Transparent Christian Magazine

Transcending the Ordinary - An Essay by Anita Ferrer

Yesterday’s temper tantrum with God had abated and I was ready to rest in His presence. I never can stay angry for long and the sun’s warmth, emanating through my windows, always brings me joy.

New Jersey’s normal weather forecast vacillated all spring, with periods of unusual record lows and rain. ‘Inconsistent and hostile weather tantrums’ is what I’d call it, much like the events, circumstances and trials that has beset the close-knit group of Indieheaven.

The camaraderie at Indieheaven is honest and some members bare their souls. Many have inspired me with their courage and candor. Some of them suffer chronic, painful maladies and physical ailments where their bodies degenerate. Month after month and year after year, they grapple with the challenging repercussions of their illnesses. The symptoms cause great discomfort and pain, yet the disease doesn’t tarnish their quiet and abiding faith…Truly Amazing, their testimonies not diminishing their relationships with others, or with God.

As I forge ahead to finishing my praise and worship CD, The Holy Spirit nudges me to stop, look and listen. In the process of producing and attending to all the fine details of such a project, God compels me to look around. There is so much more going on beyond the parameters of my own creativity and tangible artistry. The bigger picture is the how God is using these daunting circumstances to transform lives and produce fruit

I’m connected with my physically-challenged Indieheaven brethren and we together are nudged to continue our trek up God’s mountain.

We fidget and complain daily that nothing is happening in our lives and ministries. Everything seems to fall apart. When we focus on us, we tell God how tired and bored we are. But when we focus on Him, we praise Him for His grace at our ongoing impatience and discontentment. When we sit still and listen…He astounds with His unorthodox way and style of revealing His mysteries.

This essay was borne of His mysterious way of revealing a truth and that may not have happened if not for His uncanny way of periodically messing up my plans.

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Yesterday afternoon, I was in a hurry to get to the library before it closed at five o’clock. I was running late as usual, and traffic was backed up. I veered off and drove towards the ocean to avoid traffic lights and try to get to the library on time. As my luck would have it, the Ocean Ave, bridge was up and I had to detour back to the traffic-light –ridden-Main-Street. Upon entering the library, I glanced up at the clock. It was three minutes to five. “I have three minutes,” I stated annoyingly to the librarian as I hurried toward the video rack. I had planned to mull over my movie choices for the weekend. “I’m closing down the computers, so you’d better make your selections,” she responded.

I quickly scanned the large selection of videos. “I can’t choose a good video in three minutes” I thought.
A title jumped out at me, “The Hurricane.” Denzel Washington starred and I imagined it to be a gripping action disaster film about a terrible hurricane. My eyes raced through the text. To my disappointment, it was about a boxing champion. I hated boxing. My heart sank as I pondered whether to rent it. The librarian cleared her voice, “I’m closing out, miss.”

Before I even had a chance to think, I rushed to the counter and paid for my selection, consoling myself with the fact that any Denzel Washington film would be worth viewing.

My busy day drew to a close and it was time to relax. I had no expectations about the movie as I pushed it in the VCR player. By the time the film came to an end, I was moved and inspired by the story of the lead character, “Hurricane” Carter.

He was a prize fighter who was framed by a corrupt police chief in Paterson, NJ in the sixties. Unjustly incarcerated for thirty years at a maximum-security prison, Hurricane learned to cultivate an inner beauty. He trained himself to transcend the bitter and insidious poison of prison life and hate, by maintaining his dignity through the nurturing of faith, truth and education. He spent many hours in his cell reading the bible, the greatest epic novels and writing his biography. His spiritual and emotional transformation seemed to parallel my own journey as a musician and speaker.

i marvel at the seemingly coincidental and uncanny way that God uses the mundane and annoying events to catch our attention. Had that bridge not gone up at the time it did, I would have had ample time to mull over the video selections. Most likely I would have chosen a well-hyped disaster movie or an “Aliens” spooky spine chiller. It was meant to be that I would see and experience the triumphs and sorrows of this courageous man at a time when my spirits were very low. Now, more than ever, I’m convinced that no happening or event is a coincidence. Seemingly random and disconnected events are really puzzle pieces interlocking to form the Master Creator’s eternal and big picture.

Waking up this morning and praying on my porch, I recalled the compelling lesson of “Hurricane” Carter. Certain challenged Indieheaven members struggle with their own physical incarcerations, but they exude an incomparable life lesson to other members and their families.

I wrote a song, “Nobody Sees” two years ago for Theo Vrahnos, a victim of Wilson’s disease. It is degenerative condition where copper builds up in the body, causing paralysis and loss of the use of faculties. Theo is one of my real-life unsung heroes. Befriending him and enduring my own daunting health struggles have given me a deep empathy and compelling perspective of daily suffering.

Theo’s story, the story of my Indieheaven friends and my own are just as compelling and life-transforming as “Hurricane” Carter’s, but there are no glorifying film scripts. Well, maybe not on this earth, but I know for sure God is chronicling each account in His massive and illustrative journal!

As I read some of the intimate posts of my Indieheaven friends, I’m moved by their accounts of God’s meticulous craftsmanship. These faithful people manage to acquiesce and place their trials at His refining altar. Their lives are masterpieces in the works. These vibrant people are living epistles and one-of-a-kind bricks being painstakingly pieced together to form God’s most exquisite temple. Each trial, hardship, heartache and disappointment is interwoven together within the vast continuum of His transforming glory. God is truly looking on these with eyes of tenderness, delight and great pride.

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Anita Ferrer is an author, musician, artist, and photographer. She is bi-racial, multi-talented, and multi-syllabic! Graduating magna cum laude from Brookdale College in 1989, Anita’s most notable accomplishment was teaching Behavior Modification to professionals at Nutri-System, which led to a six year stint as Program Coordinator of her ‘business mentoring’ and ‘business attire’ program with Love In the Name of Christ, a national Christian non-profit organization.

She’s experienced several lifetimes of of suffering, and has continued to bounce back strong! You can view her works on artists sites: www.impactfolios.com/asburyparkangel and www.artistsilove.com. Angels’ most joyous calling though is as “Soul Sculptor”!

Listen to her music, and read her full, impressive bio on her Indieheaven page here.

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