Yesterday was a day to read, relax, and mind the advice of my Unity devotional… rest, recharge my battery, my whole being. I didn’t blog… but I took time to slow down and take breaks. I wasn’t totally alone. My friend, Julie, came by for a few hours and helped me empty my china cabinet in preparation for when we have to clear out all our dining/living room furniture to have the floors redone. Here is the inspirational message that asked me to “experience the peace and tranquility that rejuvenates me.”
The view from my bathroom window
Summer’s behind us Leaves are turning bright colors Welcoming Autumn
Before he left on his trip to Alaska Sunday, Bob spent some quiet time up in my sanctuary with me
Quiet’s essential To hear the angels singing Rejoicing in God
Sitting on my porch, I glory in the sun’s rays Rejoicing daily
Aloneness is grand If you realize one thing: You’re never alone!
Take time to wander An imaginary path Jesus by your side
Know that your friends are praying for you every day Watching the sunrise
(Thank you, Lisa, for this)
Imagine flowers Covering every hillside Singing God’s glory
Treasure the silence Embrace precious aloneness Feel the Holy One
He’s in Swiss mountains He’s sitting beside rivers Keeping company
Hear His bubbling voice Calling from flowing waters, “Come, find rest with Me!”
In this crucial time We need to stop, look, listen Stop now and bow down!
In kindergarten, we were taught to stop, look and listen. We made traffic lights as an art project. As a kindergarten teacher in the 70’s, I taught the children to recognize their colors, write their numbers, sing their ABC’s and listen for the sounds the letters made. I taught them safety features. Looking out for themselves and for one another. Yes, we had partners who took care of each other when we went out on field trips.
It’s time once again For us to stop, look, listen Practice safety rules
It’s time once again To look out for each other Hold hearts across miles
Just STOP, everyone! Stay sequestered and stop now Look for ways to help
Listen for the cries Of people less fortunate Look for solutions
Kim Taylor Henry is one of the contributing writers for Daily Guideposts 2020. This week, she has taken us through her devotionals on a journey to the Holy Land. We stopped with her in Jerusalem and bemoaned the way “the city bustled on.”
Kim thought of the words of Jesus: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem… how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”
She wrote that when she traveled to Jerusalem, she “had expected to feel connected to God through tranquility.”
Instead, as she stood on a hill looking down at the expanse of the city, she wanted to cry out, “Stop everyone! This is holy ground! Bow down. Worship. Praise.”
The city is still The children are in their homes It seems the world stopped
Take time to bow down Reconnect with your Maker Let His Will guide you
When Kim Taylor Henry left Jerusalem and traveled on to Gethsemane, she expected to find “a hushed highlight” for her trip. She wrote that she thought she would find “a spot where I would reflect on our Savior’s suffering, a place of pain, yet serenity.”
“Instead ,” she wrote, “I saw a fenced-off grouping of knobbly olive trees… It didn’t feel peaceful.”
Opportunity or Tragedy
We have the opportunity during this COVID-19 pandemic to create in our homes a place of peace, a spot where you sense a “hushed highlight” in the opportunity to just BE… just BE together with family or alone in your space…
OR
We can create a tragedy where we feel “fenced off” and we can be resentful, and we can worry and let our fear blind us to the opportunities that are before us.
Traveling on the Via Dolorosa, the road to Calvary, the place outside the city of Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified, Kim Taylor Henry wrote in her Guideposts devotional,
“I felt irritated by what I viewed as near oblivion to the sanctity of the path. Crass crowds and the array of souvenir shops disturbed me.”
But she went on to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Golgotha, the hillside where Jesus and the two thieves’ crosses remained, and she felt a sense of hush and respect.
Kim asked herself, “Why is the Via Dolorosa bustling with indifference and commercialism while the sites of death and resurrection are worshipful?” And she postulated, “Perhaps it’s a reminder that I, like so many wrapped up in the world… realize my errors too late, and bow down after the fact – when crisis has already struck.”
Is it Too Late?
Help us not to wait Until the crisis has struck Devastating us
Help us to heed NOW The directions we’re given And let us bow down
Stop, look and listen Like kindergarteners did No, it’s not too late!
Thank you, Kim Taylor Henry, for permission to quote your writing. Thank you, Guideposts, for your wonderful DailyGuideposts 2020spirit-lifting devotionals. I appreciate this resource that helps me each day stay focused on the positive ways we can remain in His Word and “Walk the Talk” as we learn to better love and care for one another.
We are in a bit of a mess right now But we will as a world of people Get through this problem of COVID-19 If we focus on the possibilities.
We have to see the problem, though. We can’t ignore it and decide This is just a bunch of media hype. Opportunities for containing it are coming.
The people who are working on a cure Have to view the problem clearly. They won’t create a vaccine or treatment If they are convinced it’s only a hoax.
This major, world-wide problem is An opportunity for people to see A new and better world where people Come together to create positive change.
Factories shut down and air quality improves. Tourists are convinced to stay home, and The waters in the canals of Venice are Beginning to exhibit less pollution.
Schools are closed and parents are at home, Schooling their children the best they can, And hopefully spending quality time together. Shut off the TV; limit screen time; TALK!
This problem IS providing us with opportunities. Which ones are you taking advantage of? Which closet got cleaned? What book did you read? What distant friend did you call to reconnect?
Problems provide possibilities for creativity. Use yours to make this corner of your world A little brighter for your family and neighbors. Remain positive. Spread hope. God bless you!
