A life is either all spiritual or not spiritual at all. No man can serve two masters. Your life is shaped by the end you live for. You are made in the image of what you desire. Thomas Merton

The river is gurgling by, meandering as opposed to moving briskly as it did a month or so ago. I have just come down for a few minutes to get out of the heat. It was an unseasonably warm 90 degrees today. To a seasoned desert dweller that might seem tame, but there is the humidity factor.

All is quiet down here except for a few birds closing out the day. I did just hear a wild turkey warbling, which is a treat since you don’t hear those every day.

This morning I awoke early and made the walk down to the river to pray. I was all set to get serious and ask God what is going on with me. I wanted to ask what has happened to the prayer life that seemed to come so easy in Arizona. It’s safe to say that God hasn’t gone anywhere so it must be circumstances on my end. Our lives have changed to say the least. We are no longer in that safe, predictable pattern where everything seemed to flow easily. The contents of our home are in storage and there are other factors at play.

On the other hand I am surrounded by this nature and beauty and a wonderful opportunity and I am very thankful. I have done pretty well relaxing into this in between phase because after all, how many people have the kind of in between phase that allows them to live by a river?

Back to this morning. The neighbor cat decided to join me in prayer and proceeded to jump on my lap and settle in. She was so very happy. Then she decided to investigate the prayer closet and climbed in the cabinet. She thought it was just her size. She nudged my coffee and made biscuits on me and took the opportunity to take a bath as well. She was pleased as punch. How could I shut her out? Poor thing never gets any attention.

Turns she was just what I needed to deflect my introspective and somber mood. I walked back with a little smile on my face. Thank you God. You always know how to keep me from taking myself too seriously.

Wonderful things happened this past week and I can’t deny it. We attended the Baptism of a dear new friend, a young man with his life ahead of him, making the best decision he could ever make. And miracle of miracles, I ran into someone I never thought I would see again. Someone who was a special part of my life and who was instrumental in introducing me to my husband. Turns out her daughter attends the same church and they go there sometimes when they are in town. Twenty-seven years later here we are. What are the odds we would end up in the same place?

It was definitely a God thing. But isn’t everything? With all the unrest in the world today, He remains my rest.

“Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.” Romans 5:1