Who are you?

  

 I'm told in the scriptures that we will know you by the works of your hand - by creation.  So as I look around I ask -

Are you like the mountains 

beguiling my eye? 

With silver-clad peaks piercing the sky? 

Are you like those mountains - untouchably high?

 

Are you like the valleys 

catching the snow

            the keepers of water for life down below?

 

Are you like the valleys - with life giving flow?

 

Are you like the river which grows in its quest 

seaward and downward 

from east and from west?

Are you like the river - never at rest?

 

Are you like the flower, the grass and the tree,

green growing home for the bird and the bee?

Are you like them all - a haven for me?

 

Oh God of the mountain, the river and glade

Oh God of the raindrops, the sunshine and shade

Oh God of the flowers, the springtime and fall

Oh God of creation - are you like them all?

 

Too high to reach

Too deep to feel

Too grand to know if you are real.

 

But the scripture says,
Romans 1:20 (NIV) “ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
 
So I know and I believe.

 
 

Catch me

Picture an old fashioned carousel.   See the horses spinning in a circle - endlessly.

Hear the music galloping along with a vengeance.  See the mirror in the middle of the carousel reflecting back the chaos of the ride.  A carousel isn't always fun, and this cry came from my heart.

"Catch me God,” I cry.

"Stop this carousel I’m on." 

The days and the seasons, stampeding, go by.

Dark pains and dark pleasures around me, they fly,

 

and I cry,

“Catch me please God – before I die.”

 

“Catch me God,” I cry,

as the black in my heart edges in.

My life and my actions increasingly gray -

the good and the perfect are further away,

 

and I cry

“Catch me please God – before I die.”

 

“Catch me God,” I cry.

The carousel mirror shows truth to me.

It shows me a life full of sin beyond measure -

a self-centered life hurting those I should treasure

 

Oh how I cry,

“Catch me please God – before I die.”

 

And then, the carousel is still.

My world has crashed.

I’ve lost the will

to run,

and running, then to hide,

since the mirror has shown me what’s inside.

When I saw and confessed the guilt 

to my Lord, 

He softened the pain, 

and I heard Him explain

that 

playing the game of catch-if-you-can

is something that He would not do.

I had to stop playing,

reach out,  

take God’s hand.

and follow His heart - then I knew.

 

He was there all the time seeing my plight. 

He answered each time I prayed in the night.

He hurt when I hurt and He said when I cried,

 

“I caught you my child, --

on the day my Son died.”

Dear friend, if you are playing that game - please know that life can get better.  It did for me, many years ago when I surrendered my heart to my Father, the God of the universe.

God smiled at me today

When you reached out and touched me today God touched me, with the touch of your hand.

In this Covid/Post-Covid/Distanced World, there are so few actual physical touches.  And we miss them, don't we? 

Hugs, pats on the back, hand shakes, all of the friendly, non threatening human touches that are part of family and community.  They are necessary, and I feel deprived when I'm denied them.

But there is another beautiful way that God reaches out to us.  I believe that He smiles when His children offer smiles to His other kids.

We were traveling this week and within only a short time I stopped to record the following smiles from my Father.

• The airport shuttle driver showed extra concern for me as I stepped into the van.  I was a bit unsteady on my feet but God was smiling at me.
  
  
• A TSA agent took extra care to make sure Ron's belongings were safe - bringing them to me, and suggesting a place to sit.
  
  
• A server in an airport restaurant joked with a couple of old people who were not even dining there.  Her smile put a bit of spark in my tired soul - a smile from my Father.
  
  
• The Starbucks barista brewed fresh hot coffee when she could have just emptied the old pot for our drinks.  She even came out from behind the counter to put them in our hands with a smile.
  
  
• God smiled when he gave us an open airy place to wait for our plane.
  
  
• When He brought to our eyes a book written by Eugene Peterson and the discussion we had about covenants was so specisl.
  .
• When our special friends welcomed us with faces of love.
  
  
• When the telephone receptionist at the Doctor's office gave me the information I needed to find help with a medical issue  The kindness in her voice for someone she didn't know, shown loud and clear as a smile from God.
  
  
• When the PA at UC Urgent care came out of the office and caught me in the waiting room when we were leaving,  She came to remind me to follow up on the Blood Pressure issue with my home Doctor - just to make sure I didn't forget and her smile came from her heart used by the heart of God.

Many of these smiles could be written off and forgotten.  I don't want to ever forget kindness. 

And when you smile, God's face I see.  

His light awakens joy in me.  

God created us to love each other,

to interact, to be together.  

He created us - community.