The season in the church calendar called Lent is here! It does not have to be all prune-faced dislike. In an effort to draw closer to God, we can forsake (give up) something for this 40 days. I prefer to embrace something I have neglected. Confession of my sin can be one thing I tend to neglect.
Why should we have a time of self examination in the Christian church? This is one way to safeguard against delusion. A serious safeguard against just going through the motions of religion, “playing church.” Are we transparent in wanting to change our ways from self and flesh to God and the plan Christ laid out for His indwelling us? The powers of self examination and confession, forgiveness and redemption should not be underestimated.
The Book of Common Prayer has us confess “we have sinned against God in thought, word and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone.” We then go on to acknowledge that “we have not loved God with our whole heart; and we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.” And I also add I have not loved myself as God would want me to do.
It is important to stop there and ponder in what ways are these statements true? It is far too easy to memorize a prayer and blow past the significance of how these sentiments apply to us personally.
Stop. Ponder. Confess. Pray for forgiveness. There is not a single one of us who does not need this. We all fall short of God’s highest and best for us.
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. Psalm 139:23 NRSVUE
God asks us to search and know our own hearts, test and know our thoughts along with Him. This is our work as well as His. We are so easily deceived. We fool ourselves more often than we might think we do!
Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. 2 Corinthians 13:5a NRSVUE
As realization dawns upon you, write down what you see as your shortcoming, and acknowledge that you are out of line with God’s ways. Then tell God you are sorry and ask for help in changing your ways.
God is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse us. Yes, Lord! Perhaps you will embrace self examination and confession this Lent. One of our priests says her dad who was a priest used to tell people , “Have a miserable Lent!” I, too, hope that yours would be miserably holy. As we seek to draw closer to God we see how far we fall short of His likeness. Let God help you move closer to that goal of living holiness this season.
Are you feeding upon the Word of God? Are you seeking and drinking in Living Water? Are you thriving in the dark mess the world has become?
Part 3 addresses the How to live imbibition. It takes about 7 minutes to read. Hope you enjoy it.
PART 3 You might say, “Well, Molly, that is all very nice. What am I to do to foster the growth of the Kingdom within me? You have no idea of the pressures upon me, I need a better job (or employment period). The strain of what bad thing will happen next is about to break me. I can’t get any rest. I am not a bean in a ship’s hold.”
First, in my experience, you must make reading the Word of God a major priority in your life. Not a “religious” priority, but mandatory for health, oxygen, well-being. This is the only way we are going to make it through the coming darkness with dignity and grace.
NASB Hebrews 4:12-13 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. The Word of God has power. Power we might never understand fully this side of heaven.
As you yield yourself to the Lord God and yield to the power of His Word upon you, things will begin to change, inside you and about you. Not necessarily big dramatic changes, (though those might occur also), but remember the man scattered seed. He went to bed and he got up and the seed grew HE KNEW NOT HOW. Yield yourself to scattering seed upon your own soul. Make it a habit to allow the Kingdom of God room to have a place within you. And you begin with the seeds. You do not have to understand how it works. Just begin to do it. Ask for the Living Water to nourish the seeds you sow in your soul and mind.
Second, you must ask Jesus to give you the things He promises in New Testament Scripture. We live under the New Covenant, the new plan He brought and established by His birth, life among us, death, resurrection, and ascension. There are specific promises and blessings He promises to give us if we seek Him. He will give those to you and He tells us to ASK and keep on asking. You will grow in the things of the Kingdom. Do not ask me to explain to you how you will grow. I do not understand the how, but I do understand the promise and the results. He will give you living water to nourish the seed. You must be willing to consume, absorb, soak up that water.
