Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Dark Peace

July 19, 2017

The stars peeked through the darkness in between the spruce and maple that loomed above me as I sat on the patio this evening. I had let Emma out for her pre-bedtime run and decided to wait outside for her. Inside, even though windows were open, it was stuffy, but on the patio, the air was cool even without a breeze. All was still, which doesn’t happen often around here. Constant movement and activity is the norm; this morning I prepared our son Matt’s house for the paint to be applied later this week (Happy birthday, Matt! I literally scraped for your present this year.). A funeral this afternoon, a FaceTime call from Alex in Cuba, and a church board meeting tonight, all added up to a day not given much to solitude. 


Overhead, a few airplanes blinked their way to their destinations, filled with people with things to do and places to go. Down below, it was just me and Emma and the darkness. I just sat, thinking about the prayers I’ve prayed, and wondering about the answers I’ve missed because I was so busy talking that I didn’t take time to listen. So tonight, I listened. Our prayers are so often about all the things we want God to do for us, so seldom about simply being with God, listening and receiving. Tonight was a listening night. No, I didn’t hear some celestial message, no divine interventions, but I did feel the tension inside me begin to relax and melt away. It may not come in audible words or even in biblical guidance, but that melting away was worth the time I invested just sitting. Emma seemed to like it, too. I began to wonder what was taking her so long, till I looked to my left and saw her lying on the bricks in the shadows. A black dog is hard to track at night!

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