God Moments

Watching the Sky

By Maxfield Parrish

“Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:” Amos 5:8

Last night I stepped outside and was greeted with a “Maxfield Parrish” sky. Ever since I saw some of his art long ago, I think of him when the sky is that certain shade of inky blue…..that not quite dark cobalt, still lit from underneath by the sun’s last trace of light. I took a deep breath, thanking God for the night sky, His sky…..for the stars, the moon and placing me here at just this moment in time.

I always make it a point to go out at dusk and look for the moonrise. God’s mysterious night light. I love that particular time of the evening. There is a resigned peacefulness in the twilight when the evening sounds start to rise and everything calms down. Once again, stars appear just like they did the night before, there is security in that.The evening bird closes out the day and ushers in the night with one last song…….This one day has closed out….. and we did the best we could with it, and it is enough.

The other night it was a harvest moon. As I saw the glow of it rising over the Superstition mountain ridge, it almost took my breath away…it was huge and otherworldly, like it was too big for the horizon. I was in the car and I wanted to pull over so I could watch the whole performance, but I had to be content with watching it the best I could while driving down the freeway.

In ancient Israel it was common for people to sleep on the rooftops. Maybe because it was cooler outside, and probably there was more room. They spent a lot of time watching the sky……watching, and waiting too. For a Messiah that would be preceded by a strange star…..If there was some new star there they would have known it immediately.

They read the book of Numbers, they had read the Prophecy
“I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel…….Numbers 24:17
 
I don’t know who taught me to be a sky watcher and I’m not sure when it started…..



When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars, which you have ordained; what is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty! Psalm 8:3-5

Now my brother is teaching my Niece to watch the sky too, I think it’s great. Every evening they are together they go out and look for the moon……and everytime the moon is a very small crescent, my Mom thinks of me from California.


Windows of hope

Mount Angel Abbey, St. Benedict Oregon
The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is
to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone
with the heavens, nature and God.
Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and
that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple
beauty of nature. I firmly believe that nature brings solace
in all troubles.  Anne Frank
When I read this my heart aches for little Anne, how much strength and wisdom she had. I wish I she could have lived to walk out of her attic and sit at peace under her beloved chestnut tree. Not too long ago the 180 year old tree that Anne gazed at from her window fell over in a storm. I believe she clung to that tree because it represented life. To me it says a lot about her character, that she could hope in anything at all in her situation.
“Our chestnut tree is in full blossom,” Anne wrote in her diary in May 1944. “It is covered with leaves and is even more beautiful than last year.”
I think we are creatures of hope by nature. It’s grafted into us by God as part of our blueprint. It is the only thing that explains why people don’t give up, why we continually strive for survival, for life, to persevere in even the most dire circumstances.
There was a time in my life where I was swimming in grief…….I would drive around aimlessly at night, not knowing where to go because everywhere I went my sorrow went with me. My family was dealing with their own sadness so I didn’t want to heap anymore on them. There were friends that welcomed me into their homes and I never forgot them for it.
On one particularly foggy night around Christmastime I was out for one of my drives that went nowhere when I rounded the corner and saw a little house that I had always admired because the people who owned it loved it and decorated it for every holiday. It wasn’t big, it wasn’t modern or luxurious, it was an older home on a corner lot, just a little cottage duplex…….but that night as I rounded the corner, it was resplendant, a jeweled princess ready for the ball!
It sparkled with white twinkling lights all around, and each window lit from within by the glow of a candle. At that moment it was my little port in the storm, my own personal lighthouse of hope. A small candle was lit in my heart that night, God whispered:  “I am with you and I have given you this little gift to let you know that sorrow doesn’t last forever; on the other side of it is joy“…….I clung to that hope like Anne to her chestnut tree.
Since that time many years ago, I have kept candles in the window of just about every home I have had…..to remember. 
” May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.” Psalm 33:22

Autumn Thoughts

God does not exist to answer our prayers, but by our prayers we come to discern the mind of God.