More from The Living Earth book:“The power of imbibition is a common one in nature, and so is the reproduction of living cells. Combine them, as in a growing plant, and there is a force which can move mountains or easily grow through a blacktop road. A classic experiment in botany was once made with a growing squash plant to test the expansive power of cells. The squash, while still on the vine, was tightly boxed in and weights were added to the framework to keep it enclosed. At first, the young squash moved sixty pounds of weights; a month later two and one half tons were not enough to contain its power of growth.“
Now that sounds like our life, huh? See how much pressure you can put on (and did you notice the humor of what plant they tested, the SQUASH!) and the thing just keeps on growing and busting out! Sounds like a little group in Jerusalem that the religious leaders could not make shut up after their Lord was crucified, died and rose again. Jesus said He will be with us always, even to the end of the age. He told us He and the Father would come to us and live within us. He promised to send His Holy Spirit to guide us and be in us. How can we go wrong with all of them helping us?
Paul says in Colossians 1: 25-27 NIV I have become its (the Church’s) servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness–the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
This mystery, oh this mystery that we so often belittle by wanting every detail explained. Could you just go with the mystery this once and see where it takes you? Could you risk it all and gain the Kingdom? Would you try once again to soak up, absorb, and consume the living water, and grow into His image in the Kingdom, the image He had in mind when He blew life into your being and wonder into your soul?
Perhaps Paul understood this better than any of us. NIV 1 Corinthians 3: 6-9 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
In the dispute that Paul was addressing, the watering and planting were attributed to different persons. I believe that it would delight the Father’s heart if each person who reads this would determine in their heart to plant the seed of His Word in his or her own soul, soak and water that seed with living water until the Kingdom sprouts up with a force that can move mountains or burst through inches of blacktop. For we are, indeed, His Temple and His Spirit wants to live in us. “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16 If we believe Acts 17:28a “For in Him we live and move and have our being” then His Word must be life and breath to us. We can share this life giving discipline with others. The more we grow, the more others will be drawn to His light and Life.
Yes, the darkness is getting darker and moving in upon the areas we thought would always surely remain bright. However, we have a great High Priest who knows all that we go through. (HEB 4:14-16) He is just waiting for us to run to His throne room to find mercy and grace in time of need. He wants to abide with us, in the quiet times as well as the turbulent hours. Yield to His ways and find His quiet strength. As you run to Him and yield to Him, even in the midst of great darkness, you will find Isaiah 61:11 becoming a reality in your daily life.
For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.
Constant fellowship with the Spirit, growing trust in the Son, and adoration of the Father will result in righteousness and praise springing forth from your lips and overflowing from your life. Perhaps the river of living water in the depth of our being is a foretaste of the river of the water of life in Revelation 22:1 that issues from the Throne of God and of the Lamb! Even so, rule and reign in us, Christ Jesus, our King of kings and Lord of lords.
So I left off in Part 1 asking you to get into your Bible, feed on the Word of God. Part 2 is below. It takes about 6 minutes to read. I hope you find it interesting!
PART 2: Ponder that enduring and abiding Word, living and imperishable seed. Perhaps instead of being the farmer that scatters the seed, are we the ground where it grows? Now that seed was planted in each of us and Scripture says we do not know how it grows into a Kingdom. That does not mean we are ignorant as to how to foster that growth and nurture its presence within us. “Oh, but I am so fearful.” The Word does not say to only grow when you have no fear, or when you are not too busy, or when it feels right to you. Your excuses are nothing new under the sun. Trust me. God has heard them all through every generation of human beings. He will make a way for you to grow in His kingdom.
This quote is from a book at the Cincinnati Nature Center Library Living Earth. At the time I copied the information I failed to write down the author, etc. The librarian at the Lloyd Library in Cincinnati was able to track it down for me. The book was written in 1959 by Peter Farb. I took the quote from the chapter entitled The World of the Root: “A blacktop road is often punctured by seedlings which have forced their way through three inches of asphalt. The force that allows them to grow through asphalt is what scientists call imbibition. Take a substance that can absorb water, confine it in a narrow space, water it, and it will swell with power enough to split rocks. Even a ship’s cargo of beans, if water reaches it, can expand and burst the hold.” Imbibition: to consume, absorb, soak up [as in] water, heat and light. Imbibition for the Christian would involve the Word of God, the imperishable seed by which we have been born anew into eternal life, living and growing within us through consuming, absorbing and soaking up …..what?
