tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-94357812024-02-20T19:50:45.219-05:00A Man's Journey Through Life / Or Am I Just Growing UpThe Thoughts of A Man as He looks Back and SidewaysBennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435781.post-54558955948698959652013-09-09T16:55:00.001-04:002013-09-09T16:55:08.304-04:00The idolization of the ‘changed life’<a href="http://thereforenow.com/2010/08/the-idolization-of-the-changed-life/">The idolization of the ‘changed life’</a><br />
Great Article..Bennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435781.post-89083172783517884802013-06-15T08:14:00.001-04:002013-06-15T08:14:59.111-04:00Joy<div>Joy</div><div>The mass of men have been forced to be gay about the little things, but sad about the big ones. Nevertheless (I offer my last dogma defiantly) it is not native to man to be so. Man is more himself, man is more manlike, when joy is the fundamental thing in him, and grief the superficial. Melancholy should be an innocent interlude, a tender and fugitive frame of mind; praise should be the permanent pulsation of the soul. Pessimism is at best an emotional half-holiday; joy is the uproarious labour by which all things live. Yet, according to the apparent estate of man as seen by the pagan or the agnostic, this primary need of human nature can never be fulfilled. Joy ought to be expansive; but for the agnostic it must be contracted, it must cling to one comer of the world. Grief ought to be a concentration; but for the agnostic its desolation is spread through an unthinkable eternity. This is what I call being born upside down. The sceptic may truly be said to be topsy-turvy; for his feet are dancing upwards in idle ecstacies, while his brain is in the abyss. To the modern man the heavens are actually below the earth. The explanation is simple; he is standing on his head; which is a very weak pedestal to stand on. But when he has found his feet again he knows it. Christianity satisfies suddenly and perfectly man's ancestral instinct for being the right way up; satisfies it supremely in this; that by its creed joy becomes something gigantic and sadness something special and small. The vault above us is not deaf because the universe is an idiot; the silence is not the heartless silence of an endless and aimless world. Rather the silence around us is a small and pitiful stillness like the prompt stillness in a sick-room. We are perhaps permitted tragedy as a sort of merciful comedy: because the frantic energy of divine things would knock us down like a drunken farce. We can take our own tears more lightly than we could take the tremendous levities of the angels. So we sit perhaps in a starry chamber of silence, while the laughter of the heavens is too loud for us to hear.</div><div>"Joy, which is the small publicity of the pagan, is the gigantic secret of the Christian. . . . There was something that [Jesus] hid from all men when He went up a mountain to pray. There was something that He covered constantly by abrupt silence or impetuous isolation. There was one thing that was too great for God to show us when he walked upon the earth; and I have sometimes fancied that it was his mirth."</div><div><br></div><div>G K Chesterton, Orthodoxy.</div>Bennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435781.post-2011585997573271302013-06-08T16:26:00.001-04:002013-06-08T16:26:30.633-04:00yea... that my baby...Ohy Vay<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><img style='max-width:586px;' src='http://distilleryimage8.s3.amazonaws.com/7be4ec5ad06711e2a25d22000a9e5e2e_7.jpg'/><br/><br /><div>via Instagram <a href='http://instagram.com/p/aTsUQAxfjg/'>http://instagram.com/p/aTsUQAxfjg/</a> </div><br /></div>Bennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435781.post-77390643148311110632013-05-09T10:00:00.001-04:002013-05-09T10:00:13.795-04:00<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><img