[A
Monday/Wednesday/Friday Feature of the First Road Blog]
I miss them.
Yet, through the years, God has always had one where
I could go.
A…quiet place
Far from the rapid place
Where God can soothe my troubled mind.
© Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC,
Universal Music Publishing Group
Probably
the best and most missed is the farm in central New York where Judy grew up. It
was for both me and my whole family a kind of Shangri-La – rolling acres of
fields and forests on either side of a pleasant brook. I have a cup from the
farm which I often choose to be my tasse
à café du jour.
Then
there was Piney Creek in western
Pennsylvania. Nestled on a boulder shaded by copse of trees I could listen to
the water burble its way toward the Mississippi and refocus my thoughts on the
God of all streams.
Sadly,
the farm belongs to others now, and Piney
Creek, in a fit, washed away my hide-a-way. But I am not dejected. Quiet
places are not primarily geographical. They are places of the heart, letting
His Spirit remind me of His constant presence.
Today,
when so much demands our attention, I fear the quiet place is being eroded by
our own disobedience to the biblical call to cultivate quietness. We mistake
recreation as an acceptable substitute. We tend toward distractions rather than peace. We want to think chilling with our i-Phones and laptops is the same as being still and knowing that God is God. Our freedom from Sabbath law has robbed us of our experience of Sabbath grace.
Jesus,
I believe, did not have alternate busyness in mind when he told his disciples
to “come
apart and rest.” Confidence in God is not linked to a full calendar.
Passionate service needs to be prioritized by a quieted soul lest we find
ourselves running full speed ahead with a zeal lacking in knowledge.
Geographic
Shangri-Las change. The ability to be alone with our Lord begins by nurturing a quiet garden of the heart to which we can go even when our physical
surroundings are nothing more than a closet or a hospital bed; but they must be deliberately sought out and frequently visited.
No comments:
Post a Comment