Plant growing out of concrete
No plant can grow without water. This very specific need for every seed has been known since men became gardener/gatherers. Seeds need soil and water. Today we are discovering that they can even do without soil if grown hydroponically. However, that water is essential. So where are we to get water? Jesus knew we would ask that and He provided answers. In John 4 He is speaking with the woman at the well. The NIV in verses 13-14 read
“Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.'”
Here is a comparison chart of several translations. Anyway you read it we will get very wet!
spring of water welling up (NIV)
well of water springing up (NASB)
fountain of water springing up (NKJV)
spring of water gushing up (NRSV)
And in case we missed the point, He made it again at the Temple ceremony recorded in John 7: 38 NKJV as “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
Okay, so where did Jesus get the idea for this seed and farmer parable in the first place? Did someone just add this when stories were written down? We don’t hear this taught very much! I was pleasantly surprised to have the following verse from Isaiah pointed out to me during morning reading one day.
Isaiah 61: 11 NIV For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.
This comes after Jesus reads a portion of Isaiah in the Temple and then teaches them saying the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me to perform all kinds of deliverances and wonderful things. Today this is fulfilled in your hearing. Remember that Jesus read many of the same Old Testament books that you have access to today.
I do not believe He was certain in His manhood HOW the Kingdom of God would be accomplished in every minute detail. He was fully man and fully God. As fully man how could He comprehend all of that? I do not know, but I am willing to let that be folded up in mystery for now. I do know Jesus taught this parable and it has meaning for us today. He has made a way for us to be reborn through the imperishable seed of the Word, born into the Kingdom. Although it is getting dark and scary out in the world, He continues to provide a way for our growth. One of those ways is through a river of living water running through our spirit by His indwelling and abiding with us
The same Isaiah passage in NRSV reads “For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.”
Now that will really be something! As the darkness gets darker and the garden of God continues to grow, His crop will be righteousness and praise springing up before all the nations. Righteousness and praise. We should know by now that we have no righteousness of our own. If you think you might have a smidgen of righteousness, show it to our Father. He will inform you if it passes the Blood test of Jesus. The Word teaches us that all Praise belongs to God. Therefore, as this crop of righteousness and praise arises from God’s garden, the crop that will be harvested before the nations, it will surely be all about Jesus. (I have had a repeated experience while typing this of having to correct a typo – darknmess. Well, it surely is a dark mess is it not?)
In ACTS 19:20 the NRSV reads: “So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.”
Are you ready to take this challenge for growth and life and imbibition regardless of the rocks piled upon your box? Are you asking Father God for more of that Living Water? I will post Part 3 next week. It has a full explanation of Imbibition.
I want to tell you a story that has not left me over the years. The theme is how we can draw upon what the Lord has provided for us to prosper in this life regardless of dire circumstance. It is a long story so I plan to post it in three parts. This first section is about a six minute read.
Darkness is moving in. There are wars and rumors of wars. Daily we hear reports of thousands of troops and machines, guns and tanks moving from region to region. Children are being kidnapped at record numbers. Public places are bombed regularly. Children are involved in crimes of pornography, rape and even murder. Darkness is closing in upon us all. How will we cope in the aftermath of 911 and Covid, since we are convinced now that “Things will never, ever be the same.” Is there something new that Christians should be doing to draw upon their source of life? Has the Lord brought a new dimension to our livelihood or have we just not made the most of what He told us to do in the first place?
Do you suppose He meant what is recorded in MT 24:7-13?
“You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of Me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
“But those who stand firm to the end will be saved.” How do you plan to do that standing? In Ephesians 6, Paul said that having put on the armor of God we are to stand, and stand therefore and pray. There have been times when I was not certain I had the strength to stand. Yet, the Lord God came and commanded me to stand up anyway. In my spirit, and with His help, I was enabled to stand, because I yielded to His authority as my Lord God Almighty. I did not think I could. He said I was to do it. He stood there with me until I tried and then He made it possible for me to stand up. But, I digress.