style='max-width:586px;' src='http://distilleryimage11.s3.amazonaws.com/b01ad7e2b8b011e2996722000a9f18fe_7.jpg'/><br/><br /><div>via Instagram <a href='http://instagram.com/p/ZF_HstRftX/'>http://instagram.com/p/ZF_HstRftX/</a> </div><br /></div>Bennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435781.post-85590100628134361332013-04-15T17:43:00.001-04:002013-04-15T17:43:06.616-04:00Yum yum<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><img style='max-width:586px;' src='http://distilleryimage3.s3.amazonaws.com/680b2d92a61511e2af6f22000a1f9a09_7.jpg'/><br/><br /><div>via Instagram <a href='http://instagram.com/p/YJBCkNRfhj/'>http://instagram.com/p/YJBCkNRfhj/</a> </div><br /></div>Bennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435781.post-60258156956813990272013-04-06T08:09:00.001-04:002013-04-06T08:09:30.997-04:00Hope.Hope <br />
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Hope seems a strange bedfellow when paired with the likes of faith, love and other paramount virtues. Hope is an expectation, a desire for fulfillment, but it only seems to make us anxious in the present. We hope for our dreams to be fulfilled, yet wonder what we will have left to hope in once they are. It almost seems cruel to tell a friend that you love them, have faith in them, and have hope in them, as though they are not yet the best friend you might like them to be. <br />
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And yet God assures us that we should faithfully place our hope in him. While it may seem a recipe for disappointment, as our earthly hopes most nearly always are, the virtue's classification with such noble aspirations as faith and love remind us that God's promises are truly worthy of our deepest hope.<br />
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author unknown Bennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435781.post-66592000281627141532013-03-19T11:04:00.001-04:002013-03-19T11:04:57.835-04:00Leaving Charlotte on the noon train<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><img style='max-width:586px;' src='http://distilleryimage8.s3.amazonaws.com/2a608af290a611e2a9ce22000a9e02ef_7.jpg'/><br/><br /><div>via Instagram <a href='http://instagr.am/p/XCx5HKxfs8/'>http://instagr.am/p/XCx5HKxfs8/</a> </div><br /></div>Bennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435781.post-5041848775399816912013-03-16T12:18:00.001-04:002013-03-16T12:18:10.873-04:00Pipers St. Patrick's Day Parade<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><img style='max-width:586px;' src='http://distilleryimage5.s3.amazonaws.com/de6e776a8e5411e28b9422000a1fbe38_7.jpg'/><br/><br /><div>via Instagram <a href='http://instagr.am/p/W7L3R1Rfv1/'>http://instagr.am/p/W7L3R1Rfv1/</a> </div><br /></div>Bennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435781.post-70100511570347093242013-03-16T12:14:00.001-04:002013-03-16T12:14:33.754-04:00Raleigh St. Patrick's Day Parade<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><img style='max-width:586px;' src='http://distilleryimage11.s3.amazonaws.com/66d6dea48e5411e2a3e722000a9f09d0_7.jpg'/><br/><br /><div>via Instagram <a href='http://instagr.am/p/W7LeyTRfvT/'>http://instagr.am/p/W7LeyTRfvT/</a> </div><br /></div>Bennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435781.post-69427301292413617052013-03-12T19:46:00.001-04:002013-06-15T08:16:41.324-04:00Dividing line between Good and EvilDuring the life of any heart this line [dividing good and evil within the heart] keeps changing place; sometimes it is squeezed one way by exuberant evil and sometimes it shifts to allow enough space for good to flourish. One and the same human being is, at various ages, under various circumstances, a totally different human being. At times he is close to being a devil, at times to sainthood. But his name doesn't change, and to that name we ascribe the whole lot, good and evil.
