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| This blog had died, as any regular reader long ago determined. I am currently blogging at www.TheFlatCousins.blogspot.com. | | |
| I am just back from the Caribbean. The only way to describe it is as a Divine gift. Below is a little essay I wrote recently on rest, which I experienced there.
I experience my need for grace when I rest. I find that in rest, I sometimes feel tense almost to the point of panic. But God calls me to rest. And implicit in that call is a call to trust. When I am resting, I am NOT doing. I am NOT saving myself. Rest forces me to rely on someone else to provide sustenance for that moment. And that’s exactly what God planned. He calls me into a place where I must trust. Where I must rely on His goodness. The call to rest isn’t just a call to put down my blackberry, to pull from my mind the web of stress and worry that accompany daily life. The call to rest is a call to be intimate with the Most High God. The call to rest is a call to experience grace in everyday life.
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| The tree fell last night. The one outside my parent's kitchen window.
It's funny how you notice the passage of time. Sometimes it comes at the obvious moments: New Years Day or a birthday celebration.
But other times you notice it because something around you ages. In a way you didn't expect. And that's what's happened to me. The tree fell. The tree has been there forever. When we moved into the house when I was very young, it stood strong. Clearly old, but strong. Five branches thick like elephant legs sprouted tall from it's very rotund and very short trunk. One branch fell not long after we moved in. When I was very young, my mom tied ropes to one of them and made a swing for me.
And then another branch fell. We had a third one taken down for safety's sake.
For many years, only two branches remained.
During strong thunderstorms, common in Missouri and often resulting in tornadoes, I prayed the old tree wouldn't fall into our house in a thunder-filled gust. It never did. From the windows of my older sisters' room, you could see the tree clearly. At night, moonbeams shone through the shade of the long slender branches into their room. The tree protected them from broiling heat in the summer time with its tender cover of silver maple leaves.
For all my tree climbing and jumping, I don't remember climbing the tree very often. It was the home of a long black snake. The black snake was friendly, but long enough that I was never inspired to climb the tree he lived in.
And then last night, a still night, another branch slipped to the ground with a sigh. Only one of the original five branches of the tree remains. It and the remainder of the trunk will be taken down soon by professional tree cutters, for safety's sake. And with that, the tree will be but a stump.
The tree, fallen now, teaches me to cherish the trees not fallen. To embrace life's each stage, not rushing through to the next. To look up and see the divine leaves protecting me. Stand still and feel the strong roots beneath me. Stop and see --really see-- the new saplings up ahead.
I love that tree.
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| I realize the blog entry from yesterday (breath/lucky) seems a little syrupy sweet. It is. I didn't intend for it to be. It's not that I feel lucky every day, or even all the time. There are things in life I'd like to change, certainly. But yesterday, I was feeling particularly rested and content, and I think it's important to mark moments like that. And so I did. | | |
| I have breathed deeply this weekend. I cleaned my bedroom. Opened mail. Trashed credit card offers. Filed paperwork. Picked up some dry cleaning and talked with the clerk, who has become my good friend. Went to dinner with my friend Jake, who used to have the job I have now. Watched "Dan in Real Life" with friends from work, who laughed at me as I laughed louder than anyone else in the entire theater. Talked to mom and my dad, who are newly empty-nested. Went for a jog with my friend Hunter, who will be an Air Force pilot some day. Made brunch for my Aunt Jeannie who just got a job at the Apple Store. Took a nap. Went to GraceDC. Feasted on communion. Enjoyed dinner with my friend Melissa, who is a journalist at Governing magazine. Talked to my brother Joel who just saved his client from losing a $935,000 lawsuit. To my sister Kak who is about to have a baby. With my friend Adam who is nearing the end of college and my friend Nate who is a newlywed. I have breathed deeply this weekend. It has been glorious. | | |
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