There are so many lessons spelled out for us in the natural world. Mind you, I do not confuse my faith with “tree hugging.” I have heard God teach me through rocks and turtles, rain and bird wings, rotting things and green sprouts. I want to share a lesson that I filed away years ago. I knew there was truth here, but until recently, I have never tried to express it. So here goes!
Jesus tells a parable in MK 4: 26-29 “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”
Oh, my friends who want a full explanation of how God does things and why! Here is a parable you will not enjoy wrestling with, but you might be better off for giving it a close look. Perhaps we are the farmer. We spread what we know about the kingdom of God. We go about the business of our lives and we have not a clue how the kingdom grows. When it is harvest time, we rejoice and send in the giant American mowers to reap as many fields as possible in air conditioned comfort.
J. B. Phillips translates it this way: “The kingdom of God is like a man scattering seed on the ground and then going to bed each night and getting up every morning, while the seed sprouts and grows up though he has NO IDEA HOW IT HAPPENS. The earth produces a crop without any help from anyone: first a blade, the ear of corn, then the full-grown grain in the ear. And as soon as the crop is ready, he sends his reapers in without delay for the harvest-time has come.”
We truly have no idea how the kingdom of God grows. History has shown us that it does grow very well under pressure. The numbers within the Chinese church multiplied and continue to multiply even during oppression of any expression of faith. When the wall fell in Berlin, and Communist Russia began to open to the West, the churches found more believers than ever known before. No one is certain how many remain within the privacy and confines of home churches, still fearful of the repressive tactics of their governments. Now it is obvious, especially in most highly populated urban areas of America, that Christianity is not as widely accepted and embraced as in the past. So how will those of us who truly love the Lord Jesus Christ keep our love for Him warm? How might we endure to the end?
In 1 PET 1:23 the NIV reads “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” Born by the Word, the enduring and living Word of God. Do you make that your priority every single day? If the Word is the means by which we were born, I believe it is also the means by which our life continues to be nourished and encouraged. As the darkness grows darker we had best remember that the Psalmist declares that God’s Word is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path (PS 119: 105). The NASB says: “for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God.”
How can the Word of God abide in me if I constantly fill myself with other things and diversions and leisure pastimes and pleasures and wants and wanton desires and everything else under the sun?
Until next time, I implore you to feed on the Word of God. You can start with a Psalm per day and a Proverb per day. Of try some chapters in Mark. Feed some place in your Bible. If you do not have a bible, get one. I like paper best because I can mark in it , take notes, and not lose them in the cloud. If you like electronic try Bible Gateway. I find it easy to use.
Many world religions teach us the importance of learning how to live with uncertainty. Most of us are not very good at it! I read this quote recently from Gratitude. It hit me right where I have been living.
Peace is an invitation in daily life to breathe deep, right here, in the uncertainty. Morgan Harper Nichols
Learning to live with the knowledge that I have a large aortic aneurysm has been difficult and very unsettling. Knowing my God calls me to a life of peace has me wondering how to tap this particular dance. (My sister took tap lessons, not me. I remember her reciting shuffle-ball-step.)
My Internist convinced me that I cannot continue to live in this high state of stress. Doing so for 2 months has caused a massive, ugly fibromyalgia flare. Fibro is a nasty condition addressed in other blog pages. Suffice it to say my body became a train wreck.
I began returning to some of the best teachers I know regarding good mental health. Rick Hanson.net has many resources from this renowned Psychologist. One of his books came to me by way of my sister. I passed it along to my granddaughter. Now I am buying another one for myself!
Resting in Calm Strength: When you recognize that you are basically all right in the present moment, you can release unnecessary anxiety. This isn’t about denying real threats or challenges but rather about not letting anxiety run the show when you are, in fact, safe.