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<br>"The Bluecaps", The Gulag Archipelago, Aleksandr SolzhenitsynBennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435781.post-68839394883602532352013-03-09T15:24:00.001-05:002013-03-09T15:24:12.441-05:00People/ Dogs and Kids Enjoying the Great weather<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><img style='max-width:586px;' src='http://distilleryimage9.s3.amazonaws.com/166fe26a88f711e29c2822000a1fbe4c_7.jpg'/><br/><br /><div>via Instagram <a href='http://instagr.am/p/WpmdlDRfh9/'>http://instagr.am/p/WpmdlDRfh9/</a> </div><br /></div>Bennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435781.post-54625961571820946612013-03-09T14:54:00.001-05:002013-03-09T14:54:14.365-05:00Wow... They ground the beans and brewed the coffee after I ordered it... Great Coffee...<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><img style='max-width:586px;' src='http://distilleryimage3.s3.amazonaws.com/ed051f3e88f211e28b3822000a9f15fd_7.jpg'/><br/><br /><div>via Instagram <a href='http://instagr.am/p/WpjDYXRfsz/'>http://instagr.am/p/WpjDYXRfsz/</a> </div><br /></div>Bennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435781.post-57252793583596469562013-03-09T12:52:00.001-05:002013-03-09T12:52:27.374-05:00Someone who loves soccer has defiled Sir Walter Raleigh<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><img style='max-width:586px;' src='http://distilleryimage2.s3.amazonaws.com/f21dbf1e88e111e2af7e22000a1f8ae5_7.jpg'/><br/><br /><div>via Instagram <a href='http://instagr.am/p/WpVJIpxfpG/'>http://instagr.am/p/WpVJIpxfpG/</a> </div><br /></div>Bennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435781.post-54310662347988899262013-03-09T12:47:00.001-05:002013-03-09T12:47:27.254-05:00Beautiful Day in Raleigh for a walk<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><img style='max-width:586px;' src='http://distilleryimage10.s3.amazonaws.com/38adb18888e111e2969522000a9f14e8_7.jpg'/><br/><br /><div>via Instagram <a href='http://instagr.am/p/WpUjKDxfoa/'>http://instagr.am/p/WpUjKDxfoa/</a> </div><br /></div>Bennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435781.post-69011535384879220482012-12-24T16:40:00.001-05:002012-12-24T16:40:48.427-05:00Rug Rats cleaning the kitchen<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><img style='max-width:586px;' src='http://distilleryimage8.s3.amazonaws.com/6a1df6d84e1211e2918122000a9f0a12_7.jpg'/><br/><br /><div>via Instagram <a href='http://instagr.am/p/Tonpsmxfto/'>http://instagr.am/p/Tonpsmxfto/</a> </div><br /></div>Bennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435781.post-3018702038506389122012-12-16T09:13:00.001-05:002012-12-16T09:13:01.940-05:00<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><img style='max-width:586px;' src='http://distilleryimage9.s3.amazonaws.com/a88d0f5a478a11e2a97a22000a9f18aa_7.jpg'/><br/><br /><div>via Instagram <a href='http://instagr.am/p/TTOJiCxfgl/'>http://instagr.am/p/TTOJiCxfgl/</a> </div><br /></div>Bennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435781.post-71765439145064240262012-12-02T12:49:00.001-05:002012-12-02T12:49:09.211-05:00Working Hard......<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><img style='max-width:586px;' src='http://distilleryimage6.s3.amazonaws.com/7543f4483ca811e28efa22000a1fbd9c_7.jpg'/><br/><br /><div>via Instagram <a href='http://instagr.am/p/SvjsZAxfgu/'>http://instagr.am/p/SvjsZAxfgu/</a> </div><br /></div>Bennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435781.post-49661095529041515762012-11-28T18:10:00.001-05:002012-11-28T18:10:14.140-05:00Gorgeous and an avid reader... my wife.....<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><img style='max-width:586px;' src='http://distilleryimage7.s3.amazonaws.com/88d0a51a39b011e2b41022000a9f1899_7.jpg'/><br/><br /><div>via Instagram <a href='http://instagr.am/p/Sl1KgXRfi3/'>http://instagr.am/p/Sl1KgXRfi3/</a> </div><br /></div>Bennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435781.post-10056844606076442102012-11-25T18:49:00.001-05:002012-11-25T18:49:28.511-05:00Old Man...<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><img style='max-width:586px;' src='http://distilleryimage2.s3.amazonaws.com/8f92235e375a11e2aa0322000a1fa408_7.jpg'/><br/><br /><div>via Instagram <a href='http://instagr.am/p/SeLTd6xfim/'>http://instagr.am/p/SeLTd6xfim/</a> </div><br /></div>Bennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435781.post-74319356787895823122012-11-25T18:46:00.001-05:002012-11-25T18:46:42.365-05:00Bennie Mac and Mary Sue...