Taking a Stroll (The Experiment: Part III)

I don't know what your life looks like but mine is sometimes a bit crazy.   I'm kind of fond of colouring outside the lines and adding little flourishes to the final design.  Occasionally the road gets too bumpy and your markers can't even connect with the paper.  Life has peaks and valleys.  Bursts of intense busyness and slow steady progress.    Beginnings and endings.   We walk along with throngs of people but occasionally we need to sort out our thoughts, clasp our hands behind our backs, head down and just look at the ground and contemplate.    To take the mind off "auto pilot" and contemplate.

Walk with the people, be with people, but also taking time to be alone...solitude.  Not to be confused with being lonely. 

So I decided to turn off the radio. Moving to a monastery is not an option (You have to be male to be a monk.) but I wanted to make more of my solo time.  When I drive alone, I listen music.  Preferably loud-ish and preferably familiar-ish.  I've been know to sing along at the top of my lungs....I love music.   When I work, I try to be considerate of my colleagues and keep the volume at a considerate level.

And then....it was quiet.  The first thing I noticed in the quiet was that my days seemed longer.  Don't we all want a little more time in a day!?!  Time did not seem to slip by unnoticed, I didn't seem to "lose track of it".

In the quiet...I began to talk more with God.  Get in the car and instead of worshiping or singing about Him, I could "step right into His Presence" and just "be still and know"...   It made me wonder about the role of music in my life.  If I am struggling or feel under siege of negative thoughts I will choose a CD that helps redirect those thoughts.  It is almost like putting the mind on "auto pilot".   Could that happen with worship too?  ...that I put my mind on auto pilot and that it becomes automatic..mindless worship?  Something in which I engage but at the same time I am not fully present?   It is good to contemplate that in the silence.

Certain music or a favourite song can make us "feel good" which is how the power of emotion affects the human heart, soul and spirit.  I guess I hope that music does not have a component of idolatry associated with it.  I suppose it's good to have that thought cross my mind and make sure that a "means" doesn't become an end in itself.

God is everywhere. We don't step into or out of His Presence.  He is in the car whether there is music or not, but I realized that I don't always take every opportunity to "walk with Him and talk with Him".

A Sparrow or a Chicken?(The Pace of the Journey: Part II)

Friday, for the first time in a while, I was able to do my job the way I want to be able to do it instead of just getting it done.  There's a difference when you are able to approach your work as a sparrow, who is worth more than many pennies, or a chicken, who is running around with her head cut off.  (Yes...DO take a moment to visualize....)

Friday, I got a hug from a bride to be because I took care of two details: setting up tables, and setting up chairs for a little "after party" in our fellowship hall (Yes...we are that kind of church.)   And I suggested that round table cloths are available in many colours at Dollarama.  I had time to listen that day.   I was at church washing the windows because it mattered to me that they should be clean.

And instead of putting the usual little grass pots on the table, I got the bright pink geraniums out of the sanctuary instead.   I made a little substitution....and it was such fun to add that little surprise.  Taking time and adding little somethings felt like I was singing "my song" the way I was created to sing it. 

I'm surprised, delighted and grateful that I am feeling more like a sparrow again.  

Semantics

Gardening. 

Why do people call it that!

Personally, I believe that pulling green things out of the earth is weeding.  Yesterday I was literally sitting IN the garden wearing my new gardening gloves... but I was weeding.   Not gardening. 

:)