I have prayed and asked the Lord for help with all of this. Deliverance came with realization that this aneurysm may have been present for decades! Now that we are aware of of it, doctors can monitor and treat it. Yes, I very likely will need open heart surgery at some time in the future, but I am in fact all right now.
This is not to say I will remain calm and full of equanimity when the time comes to book that surgery. It just says I can cope in the here and now – this moment – without dwelling in that high anxiety constantly. Perhaps with practice I will be able to face the surgery with peace and calm? The hard work of re-framing all of this plus the three blood pressure medications they have me on seem to finally be bringing my blood pressure down. Now, to maintain those lower numbers!
It has been difficult, but not impossible to let go of those aneurysm thoughts. With practice and diligence I have been able to lay most of them aside. I realized browsing though Hansen’s webpages that I had used the old, ugly habit of rumination with the aneurysm. Rumination is based on negative, obsessive thoughts and it drags me down to the lowest places. Here is a blog entry I wrote about it in 2022. https://treasures-in-plain-sight.org/2022/07/21/rumination/
So I have signed up for his 5 week course entitled Breaking Out of Rumination. Dr. Hanson says that rumination “is very normal, and problematic in the extreme.” I am looking forward to getting a handle on how to stop myself from this habit. I likely learned it from my family of origin – that inability to let something go – just hashing and re-hashing it over and over again. Plus, more good news, when I actually went to sign up the course was half-off!
My writing may drop to 4 blogs a week as I put more work into preparing the poetry for publication. I am also pulling blog entries to try to organize into booklets for publication. Yes! I found an editor and now need to apply myself to the new work of compiling, editing for my part, sending them to her for edits, revising, preparing for publication, open an Amazon self-publishing account, etc.etc.
That certainly gives me other things to think about. My Internist encouraged me to put my focus there!
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, {staid on Thee} because they trust in you. Isaiah 26:3 NIV
This is truly not prayer for a burglar’s success from the movie Topkapi of 1964! There is an image though that came to me during meditative prayer. The image involves the robber dropping down from the glass ceiling and carrying a knife in his teeth. His goal is to steal a dagger encrusted with jewels and replace it with a fake dagger. In 1991 I attended at retreat at the Convent of the Transfiguration. What follows is my journal entry.
Sister Margaret taught, “There aren’t any conditions of prayer. There are some things we can do to become more receptive to God. We can wait and desire God in hopeful expectation.” She taught about God’s Presence as a jewel, prayer as a treasured jewel.
Then we had a time of meditation and prayer – meditative prayer. Winfield Blevins says, “In personal prayer we speak to God, but in meditative prayer we allow God to speak to us through His word and His Spirit.” (I would add that God speaks to us, too, through images we can relate to.)
So during that retreat of November,1991 I envisioned and wrote:
“I see the treasure, as jewels in a case, the multi-faceted beauty of God’s love and wisdom.
As in Topkapi, the lid is lifted and I enter the treasures of His Glory as a frog enters a pond.
I go to what others believe is the bottom and as I still my soul, the treasure box opens and I drop as a rough stone through the beauteous treasure of His wisdom and glory, into the depth of His love.
I may stop for a while but it is as if I am merely perched on a ledge for I have yet to comprehend the depth or length or height of His love.
I wait on that ledge, rooted and grounded in love absorbing massive quantities of nourishment silently.”
I rejoice over Your promise like one who finds vast treasure.Psalm 119:162 HCSB
-you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.Ephesians 3:17b-19 NRSV
So many years have passed since I wrote that. I have learned so much about my God and prayer, yet I still have so very much to learn! And oh the glory of His treasures! I cannot emphasize that too much! Dropping down into silence and prayer is NEVER a waste of our time.
“The sword used by Roman soldiers was a short sword known as a gladius; and in the hands of a skilled man, it was a fearsome weapon. In fact, it became known as the sword that conquered the world. It was sharpened on both sides, making it lethal against an unarmored foe. The point was also sharpened, enabling it to pierce armor.