<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><img style='max-width:586px;' src='http://distilleryimage11.s3.amazonaws.com/31f65a4e375a11e28a5c22000a1f8acf_7.jpg'/><br/><br /><div>via Instagram <a href='http://instagr.am/p/SeLAS9xfiX/'>http://instagr.am/p/SeLAS9xfiX/</a> </div><br /></div>Bennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435781.post-89630834258959324342012-11-25T18:42:00.001-05:002012-11-25T18:42:49.759-05:00Angry, I'am not angry... Why ... What??<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><img style='max-width:586px;' src='http://distilleryimage9.s3.amazonaws.com/97f97584375911e2b23022000a1fc30c_7.jpg'/><br/><br /><div>via Instagram <a href='http://instagr.am/p/SeKgwvRfhx/'>http://instagr.am/p/SeKgwvRfhx/</a> </div><br /></div>Bennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435781.post-36873901640392493532012-11-25T18:39:00.001-05:002012-11-25T18:39:18.349-05:00How's My Teeth? Another from Jonathan Carroll collection<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><img style='max-width:586px;' src='http://distilleryimage4.s3.amazonaws.com/1f4844bc375911e2a52022000a1f9e5e_7.jpg'/><br/><br /><div>via Instagram <a href='http://instagr.am/p/SeKICrxfhU/'>http://instagr.am/p/SeKICrxfhU/</a> </div><br /></div>Bennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435781.post-66293289636162497062012-11-25T08:05:00.001-05:002012-11-25T08:05:35.907-05:00From Jonathan Carroll's collection<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><img style='max-width:586px;' src='http://distilleryimage0.s3.amazonaws.com/a64b055c370011e29a9c22000a1fbe09_7.jpg'/><br/><br /><div>via Instagram <a href='http://instagr.am/p/SdBph3xfq0/'>http://instagr.am/p/SdBph3xfq0/</a> </div><br /></div>Bennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435781.post-23670772985702591022012-11-24T13:32:00.001-05:002012-11-24T13:32:43.212-05:00Cool coffee shop.. fresh mini donuts and great coffee..<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><img style='max-width:586px;' src='http://distilleryimage6.s3.amazonaws.com/93282982366011e2a0d522000a1f970a_7.jpg'/><br/><br /><div>via Instagram <a href='http://instagr.am/p/Sa-hAJRfp2/'>http://instagr.am/p/Sa-hAJRfp2/</a> </div><br /></div>Bennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435781.post-5259708788117219902012-11-20T19:09:00.001-05:002012-11-20T19:09:17.525-05:00The Guilt Hangover: Disbelief, Shame, and Love | Mockingbird<div><div class="original-url"><br><br></div><div id="article" style> <div class="page" style="font-family:Palatino,Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;font-size:19px;line-height:1.4"><h1 class="title">The Guilt Hangover: Disbelief, Shame, and Love</h1><p>A friend of mine recently made the following Twitter-confession:</p> <blockquote><p style="font-style:italic">Sometimes it's really hard to accept being loved. Sometimes, my husband makes me get out of bed, and then cleans the kitchen and makes me coffee while I'm in the shower. And I still have to tell myself "he's not mad at me for oversleeping; he doesn't think I'm lazy; he's not impatient with me to finish here." He's never like that. Ever. He's consistently tender. [why is my head so messed up?] I call this "guilt hangover" and it's just stupid. God isn't mad at me. Kevin isn't mad at me. So why am I afraid?</p> </blockquote><p>The above mentioned situation isn't unique to my friend a lone, this is something that we all suffer from. I can name countless interactions with my husband and dear friends that, when boiled down to it, are me asking, "Really? Do you <em>really,</em> <em>really,</em> <em>really</em> love me?" while simultaneously making the statement, "I just don't believe you…"</p> <p><a href="http://d1w4yg6zersvbl.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/guilt_trip.jpg?462722"><img title="guilt_trip" src="http://d1w4yg6zersvbl.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/guilt_trip-335x500.jpg?462722" alt="" width="268" height="400"></a>The phenomena that I will hear judgment when someone loves me or speaks love to me, is actually very common. My friend, in the midst of being one-way-loved (legitimately, in my opinion) is still convinced her husband is mad at her. Even when historically his actions toward her have been <em>consistently</em> loving (her words), she still just can't believe it's real, just can't hear the <em>I truly and really do love you for not other reason than I just do.