– Oswald Chambers

“When we are alone on a starlit night, when by chance we see the migrating birds in autumn descending on a grove of junipers to rest and eat; when we see children in a moment when they are really children, when we know love in our own hearts; or when, like the Japanese poet, Basho, we hear an old frog land in a quiet pond with a solitary splash – at such times the awakening, the turning inside out of all values, the “newness,” the emptiness and the purity of vision that make themselves evident, all these provide a glimpse of the cosmic dance.” — Thomas Merton

I have always loved fall…..the expectation, the whisper of cool breezes, the closing out of summer with one bright blaze of glory. I wonder, is it summer throwing a tantrum or fall announcing its presence? All the same it is like no other time of year. It is joy mingled with a bit of melancholy thrown in, like you want to sit at a window all day and watch the leaves twirl down, lost in thought, tea having long grown cold, book open but untouched.…..It is hope of good things to come, quiet moments by the fireside, bundled up walks, breath blowing frost, stacking wood and burning leaves.
It is the faint promise of Advent settling quietly about your spirit that makes you feel like home…..Softly saying He is coming even though you know He is already here….
Photos from Flagstaff Observatory and Sedona Tourism, Google Images
Any fall thoughts you want to share?

The Waiting Game

“The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach – waiting for a gift from the sea.”
Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Much of life is spent waiting…….Waiting for something to end or something to start. We have all spent hours waiting in hospital rooms. Hoping for good news…..being prepared for the worst. In the case of old age or terminal illness, everything rests on the edge of one moment. One such moment was related to me yesterday. A close family friend who is also a Pastor was telling my Mom about waiting in the hospital room for his Mother-in-law to pass on.

Much had led up to this moment. Pastor Greg and his wife Ann, who several years ago had a bad stroke, had been caring for both of her parents. Due to Ann’s stroke the majority of the burden fell on Greg and it has been taxing to say the least.

Ann’s parents went to church, but didn’t want to hear anything about having a personal relationship with God. Greg had tried to talk to them before about spiritual things but they had made it clear that was “okay for Greg and Ann”, but not how they believed.” It was a mutual understanding and they got along fine, that was just how things were.

It was about 4 in the morning and Greg was alone in the room and beyond exhausted. Ann had gone home long before. It was just he and his Mother-in-law who looked like she was already gone from this world. Greg had His Bible and was alternately praying and dosing off. He heard a rustling noise coming from the bed and looked over. She was sitting straight up in bed! In Greg’s own words, “It was like a corpse sitting up!” Then she lay back down.

Awhile later he heard the rustling again……again, she was bolt upright in bed. Now he had been fervently praying that he would get another opportunity to talk with her, so he opened his Bible to the book of John. She lay back down again.

Once more the rustling……..once more she was sitting up and even looked somewhat coherent. He decided this may be his last opportunity, so he drew the chair to the side of the bed. To make a very long story short, they talked, he read from the book of John…..”I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. John 5:24,25

They continued talking and he kept reading from John, explaining salvation and what it means. When he knew that she understood, he asked her if that would be something she would like to do, accept Jesus as savior. She said yes. Shortly thereafter, her waiting was over. She had passed from this life to the next.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. John 1:12

At her memorial, the Pastor asked Greg to speak. Since this was their own Pastor, Greg was somewhat taken aback. What would he say? The Father-in-law then piped up and said, “Why don’t you tell them what happened in the hospital room?” Greg was surprised by this, but he did tell the story, word for word, at the funeral. He told my Mom that you could have heard a pin drop while he was telling the story…..

Cure for Anxiety

I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in. ~George Washington Carver
Ever feel like your mind won’t stop fluttering? My friend has another word for it, she calls it “Zingin” You can’t put the “g” on the end either, it just doesn’t sound right. When she says, “I’m zingin” I know exactly what she means. Now I am starting to say it. Today my mind has felt like a hundred butterfies with their wings fluttering all at once. I don’t even know why. Some days are just like that.
I am looking for that quiet corner in my mind today and so far it has escaped me. Over at the Moonboat Cafe I learned about a new form of Japanese poetry called Gogyohka. I hope you hop over there and see what it’s all about, and enjoy Cassandra’s post while you are at it.  You will be inspired and refreshed!
In the meantime, I thought I would try my hand at it. It is amazing that my mind actually did quiet down a bit after I tried it!
Though my mind seems filled
with a hundred tiny butterflies
if I focus on only one
slowly resting on a flower
I am at peace
Dear friend,
You aren’t the only one to be distracted from the presence of God; I understand completely. Our minds are so flighty. But remember that our God-given will governs all of our strength. It must recall the mind to God. Otherwise, our spirit may wander, dragging us down to the things of this earth.
Brother Lawrence

