Abandoned Places In Our Hearts

I stumbled upon a site dedicated to ghost towns throughout the US. Surveying the list of places the photographer had gone I found, much to my surprise, a list of places I have been with my camera, too, some of them over 30 years ago. I haven't been to as many as the person shooting these great shots, but the impetus for doing so has got to be much the same. A desire to visit the past, and in so doing, envision how things might have been. We can even go so far as to search out historical records to provide greater details for the background on the "ghost towns." I''m still doing this today, though it is now on a more localized basis than when I traveled the US as an itinerant musician doing rock & roll shows. My favorite way to enjoy days off wherever I landed was on two wheels exploring the past of the area I was in. It occurred to me that we have these same types of places in our hearts, the homes, relationships, loved ones, and circumstances that long ago we left. Time changes these locations in the same way it altered the ones in the picture below. Broken glass and doors fallen open allow nature an entry by which, eventually, all traces of people are gone, except for the structure. Should we be blessed to live so long, eventually we will find places within us that we abandoned long ago. God has fostered within the human heart a wonderful ability to remember the good things quite vividly. In fact, as many folks a lot older than me can confirm, even the worst of it gets better with time. If you haven't seen the movie "Driving Miss Daisy," I would reccomend it highly. It points directly to what I am trying to express in words. I use the term, "remembering in our hearts" in such a way as to suggest that the heart has a memory, and feelings that it stores up because that is the only way I can explain it. Any logical person will tell you that all of the emotions I'm referring to have to come from our brains, and I would agree, that is logical. I just take it one step further. I believe that we are not just physical and mental beings. We are tripart, just as our creator is tripart, and we are physical, mental, and "spritual" beings. That's where the memories of the heart enter in and that is where God enters in when we extend an invitation. Until we are truly whole(all of our 3 parts joined)we are shells that can be easily emptied by the forces of nature, and we, also, fall into utter disrepair. Not sure about this? The easiest way to test yourself is to seek out some of your abandoned places and see how they "feel" to you today. If your heart is remembering, your spirit is alive and well. Invite the Lord to dwell in that heart and not only will your spirit be well off, the rest of you will, too! God also helps us to remember in our hearts those "abandoned" places without fearing "ghosts" that may linger there. In Christ's Love, Preacher.

These collaged photos are captioned with a misnomer, but I didn't think of that until now! 

A beautiful butterfly flutters no more. This part of God's creation reminds me of the spirit within each of us, and the care it must be given!