july 18 2006

God in the stillness, in the silence. Last night as the sun was going down and there was a distance rolling roaring sound of thunder, I sat under a tree in stillness. I sat there for a long, patient time maybe 20 or 30 minutes. I do not know for sure. I did not count the time. The evening cycadas were beginning there rhythms, the lake was still and there was no one walking near where I sat.

I was near the footbridge seated below a tree coated in vines. On the top of the stump about 8 feet high and about 20 feet away was the red hawk. There are a pair that I have taken photos of for several years. The glen is where I see this particular hawk many times at nightfall.

It is amazing that with time now the hawk has allowed me to sit or even stand closer than I could to it before. The hawk, he or she, has become more at ease with me my distance that I can comfortably come is closer. I just sat and admired the beauty of this majesty creature. The shrill call that was only to small birds twice when they flew too close. The gestures of the eyes, the head the wings all a part of a special hawk language. The incredible sense that this beautiful creature knows me somehow in its own way to allow me to sit with it closer than I could when I had first seen it.

The evening is over but the joy of sitting with God's creatures in the stillness still remains with me this morning. The blessing of knowing the ways of nature and being able to sit with it alone in stillness is a gift of great value.

photo2005butterfly

 

jULY 18, 2006

Mt 11:20-24 Jesus began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And as for you, Capernaum:Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the nether world. For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom,it would have remained until this day. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”
Jesus is quite clear. If you have seen the saving power of God in the acts of healing and miracles that have been performed in your midst then there is a call to act and repent. There is a price to be paid for not repenting. There will be the judgment of God for those who have turned from God, who have decided not to listen to God.

Every day is a day of turning to God with an open heart. It is a day of getting up and starting over a new, renewing my love and commitment to God before all else. It is a time of recalling where and when and how I have fallen and getting up and starting over. It is a cycle of daily conversion. It is a time of every day becoming new in Christ.

Matt 18:3 And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Christ calls us to come to God in a special way. To come like litte children. There is a call to let go of many aspects of personality that have been acquired in the world. What is it about little children that I should aspire to? There is a trust that is lamblike and in many that they will not be harmed. There is a newness in life with joy in the smallest of God's creations. There is a lack of guile and even when they try to hide over cover something they can be seen through. There is a willingness to learn and an openness to follow. There is a joy in gathering in groups. I am still the little child that I was fifty years ago. There are ways that I have changed and there are parts of who I am as God made me that are still the same. I pray today for a listening, learning and open heart this day.