Is November really upon us? Soon it will be Christmas with all its busy-ness and chaos. This seat in the bush on a hairpin bend reminds me that we have a choice in life; to take time out from the journey. The installer of the seat put it in a sensible spot; part way up a strenuous climb.
The seat reminded me that my life doesn't work very well if there is no time of quiet each day. You know, it doesn't need to be a great, long time spent in fervent prayer, it might just be a few minutes of reflection at day's beginning or end, or maybe both. But the time of rest, sitting on the seat with God, needs to be there.
Even in the holiday seasons and hectic times, when added random commitments appear as if by magic, the time of sitting by the trail-side needs to be there. David , in Psalm 55 exclaims from the midst of turmoil; "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. I would flee far away and stay in the desert;
I would hurry to my place of shelter,
far from the tempest and storm."
I look forward to the times of clarity I do occasionally get when sitting with God. The older I get the more I savour the simple blessings that God gives. I don't need all the experiences of the world, but I am more content with God's provision in the here and now.
I rediscovered today John Michael Talbot's rendition of Psalm 131, in which he sings "Lord, my heart is not proud. Nor are my eyes fixed on things beyond me. In the quiet, I have stilled my soul. Like a child at rest on its mother’s knee I have stilled my soul within me." The world is filled with a million potential anxieties and challenges, many beyond our control, yet with God in the stillness we are not overcome.