“Usually around 20 to 30 inches long, the gladius was not the medieval-style long sword usually associated with the armor of God.
“This Roman sword was light (around 2 pounds), short and designed to be wielded easily with one hand while the other hand grasped the shield. Its size meant it could be drawn in close quarters, and its sharpened edges made it a threat to any enemy who got too close.”
Perhaps that vision of the bejeweled dagger in Topkapi was not too far off! I saw the movie and decades later one scene came in my meditative prayer time. I have never forgotten that experience. Now I am writing this out for you. Below is a clip of the movie scene.
May you discover the treasures of prayer as you drop into the deeper layers of knowing our God.
Saw this boiling mud pot in one of the national parks. That is pretty much what my brain is like these days.
I find it amazing that our physical being can cause such major distraction! The things done routinely are forgotten. The people who love us best might not be kept in the loop. The side effects from these drugs to lower blood pressure are kicking me to pieces. Plus it does not seem to be coming down and staying down consistently. It is lower, now to get it to stay there!
I forgot to update my 92 year old friend about my health. That is the same woman who prays for me and my family daily. I felt so bad. I have updated many people via text or email. She does not do either. I totally forgot to call her.
The ice on the front walk built up without me even considering putting a chemical on it to help melt it away. The night temperatures in the teens has kept our shady walks from thawing. Hopefully it will all melt away this week now that we are out of the freezing temperatures!
Usually I gather ideas all week long for what to blog about. Not so this week! Haven’t a clue what direction to take this week. Last week I shared some of my stories from over the years. Maybe continue that theme?
As I fight my way out of the mud I wonder how I will ever set aside time to work just on gathering and editing materials for publishing? I am excited by the prospect, but stymied by this brain fog.
As I listened to music while writing this song by Stephanie Gretzinger came up. I do not remember it, though I placed it on my playlist! Thank You, Lord for the reminder that You are able to keep me.
24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. Jude 24-25 KJV
There are many opportunities to serve in the ministry of Ignatian Spirituality Project. From drivers to bakers, retreat team leaders and members to intercessors there are always needs to be filled. One year on September 15 I was privileged to serve on the team for an ISP Follow-up meeting at the Convent of the Transfiguration. We had held a retreat in August and now was the day for the past participants to reunite for a day of prayer and reflection. The team gathered at Friday evening for a planning meeting and a more restful night than if we had stayed at home.
As we set up the final touches Saturday morning I was reflecting upon how many joyous and rich experiences I have enjoyed at this retreat house over the past twenty years. Now I was here with a team of 3 serving 5 participants who hunger for a deeper relationship with God and recovery from various addictions.
Some of my duties involved scurrying around the grounds. At lunch I gave our Team Leader the key to the retreat house, assuming she would get back to the cottage before I finished what I needed to do. I did my errand and noticed I was the only one on the grounds when I made it outside. I took a leisurely walk through the grounds. The retreat house was locked. I wandered over to the fenced in vegetable garden to wait.
I have always had a fondness for blue morning glories and I noticed they were growing on the fence surrounding the garden, up some of the tomato plants, into the squash, generally delighting the garden with splashes of blue here and there. I suddenly realized I had not made a centering, quiet moment since early morning! Looking at the blue flowers I rested in the lovely color splashed along the fence. Then I focused on one flower. It had a black center. “Wait!” I thought, “Morning glories do not have black centers!” Looking more closely I realized I was looking at a bee inside the flower. He was moving just slightly so I knew he was alive in there. I watched and waited, and waited. He was in there a very long time. What could one bee do for so long? Don’t they flit from flower to flower? I could see that his black bottom was covered with yellow pollen. My first impulse was “Where is my camera?” Instead of leaving and missing his next move I waited. The bee lingered in there. I was amazed that this little morning glory flower had that much nectar to lure a rather large bee to stay for such a long time. Then slowly the bee started to back out of the flower. He was covered with yellow pollen. His legs were spangled with it. His abdomen almost more yellow than black. He staggered out of the flower. The limp petals could barely hold his weight. He was diligently cleaning his proboscis. Come to think of it, I did not remember ever seeing the proboscis of a bee before!
