… watching for the brushstrokes of God
Hiking an unfamiliar trail we need to let go of the myth that we are in control of what happens. We don’t know what’s around the next bend; steep inclines or sudden drops, a snake curled up in the sun or a bear with cub crossing the trail, a gnarly old tree or a bubbling creek, the sweetness of wild blackberries or the colors of wildflowers.
How do we keep trusting when the trail bends into the unknown?
“To journey without being changed is to be a nomad. To change without journeying is to be a chameleon. To journey and be transformed by the journey is to be a pilgrim”. ~ Mark Nepo
How do you journey?
“We think of [beauty] in opposition to narrowness, scarcity, drudgery, and constraint. We think instead of what is expansive, generous, abundant, connected, and expressive. Beauty also connects us with the why of living. It points to discoveries waiting to be made about the creation. It points toward questions of right relationships, of ultimate meaning, and even of eternity. It points backward and outward and forward to our ultimate Source and Sustainer.” ~ Makoto Fujimura
What discoveries are waiting for you?
Howard Thurman talks about the island of peace in the soul. An anchor of hope and stability in the tumultuous sea of our responsibilities and decisions, pressures and injustices. Here we bring our dreams and purposes into the presence of the God of our heart.
Do you know your island of peace?
Sometimes …”we have to crawl on hands and knees through the furrows of words, examining, brushing away dirt, not unlike a botanist examining growth patterns and evidence of the soil’s mineral content, water content and whether there is deep clay under the cracks in the soil from which the words emerge.” ~ from The Midrash of the Juanitos
What are you finding in the furrows?
Do not try to save
the whole world
or do anything grandiose.
Instead, create
a clearing
in the dense forest
of your life
and wait there
patiently,
until the song
that is your life
falls into your own cupped hands
and you recognize and greet it.
Only then will you know
how to give yourself to this world
so worthy of rescue. ~ Martha Postlethwaite
How do you wait for your song?
With the Eyes of the Heart 