</em></p> <p>Why?</p><p>Because there are great depths of shame that reside in our hearts and we know just how abject and miserable we often are and can't believe that the other person could actually love us; in fact, most of us have stories about people who have walked away when we've been at our worst. Each of us can probably recall the look of horror on someone's face when we've shared that deep, dark secret. We can doubt love, because, in reality, others' actions toward us have given us proof that it's doubt-worthy. Even when we've been truly vulnerable, a similar response from the other is not always elicited. Of course, sometimes there is mutual vulnerability, and those special (rare) moments <a href="http://www.mbird.com/2012/11/brene-brown-and-the-end-of-shame-see-nazarene-carpenter/">make all the difference</a>. Unfortunately, sometimes those moments are more like emotional-one-night-stands. In truth, being vulnerable for me is, if I'm honest (vulnerable!), a shameful thing to do: because I'm opening my self up to rejection, and I've been rejected before.</p> <p>What I need is not only mutual vulnerability, but (conjointly) immovability. Where the rubber meets the road is at the point of <em>will you leave…even now? Will you reject me like the others? Will you stay with me here, in this mess that I am, and if it gets worse?</em></p> <blockquote><p style="font-style:italic">But Jesus looked at them and said 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.' Matthew 19:26</p></blockquote><p>Humans are a fickle bunch, but the good news is that God's isn't fickle. And we/I need to constantly hear, over and over and over again, just how un-fickle he is. Martin Luther writes in him commentary on Galatians, that we are so prone to disbelieve the activity of God toward us in Christ, in the Cross, that we need to be perpetually told that God truly, and unconditionally loves us–that we are truly justified by faith apart from works.</p> <blockquote><p style="font-style:italic">For if we lose the doctrine of justification, we lose simply everything. hence the most necessary and important thing is that we teach and repeat this doctrine daily, as Moses says about his <a href="http://www.mbird.com/glossary/the-law/" title="Glossary: Law">Law</a> (Deut. 6:7). <strong><em>For it cannot be grasped or held enough or too much.</em></strong> <strong><em> In fact, though we may urge and inculcate it vigorously, no one grasps it perfectly or believes it with all his heart. So frail is our flesh</em></strong> and so disobedient to the spirit (emphasis, mine).</p> </blockquote><p><a href="http://d1w4yg6zersvbl.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Overview.gif?462722"><img title="Overview" src="http://d1w4yg6zersvbl.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Overview.gif?462722" alt="" width="465" height="375"></a></p> <p>We are wounded and doubting creatures and need to be told things repeatedly: <em>This God, this very God, the creator of heaven and Earth, loves you so much</em>. But not only that, but also this: <em>He will never leave you, nor forsake you no matter how dirty your past and how wounded or skeptical you are of Him.</em> Thus the importance of the preacher proclaiming this very message every Sunday; to do otherwise is to starve the congregation, the hearers (both old and new) of this word of life. Even our own testimonies are important for demonstrating God's activity in our life, less in terms of how impressive we've become since the initial encounter with Christ, and more in terms of the evidence of how far God will go to rescue just one, how willing He is move into the darkness of our heart and life. And, in this confession, <em>see how far he's gone for me</em>, we are not only caused to be truly vulnerable with others but also immovable, <em>there is nothing you can tell me that will make me leave you; I will sit with you here, in the depths.</em></p> <p>It takes time to actual <em>comprehend</em> this truth from God and from those who do truly love us; the only solution I've found is to keep listening to the good, good Story about God's unconditional, one-way love for us in Christ.</p> <span></span></div></div></div><div><br><br>Bennie Mac</div>Bennie Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04123358273956954973noreply@blogger.com0