Ten days without a post! I think that's a first since this blog started. And that is very much related to today's topic.
It's the nicest part of spring around here, and whenever the sun comes out between rainstorms, so do I. Everthing here in the country looks, sounds, and even smells beautiful. The scents in particular keep me from indoor duties. I'd like to abandon my normal routine for a day or two, sit under a tree and live the life of Ferdinand the bull, who "liked to sit just quietly and smell the flowers."
So today during Morning Prayer I was pulled up short by the canticle from the book of Tobit. In the land of my exile I will praise Him, said the good, steadfast old Tobit. I recalled how consoling this line always makes me feel when I am preoccupied with any kind of suffering or trouble. Knowing that this world of woe is not our true home, but only a training ground, makes one willing to go on, with praise for the Father who leads us.
But this week at least, the world doesn't seem to be the land of my exile at all. I feel right at home amidst all this natural beauty. Then in contrast, I realized how the poor people in Missouri and other tornado-devastated areas, now homeless and without possessions, are feeling very much like refugees, exiled from a world that was once comfortable and secure. Will any of them be able to hang on to their faith, and be able to praise him in the new and strange land of exile they inhabit? Pray that they will.
But God wasn't through with me on this topic. The reading from daytime prayer (midafternoon) was Colossions 3:1, set your heart on what pertains to higher realms where Christ is seated at God's right hand. Hmm...Am I enjoying spring too much, and feeling too at home in this world? I think next time I'm out strolling (probably about an hour from now), I'll make a point of reminding myself that the exquisite pleasures of high spring are only the faintest hints of heavenly bliss. Those scents and birdsongs are the briefest of messages from another world. Free samples that should make me want to do whatever it takes to purchase them in unending quantity.
Ten days without a post! I think that's a first since this blog started. And that is very much related to today's topic.
It's the nicest part of spring around here, and whenever the sun comes out between rainstorms, so do I. Everthing here in the country looks, sounds, and even smells beautiful. The scents in particular keep me from indoor duties. I'd like to abandon my normal routine for a day or two, sit under a tree and live the life of Ferdinand the bull, who "liked to sit just quietly and smell the flowers."
So today during Morning Prayer I was pulled up short by the canticle from the book of Tobit. In the land of my exile I will praise Him, said the good, steadfast old Tobit. I recalled how consoling this line always makes me feel when I am reoccupied with any kind of suffering or trouble. Knowing that this world of woe is not our true home, but only a training ground, makes one willing to go on, with praise for the Father who leads us.
But this week at least, the world doesn't seem to be the land of my exile at all. I feel right at home amidst all this natural beauty. Then in contrast, I though how very much the poor people in Missouri and other tornado-devastated areas, now homeless and without possessions, are feeling very much like refugees, exiled from a world that was once comfortable and secure. Will any of them be able to hang on to their faith, and be able to praise him in the new and strange land of exile they inhabit? Pray that they will.
But God wasn't through with me on this topic. The reading from daytime prayer (midafternoon) was Colossions 3:1, set your heart on what pertains to higher realms where Christ is seated at God's right hand. Hmm...Am I enjoying spring too much, and feeling too at home in this world? I think next time I'm out strolling (probably about an hour from now), I'll make a point of reminding myself that the exquisite pleasures of high spring are only the faintest hints of heavenly bliss. Those scents and birdsongs are the briefest of messages from another world. Free samples that should make me want to do whatever it takes to purchase them in unending quantity.