Resurrection in the Desert

Everyone needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike…..John Muir

September breathes new life into the desert. It is our time of resurrection. Too long hidden under the hum of unnatural air, trapped inside four walls. September finds us able to walk outside, able to take a complete breath of air that is not oppressive heat. The animals feel the joy and relief of it too, as evidenced by their morning frolics, they step a bit lighter along with us. This is a joy that only those who dare to live in this harsh environment can fully know and appreciate.

Ours is an Autumn of resurrection, new beginnings. Annuals appear, bold swatches of color that could never survive the summer, this is a fall of a different kind. No swirling leaves of red yellow or brown, now we have roses. Though I ache for those leaves that I once knew to mark my own special Advent…..I feel it in my heart just the same.

I recognize God’s hand in it and that is, after all, the miracle of Advent. I feel His birth, death and resurrection each time I step outside my door these past few mornings……It is sweet relief.  And such  thankfulness at this grace…..that I can share this message of the One behind it all.

I pray today for everyone who has yet to know you Lord. I pray that I might be a humble instrument to be used by You for that solitary purpose. Help me to be a guide, a small gateway to You;  to help them see that they only have to look aside for one moment, to stop and focus on one thing, one aspect of nature and be still in it, and see You in it.

I pray that they might see that Your thoughts are already turned toward them. All it would take is one misstep in the dance of our planets and we would be no more……that is reason enough to believe. Amen

……..since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1:19,20

Continuing to number my praises today with Ann and company……#461 the sweet breath of open windows once again…..#462 morning prayer free of heat…..#463 the sweet fellowship of other believers…..#464 a once more reasonable electric bill…..#465 the magic of fall however it comes……#466 yellow butterfly outside the window just now….#467 the anticipation of holidays and pumpkin pie…..#468 good neighbors….#469 health to enjoy all this….#470 sending prayers down the river that reaches Heaven….#471 eating outdoors again! #472 not having to water as much…….

holy experience

Finding God in the Desert

Peace in the midst of thorns
Take a walk, a drive, if you dare, pass the golf greens and the shopping malls, the Walmarts and the Kohls, the Starbucks and the trendy restaurants and you will find something wild and untamed, the desert. But tread carefully with your eyes peeled. Be aware that this is not your home, it is theirs. This is a place where you must pay attention, for it is merciless. But approach and you will find a beauty you didn’t expect, but only if you turn your senses up.

There are no bright lights here, no big colorful signs that attract. But if you look closely you will find a desperate beauty that will touch your soul, remind you that even in the midst of a dry thirsty land there is life. The desert speaks to us of death, of what we fear, but it also speaks of courage, of survival. Of a big God.

Go to the edge and look in if you must, but I invite you to take a few steps beyond. You will find God there if you are looking, in the plaintive cry of the quail, the circling shadow of the hawk, the impossibly bright bloom amongst the plant of thorns; the lizard as he scrambles across the rocks, lifting his belly up and down to cool himself. The always industrious cactus wren, impervious to the heat, flitting here and there, always with a job to do.

Hear the unexpected voice of God in an afternoon thunderstorm……..and then afterward lift your eyes to the heavens as He paints the sky in sherbet. Stay beyond sunset and hear the silence of the desert that is like no other…..as the relentless heat has a bit of mercy and reluctantly loosens its grip. Wait, and you will see the sky fill up with His diamonds, try to imagine what He has named them.

In my silence, I can hear Jeremiah’s lament as he longs for his desert lodging place to flee to……
John the Baptist, crying across the desert wind, preparing the way for the Lord….
Hosea speaking tenderly to Israel there….
And I can see Jesus, walking resolute and strong, as the Holy Spirit carries Him out to His own battle in the desert…..