The flower kept folding under his weight and he moved to a bush close by. Still at eye level I had to see what he was doing so I moved closer. As I watched him extend his proboscis further and yet further and clean the length of his tongue with his “paws” I heard the Lord saying, “You cannot spend too much time with Me. There is no such thing as drinking too much living water from My well. Just as the bee seemed to linger an inordinate amount of time, you cannot come here too often or remain with Me too long. Share the “pollen” you collect and rest in this assurance.”
I had experienced my quiet moment during retreat, and what a moment it was! I had an open door opportunity to share the experience with one participant. During our final closing I determined I would not speak unless everyone else had the chance and it was obvious the Lord wanted me to share. The window of opportunity was wide and I told the group what I saw and learned in the garden.
Oh Lord, help us continue to linger in the flower of Your presence, drinking in Your living water. Give us courage to share with others the treasures You give so abundantly. Amen.
Living Water
How much time are you spending with the Lord? Do you regularly drink from the living water? Do you linger in the presence of the Trinity? Are you sharing with others what you hear and experience during that time? This lingering is not a waste of time. It is the source of life.
The opening drawing is a take off on Scripture. My point is this is someone’s artwork. It reflects God’s power in creation. It is also a reflection of the work of the Trinity in our lives, if we will yield to the work of the Word.
Have you had a glimpse of the masterpiece God is making with your life? Do you know that the Creator who made the seasons is also making you into a masterpiece?
I recently saw a pen and ink drawing and was hit by the thought,
"You, Lord, are drawing the lines, etching the picture, planning my future, equipping me to yield in gentle and quiet obedience."
drawing the lines
etching the picture
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 2 Peter 1:3 NIV
Let your adornment be the inner self with the lasting beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in God’s sight. 1 Peter 3:4 NRSVUE
My thanks to Juan D. for the first photo portion and M. Linda McLaughlin for the second. The opening sketch is from the J. S. Paluch Company.
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:10 NRSVUE
Are you yielding to the plan? Is your goal that gentle and quiet spirit of obedience?
As you know I have been praying and asking which way to go with the things I have written. I finally was able to speak with an editor at Forward Movement and I am very excited! She read several of my blog selections and does not feel my material is memoir. Her idea is for me to compile a booklet with 30 items of similar theme. She will help me edit them. The best way to publish these days is through Amazon Direct Publishing. She is well acquainted with how to submit a manuscript to them and can help me with the layout, cover design, etc. There is a sliding scale for her services. Bob and I estimated correctly. It will cost approximately $50 an hour.
When the diagnosis of aneurysm came to me I got busy compiling a booklet by myself. I told Bob if died suddenly from this thing at least I printed one more booklet! So I have already gathered a few selections about prayer. I will need to organize them a bit differently and find more selections from the notebooks of printouts.
Thunderstorms all night followed by howling winds and 3 inches of snow!
More good news, my childhood friend, Dana, has an interest in publishing my poetry and binding them with a spiral binding. She has heavy weight paper and the binding machine materials. All I have to do is email them to her. I am flabbergasted that suddenly things are moving along.
During my recent sleepless night I also realized I have some stories that could go into a booklet together. So there is plenty to do whatever the medical prognosis will be this week. This project is not to earn me money. The point is to get my writing out there in hopes it will challenge and encourage others to pursue a deeper relationship with God. I will not be able to give it away for free through Amazon, but at least these things will move out of my files and into the hands of others. I have lots of work to do!
Please pray I can find the people who are hungry for this sort of thing. Pray the Righteous One will show me how to feed and challenge them. All of this warms my heart with anticipation as I write on this cold, gloomy, winter stormy day.
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 