please join me in praying for this pro-life novel--that it reaches the hands and hearts of those for which it is intended. It is not only a story about a woman who meets her unborn babies in Heaven and has to reconcile with them before she discovers her eternal fate, but it is also a novel about the Christian journey. The story calls for deep reflection and asks the reader to question his/her deeply held beliefs. 

Jesus Is a Rock

 

Jesus Is a Rock

When we read the Bible, we sometimes miss the soft messages and symbolism found in its passages; consequentially, we may miss lessons that will enlighten us. While I was writing ILLUMINATED, I stumbled upon a powerful symbol in the Bible that I used as a motif in the novel. God and Jesus are referred to as rocks in hundreds of verses, and the Bible uses many synonyms to differentiate how we should understand our Heavenly Father and His Son as the rocks they are in our lives.

Why a Rock? A rock or a stone connotes a firm foundation, immovability, safety and steadfastness. A rock is unchangeable and can be a defense position. It is eternal—no matter the changing circumstances in one’s life. It is no wonder that our Biblical forefathers used rocks and stones as metaphors and similes. Figurative language can be shorthand for concepts that need contemplation. I took advantage of that same figurative language to add depth to ILLUMINATED.

The concept starts in Deuteronomy when Moses calls God “the Rock that begat thee” and “the Rock of Salvation” (Deuteronomy 32:4, 15, 18). Well, those phrases say all the important things about Christianity. God the Rock is at the beginning of our lives, and He is the Rock that saves us for all eternity. There is a lot of need for God as a Rock throughout our lives, as well. The Bible also says, “The lord is my Rock and my fortress” (Psalm 18:2), and that shows the nature of God as our place to seek shelter when life becomes difficult.

Peter calls Jesus the “living Stone” that is rejected, yet chosen (1 Peter 2:4-8). Even Jesus uses the symbolism when he calls Himself the Cornerstone—“the stone that the builders rejected” that eventually became the most important stone (Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10-11).

One could do an entire Bible study on the words and phrases that refer to God and Jesus as rocks and stones:

·       “The Lord is my Rock”

“The Rock of Ages”

·       “The tested Stone”

       "My mighty Rock”

·       “The Rock of my strength”

·       “The Rock of Israel”

·       “The Stone of Stumbling”

·       “My God is my Rock”

·       “The Rock eternal”

·       “The Everlasting Rock”

·       “Our Rock of Salvation”

·       “The Rock of Offence”

·       “The Living Stone”

The list of words and phrases for God our Rock goes on, and I have used many in the novel, but I have two favorite words that I used over and over. Tsur is the name for “The Lord is my Rock” in the Bible. In the novel, I have used the imagery of Tsur as the mountain where God resides—where everyone desires to be because there is celebration and worship on that Eternal Rock. Yahweh Tsuri (Tsur) is the Hebrew name that refers to God as the ultimate source of power and salvation.

Another of my favorite names for God the Rock is Sela’—the Hebrew name for “The cleft of the Rock” (II Samuel 22:2). I thought deeply upon this name for God. A cleft in a large rock can be used for shelter and protection when one experiences fear. I have taken refuge in Sela’ many times during my life. I have hidden in the protection of the cleft of the Rock when I didn’t know where to turn. The little baby lights in ILLUMINATED seek refuge and protection in Sela’ when they are feeling vulnerable.

As you return to God’s word for enlightenment and guidance, I challenge you to absorb how the scriptures highlight God and Jesus as Rocks of our Salvation and the eternal sources of unwavering strength to survive the storms of this life.

MY YEAR WITHOUT FACEBOOK

When Facebook first started, I was excited to sign up and use the social media platform. I was able to touch base with friends I hadn’t seen in a very long time. It was new and fun. I remember one of my posts at the beginning was something about Facebook reminding me of kindergarten. People were kind to one another, clicking smiley faces on cute posts and giving a thumbs-up to everyone’s comments.

Facebook, over the years, however, turned into something very different from its beginnings. It became a place where bullies would say the most horrendous things to people they called “friends” and to people they didn’t even know. I was abhorred and mortified to see such behavior. People had started using it to ghost others and stalk acquaintances. Facebook had become a battleground for intolerance and divisiveness.

And that is one of the many reasons why I furtively left Facebook for over a year. And you know what? I didn’t miss the medium One. Little. Bit. I did, however, miss some of my good friends and their positive, uplifting and inspiring posts.

