Day 102

Day 102 of The Red Shoe Project finds me in RED shoes,  and thinking about the impact people have when they  "radiate"  the Love of God.

To radiate means to emit something... 

 to release it outwardly,  to exude,

to give off,  give out,  send out,  

to glow with.

Decades ago, when I was quite young, I lived in a very old home with radiators.  On a cold, winter's night, I'd turn up the thermostat, and heat would exude from the radiators making a room toasty warm.

I've noticed something interesting about our changing world.  I am continually running into people I haven't seen for a while... and as we chat, they are quite free in telling me things about themselves that I would think that they would be embarrassed about...  but they are not.  They talk very openly and in great detail, without reservation or hesitation, about the illegal drugs they are consuming;  the crazy things they've done while intoxicated; or their unreserved sexual exploitations.  They don't hesitate to proclaim their less than ethical business practices; their obnoxious behavior;  their outrageous lies; and/or their incredibly opinionated gossip. The list could go on and on. 

Is there no shame?  no regret?  no reservation?  Is the motto of the today's world:  Let's just show everyone how bad we can be -- how foolish we can act -- how outlandishly we can portray ourselves?

When did stupid, unintelligent, foolish  

behavior become something to brag about?

After verbally vomiting all over themselves, they will often ask me what I've been up to. You know I used to be concerned about what people would think if I talked about Jesus and the Love of God.  But now?  I'm not so worried.  Nobody seems to care about what I think about their choices.  So I'm feeling incredibly free to talk about my choices.  

This situation just happened again, 

only this time something stuck out like a sore thumb.  I noticed that while I was talking about the Goodness of God, The Red Shoe Project, and My Love for Christ,  

I was radiating! 

 I could actually feel waves of glory emanating from me.  

First, it felt incredibly awesome! The evidence of a divine partnership was filling my heart to near explosion!  A genuine smile covered my face from ear to ear.  And joy was gleaming from my eyes like rays of sunlight!  Talk about positivity.  Here it was at it's best and I wasn't even trying for that.  I was just talking about The One who makes my heart beat!  I had "The Glow" going on!

Secondly, (in contrast to that), I realized that the person I was talking with was the exact opposite.  Their posture and countenance made a blaring statement.  It said,  "Sad,  Depressed, Downcast... Stuck in life."  There was no pleasant fruit to be seen from their choices!  No life!  No joy!  Not an inkling.  Nothing! 

I left there,  "on fire for God!"  They went in the other direction... cold and indifferent, uninterested, and unmoved.  

As my feet, (clad in RED),  moved me homeward, my heart burned with prayers for the lost.  Even as I write now, I can hear their voices shouting at me... "Don't pray for me!  I don't need your prayers! I remember when I said those very same things.  At the time, I just didn't get it.  I was blind, until my soul got so sick and cold that I couldn't stand it any longer. And then I saw someone...  radiating.  And I followed after her to find out what that fire was... what that glow was.  I had to know!

I can't save people.  I have no ability to do that.  But I can ask God,  The Father,  to draw them to His Holy Fire.

My hope is that in some way, 

that brief few minutes of joy that 

I was able to genuinely express in 

that person's  presence, will somehow

 be unforgettable. 

 Oh, that God will haunt them with it -- in such a way that they will set out on a spiritual quest of their own to find True Love, True Peace, True Joy. 

Fanning your flame for the lost,

Gail