A God of Pain

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

God speaks to us in many different ways, but the way we always hear him the best is through our trials in life. God does not want us to feel pain, that's why he created heaven so that we wouldn't always have to live in a painful world. The problem though is that we take that promise for granted and often times ignore what God has to say to us. That's why he allows terrible things to happen in our lives because that's when we hear him best. It's also how we grow stronger in our relationship with God. God has to get our attention somehow and sadly that somehow is through our suffering because we like to ignore him when things are going great in life. 

Lately I have been having to remind not just myself but several of my friends who have come to me with things going on in their lives of this. The only way for things to get better is to trust in God and listen when he shouts at us through our pain. All we have to do is listen, so long as we listen and trust in God he will protect us. However, there are times when bad things happen despite how good we've done when it came to listening to God. You just have to trust that those things happen for a reason and their sole purpose is to bring you closer to God. 

Quote s

"The last quote on this page never fails to give me chills."

As I was looking and reading through all the quotes this one above really stood out to me.  I feel like this quote grabbed my attention because it is so random.  Like all the other quotes had a meaning a deep meaning and i guess i just didn't find a deep meaning behind this quote at first. I feel like I was called to this quote because it was so random just like me i feel.  Never know whats going on inside this brain and just like what ever "the last quote on this page" means, my brain gives me chills too. I just felt like this had some meaning as i kept thinking about it and then the meaning of this quote clicked. It's not a quote by C.S. Lewis, but its a life style for him.  How the stuff he says makes so much sense and people still remember and talk about his life and quotes now that it has to give someone chills.  So I like it its random and stuff and things. 

Then I realized this is something Mrs. Carnes said which makes so much more sense.  Well hope i don't fail from this it was pretty cool i thought. true story. 

Yours Truly, 
Rigg Milner

P.S. I think your cool (thumbs Up)

Guard your heart

      "To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket — safe, dark, motionless, airless — it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable." 
     Honestly, this quote blows my mind because it's so true. In order to love, you must be vulnerable. You must be open and willing. But no matter what you do, you're going to be hurt. That's just how it goes. If you want to stay safe, guard your heart so that it can't be broken. CS Lewis wants you to keep your heart hidden and keep it locked up. Even if you keep it hidden, you'll be harmed. Because if it isn't broken in that box, its hardened and unable to be reached. Which is worse: a broken heart or a frozen heart?

Suffering is (not) better than love

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.”-C.S Lewis

What I like about this quote is that it’s impact-full, but also true. Friendship, music, books, art… almost everything humans enjoy has no survival use. A good book will not protect you, a beautiful painting can’t feed you or heal physical wounds, but we’ve still attracted to these things. Even though they can’t help us survive, they bring us happiness and joy. I think that’s what life is really about. Being able to enjoy life and being surrounded by people you love… that living. If you try to avoid anything that doesn’t have a “use” then you’ll only end up miserable. Of course, that’s not to say you should focus solely on things that make you happy. But being able to enjoy things both big and small in life is what makes the difference between surviving and living.

No new friends

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival

This quotes instantly caught my eye. One because philosophy is really one of the most unnecessary things in the world but mainly because of how true it is.  Friendship is something that we don't need in life to survive but it something that almost all humans enjoy.  I mean just think about it we have all friends come and go in are life's right and it didn't kill any of us.  Now at the end of the quote he does say that its gives "value to survival" and this is probable one of the trustiest things you will ever here.  Friendship isn't something that can just be taught its a bond between and having those people in your life makes it a thousand times easier because you know no matter what, they are going to be there for you.  Also having other people that care about you makes survival easier, more fun, and all around better giving it value.






Forget fake friends, where your real friends at    

protect that heart

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket — safe, dark, motionless, airless — it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable." ~C. S. Lewis

Wow. Let me try to gather myself as I try to explain this quote and what it means to me. (Sorry if this is super emotional and deep) 
When you love someone or something, you're putting all your trust and belief in that person/object. C.S. Lewis really couldn't have said it in any simpler way... "To love at all is to be vulnerable." Thats exactly how it is. Whether loving a family member or significant other, the reality is is that people fail. We are sinful beings that will always disappoint. Loving really IS putting yourself at risk. You're opening your heart. Lewis recommends to completely guard your heart. He suggests spending your time, effort, and love into things you enjoy and care about. To be quite honest, I am quite in love with volleyball and chipotle. Putting that aside, I really think that what Lewis is trying to get at is that you really have to learn to love yourself before you love other people. You have to find yourself. Know what you're good at and what you enjoy. Try different things. Be content with where you're at. Really explore yourself and broaden your horizons. Once you're sure of yourself and love who you really are, you're able to approach loving other people with more understanding and caution. Don't be naive. Dont be vulnerable. Treat yo'self. Love you for who you are. 

The Quotable C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis was a prolific writer and a brilliant thinker. For today's blog post, I've listed some of my favorite quotes from his writings. Some you may recognize from The Screwtape Letters. I would like you to choose one that speaks to you and respond to it. If you have another quote of his that you would like to write about, feel free.

The last quote on this page never fails to give me chills.

I sometimes wonder whether all pleasures are not substitutes for joy.

The long, dull, monotonous years of middle-aged prosperity or middle-aged adversity are excellent campaigning weather for the devil.

The real problem is not why some pious, humble, believing people suffer, but why some do not.

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.

Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.

We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.

Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.

If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth: only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair.

Some people feel guilty about their anxieties and regard them as a defect of faith but they are afflictions, not sins. Like all afflictions, they are, if we can so take them, our share in the passion of Christ.

Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.

God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket — safe, dark, motionless, airless — it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.

We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst.

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.