The Lovely Life after the headhunter is harnessed

"The Irish don't know what they want and are prepared to fight to the death to get it."

Sidney Littlewood

I often laugh inside when I discover the stereotypes my American friends have of the Irish. They seem to perceive us to be charming little men in funny hats, offering the world dreams at Rainbow's end, with free beer given to all to aid their journey to Utopia!

The image at the top of this page depicts a truer caricature of "The Real Spirit" of our Emerald Isle than any red-bearded Leprechaun could ever come close to imitating.

Why share this image of our ancestral spirit?

Because you read my thoughts and theories on life and I think it is wise to be known by those who care enough to know my thoughts on sundry subjects. For my heritage, which is the source for my inner Wordsmith, is rooted in endless conflicts amidst wet forests and wind swept moors. My genes demand passion even if my mind lacks purpose. That kind of purposeless passion can be tiring at times but it is my nature and it is the only state I've ever known.

There have been times when I came close to despairing as I wondered how God could keep turning this tumult that is my general state of being into profitable purpose. But each time I thought that my passion would be my undoing I found it harnessed to something shockingly profound and peaceful even if my spirit was the furthest thing from peacefully profound. I'm not certain if there were many moments in my life where my mind was peaceful. But I'm certain there were even fewer moments when I was the "Happy Irish Leprechaun" offering supernatural wealth if you could only catch me!

Our pastor preached on James 3 this morning and he spent a beneficial portion of an hour discussing the "Lovely Life." The guy at the top of this page is a close semblance to who I am inside and that is who comes to meet the gentle, peaceful, meek and kind Jesus each and every morning. Amazingly, most days, I find that my passionate inner self is successfully harnessed with a purpose so sublime it transforms me for another day to be spent living The Lovely Life.

There have been a lot of people in Christianity in the past 18 years who have tried to change the inner me to a more civilized christian so that I would come to meet Jesus each morning as a nice person should. Fortunately for me I also met a few wonderful people who encouraged me to remain my authentic self and leave the harnessing of that authentic self to God. Our pastor is one of those wonderful people who encourages people to be themselves. Hence my willingness to listen to him talk about the Lovely Life for 45 minutes.

I'm an Celtic barbarian, but I'm a believing Celtic barbarian and that makes all of the difference. :)

I hope you are experiencing the Lovely Life no matter who turns up to be harnessed each morning.