{{2014_06_18_t1.jpg}} {{2014_06_18_t2.jpg}} {{2014_06_18_t3.jpg}} [[http://www.jesusnetwork.eu/de/doku.php/jn_de_2014_06_18|Deutsche Version]] [[Start|| Wiki Start]] [[topics_collection_vi|| Topics Collection vi ]] ======Loss and Openness for New Things ...====== Wednesday, June 18, 2014. Recently I have been sitting in a nice restaurant with a friend and we talked about the past years. A part of this conversation has been what did not work out in our life. We talked about the good things we have and experience, but also about loss and about things which are difficult ... {{2014_06_18.jpg }} **When I went home ...** When I walked home, these questions were still in my mind: sometimes it can be good to loose something, which was not good. Sometimes a dead end rode can make us aware of other possibilities. To reach openness for new ideas, of for new possibilities, for new options, we sometimes need to close some chapter of our life. Or we need to close some routes and give them up. Then, new things can come! Our mind can be trapped in a loop of negative thoughts. That can be triggered by some loss. It can also be triggered by difficulties we have with our environment. It is important to take proper care of these loops of negative thought. We do not want them to go into the unconscious, and then cause damage there. We want them to be properly taken up, and then loose their energy to be replaced by good things. God wants us to experience good things. But he does not keep us completely from the experiences of loss. To search for the reason why he does it can lead us into a deeper faith, into a much deeper knowledge of the Lord! He wants us to be free from illusions about this world. It cannot hold us, only he can. {{ 2014_06_18_2.jpg}} **Good things to come ...** > I love openness for new things. Creativity is the ability to start new thoughts, to shape new forms, to put things together in an unconventional way. Creativity is linked to openness of the mind and of the heart. To gain this openness, we need to let go. We need to realize those parts of our life, where we have been in a dead end road. We need to find the loops of negative thought. And then we need to move on. We need to find the pathways which lead us into God's goodness. We need to find the way of life. He himself, Jesus, has claimed to be that way. He will be there with us, and open us new possibilities, help us to live a life which is worth it, deeply filled with purpose and his surpassing love ...! I see prayer as a key activity to meet the Lord. But we can also be trapped in our loop of negative thoughts in our prayer sessions. It is not about the activity itself, but about what it does with us and whether we meet the Lord or just stay within our own egoistic mode. But he is waiting for us to help us and to meet him, to be filled with his spirit. He is not slow, to help! Often, when it comes to wonder, we think about biblical stories of healing the lame and the blind. But we should and need to expect wonders in our particular situation. The Lord can do a lot, he can do what we would not expect. Nothing is impossible to him! He can help us to rethink. He can help us to further develop our feelings and our thoughts. He can interrupt the negative feedback loops, and guide us into positive feedback loops, where his love is active and his creativity determins our mind, our heart, our days and our relationships. He can! (Roland Potthast) [[http://www.jesusnetwork.eu/en/doku.php/topics_collection_vi|... more texts]]