During the past year, I have had to care for some of the most special people in my life in a way that they had never needed before…and I was honored to do that…and I still am. In the little time I had left over, I learned some very valuable things during my year without Facebook.

I learned that a sense of peace had settled over me during my year of absence from the social media giant. Life was calmer, more serene. I was present—truly present—in everything I did. No more taking the time to write blurbs and post photos of my making wine, baking bread, having dinner with my precious husband, and camping with great friends. I did all those things, and I took some photos for my personal scrapbook, but I lost the desire to promote and gained the extra time it took to do it...and peace of mind in not having to monitor my account to respond to the people who took their precious time to make comments. And you know what? Most people didn’t even care that I didn’t post (we take our curated online selves too seriously sometimes)!

After a while, I began to think of my dear friend, Henry David Thoreau, who said in Walden, “I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.” If life were the marrow, I discovered, Facebook was the fat. That “fat” had been, at times, unpalatable and always unnecessary, it seems.

My absence was a year that I grew closer to my husband and family. I stayed in touch with many friends though phone calls, visits, texts, lunches and camping trips. I somehow managed to still find out about important events in the lives of friends and extended family—just like before Facebook ever became Zuckerberg’s entrepreneurial, maniacal, money-making monstrosity that it has become in so many people’s lives. I didn’t miss Mark and his greedy friends spying on my purchases and searches, only to shamelessly promote their advertising sponsors and cagy agendas. I got my information and news from independent sources, just like in the old days.

Last summer we spent time on the Oregon coast.

I lost no friends, no followers, no business, no money, no time, and no sleep. I still edited for other authors. I still wrote, and I lived a very full life, traveling, cooking, quilting, painting, crafting and sewing (and, yes, a tree does make a sound in the woods when it falls and no one is there to hear it, and people do live full, happy lives, even if they are not documented on social media). In short, I lost nothing without Facebook in my life. Facebook became…irrelevant. During that year, I was never ignored, hurt, insulted, gaslighted or excluded. I wasn’t a part of any drama. Harmony and tranquility had been restored in my life.

As in so many cases, however, all good things must come to an end, and my time away from the social media behemoth has, as well. Authors—it seems—need social media (to some degree) in today’s world. I have settled back in to editing a couple of novels that I had finished last year, so I suppose I need to inform my readers about releases and such. This time around, though, I will manage Facebook with boundaries (my new best friend) and on a calculated, scaled-back basis. I will operate with the knowledge that too much of a good thing is surely to become a bad thing, so I will release the unnecessary and will keep all the positive portions of what I have learned during My Year without Facebook.

So, who cares about My Year without Facebook? Perhaps, nobody will, or perhaps what I’ve learned may be beneficial to someone. If it is something that intrigues you, you might consider altering your presence on Facebook, as well. Either way, I wish you well…and peace.

 

 

Relationships Are Bridges

Relationships are bridges. They are two-way passages that make easy the travel over difficult terrain. They are necessary, essential, and in nearly every case, they are the central device that connects people.

I love metaphors because they address multiple learning modalities. They not only target auditory learners, but they also create mental pictures in people’s minds, thereby, targeting visual learners, as well. Therefore, the metaphorical information will more likely be remembered and valued.

So, to demonstrate my metaphor that relationships are bridges, allow me to elaborate. Relationship bridges are not like large public bridges, supported by state and federal taxpayer funds. Instead, they are privately-owned, small bridges, supported and maintained by two people—the two people in the relationship.

Imagine if only one of the two people is tending the bridge, caring for it, maintaining it, painting it, replacing boards and rails, travelling over the bridge, making it relevant, and the other person completely neglects the bridge, never making an attempt to cross it, to spend time on it, maintaining it—essentially not valuing it and ignoring it until the bridge lover makes another attempt at keeping the little bridge that connects the relationship viable. And in some cases, the bridge snubber, even subversively sabotages the delicate bridge, defaming it, throwing little cherry bombs at the bridge or even setting small fires because she has no investment in the little bridge. Eventually, the bridge will be used less and less because the bridge lover will grow tired and weary, unable to convince herself that any of her hard work is appreciated.

 After years of neglect by the inattentive bridge co-owner who doesn’t care, the bridge lover will visit that small, private bridge less and less until the thing that she’d once loved begins to crumble. Eventually, she will realize she is helpless to affect change and to engender love from the person who has disregarded the bridge for years, so, she, too, abandons the bridge that had once been precious to her, and the bridge falls.

So, my friend, I encourage you to tend your bridges. They are too precious to lose and too expensive and difficult to rebuild.