From a hole in a towering saquaro the face of an owl appears. Joining the crickets evening song, he beckons all who have hid in their dens and holes away from the merciless sun to come out. Stay longer and you will hear the coyotes come out to play, their howls echoing, their wildness touching the edge of our civility, two worlds colliding.
I wonder how we ever thought we could tame the desert?
I wrote this after my morning walk yesterday when I saw the dove nesting in the cactus. I was reminded of  all the many times this desert’s beauty has astounded me with its many paradoxes, like the dove resting among the thorns. God has surprised me with this part of His creation, and reminds me that beauty is everwhere if we keep our minds open. The desert will leave its mark on me forever, wherever I go. It has worked its way right into my heart along with the Sierra Nevada and the Pacific Ocean I love so much…..

Scripture readings: Jeremiah 9:2, John 1:23, Hosea 2:14, Luke 4:1

Prayer belongs less to time than to eternity…..Thomas Merton

The Cup that Overflows

Ever felt like the whole earth is praising with you? Welling up and overflowing like a river that has spilled its banks; in the wellspring of your soul you echo His words, “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” That was me yesterday. It was the victory lap at the end of the week, Saturday, my last day of the workweek. Saturdays are usually that way. I get up and there is no traffic, the annoying hum is absent and all is silent, peaceful. I could have driven to work on the fumes of praise alone….He has carried me through another week. I had myself a little victory dance in the car, and it carried me all the way through the doors. It lasted all day!

Like David, I felt my cup overflowing, the cup of praise to a God that has done everything for me, is with me at all times, and at all times, “His praise shall continually be in my mouth,” no matter what I am going through, because He is worthy to be praised! David understood that.  His life wasn’t easy at times, but he knew where He could find refuge and strength, and he knew how to praise God! David did his own victory dance.

“David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the Lord with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.” 2 Samuel 6:14

Can’t you just see him dancing for joy? I understand that craziness……sometimes I want to jump up and down on a street corner and call out, “Do you know what Jesus has done for me? What He can do for you, if you just let Him?”

I used to see a man on the way to church. The locals call him “Izzy.” He is somebody you can look at and one glance will easily render a judgement of “crazy.” He stands on a street corner with his finger pointing up at the sky, proclaiming Jesus to anyone who will hear. My church even did a segment on him once. When he was interviewed, he came off pretty rational, but it’s tough to get passed his exterior. Long beard, unkempt, pushing a shopping cart, he looks like he may have been sleeping on a bench somewhere. 

Some of what he says is not rational at all, but if you pay attention and listen for a moment you will realize the part that is rational is full of praise to God!

Sometimes I wonder, who is the crazy one? We are the ones who have received the Good News, the best news ever to reach mankind, how can we keep from shouting aloud? All of creation sings its praise to their maker. It’s only natural we do the same.

Izzy does.

Meditating on His Love

“Therefore I am now going to allure her;
I will lead her into the desert
and speak tenderly to her.
There I will give her back her vineyards,
and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
There she will sing as in the days of her youth,
as in the day she came up out of Egypt.
“In that day,” declares the LORD,
“you will call me ‘my husband’;
you will no longer call me ‘my master.
Hosea 2:14-16

This is how much He loves us!

Why is it always easier to anticipate God’s wrath than to perceive God’s joy? Ever expecting to be shot, we’re invariably dumbfounded by a grace we can’t conceive. Belden C. Lane, The Solace of Fierce Landscapes
Kind of like finding water in the desert……
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on the scales
and the hills in a balance.
Isaiah 40:12
Sometimes you don’t need very many words at all, you just need to sit quietly and and find His love in the stillness of little moments throughout the day….and always, remember to listen to the birds no matter what.

Starting the Day Right


PSALM 143:8-10

Let the morning bring me Word
of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.
Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord,
for I hide myself in you.
Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God;
may your good Spirit
lead me on levelground.

I started the day the only safe way to start it….By rolling out of bed, placing my forehead to the carpet and uttering a prayer….first for strength, then a thank you for another day on the earth….for my health, for the miracle of being able to start again. All over the world, others are waking too. Some with prayers, some with curses, some with a combination of both.

Really, I start the day with an advantage. An advantage of weakness. A knowledge that I can’t do this on my own. When I am off work, I don’t start off nearly this needy. But I should, since I have no guarantee of what may happen on any given day only that You walk beside me.

So I gave my day over, and whatever happens. God is in it. And it will be good because He is with me.

The most wonderful moment of the day is that when creation in it’s innocence asks permission to “be” once again, as it did on the first morning that ever was. Thomas Merton