Shh...

“ Be still and know that I am God.” – Ps 46:10

            Our family has a tradition of spending Thanksgiving in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  My grandparents built a cabin there in 1974.  Now shared by many aunts, uncles and cousins it has become a kingdom of retreat.  One of my favorite pastimes is to walk through the rustic roads and enjoy the beauty of cabins nestled among golden oak trees, Manzanita, and sugar pines.  At times, squirrels and other animals come out to take a peek then scurry back to their homes.  All seem to greet a wandering partaker with welcome delight.

While I am talkative by nature, I've found that too much conversation diminishes a walk like this.  Words are best peppered conservatively along the way, allowing opportunity for the birdsong in the tree or the crackling of nature’s fallen extensions within the canopy above to be acknowledged and respected.  The tiny footsteps of a squirrel might hearken a glance back in that direction while my eyes follow its tail up a sunlit tree.  On rarer occasion, a deer will pose its beauty and for a heartbeat or two our eyes meet.  Hush...breathing too deep may signal its departure.  Wait, pause, partake.  For soon, this moment will be gone.

What if I took this sacred wandering practice into the more mundane; slowing down the inner highway of my heart to hear and take notice of God’s Kingdom?  Would I hear the tiny voice-cries of the walking wounded that go unnoticed when I am hurried?  Would I be more likely to respect and acknowledge God’s hand at work as he “prunes” the weakened extensions of my own heart or the heart of another?  Would kind respect be exchanged in a shared glance during the wait at a traffic light?  What is it like to walk down the rustic path of God’s everyday-kingdom with stillness? Ever looking. Ever noticing. This moment, right here, is all there is.  Yesterday is gone and tomorrow has not come.  It is here in the present that Finite-human encounters Infinite-God.  Divine opportunities await our response; opportunities that, in their exhale, bring life. “Be still and know that I am God.”  This is his invitation to us, His Beloved.  Be still, take note, and walk in quiet wonder.  His Majesty is at work.

Prayer: Oh Father, I confess that I am often too hurried to notice your hand at work or your beauty displayed in and around me.  I want to be different.  Help me be present with you.  Show me how to walk with stillness in your Kingdom, partake in its blessings and in Your name bless others ~ Amen.