Stay Right Here

Summer wasn’t finished.
There were more mountains I wanted to climb
when autumn came demanding, list in hand,
reminding me of
all the preparations to be made
deadlines to meet
and commitments to honour.
A rising tide of the urgent
triggered an internal tide of anxiety.

“Breathe,” You said
and drew my attention
to the one thing before me.
We did it
as if it were the only thing
I needed to do.

At the end of the day,
I saw
how much more needed to be done.
You saw
how tired I was.
“Rest,” You said.

In the morning,
I felt the tide again.
and wanted to flee.
“Sit with Me,” I heard.

When we were done sitting,
we did the one thing that floated toward me,
then another,
and another.

It went on like that for days:
fearing, breathing, resting, sitting, doing,
finding calm and wanting to flee.

“Stay right here,” You’d say,
“Welcome this moment,
find Me with you in it,
and trust Me with the rest.”

That’s all you want me to do
each day.

In returning and rest, you will be saved.
In quietness and trust, you will find strength.
–Isaiah 30:15 (Voice)

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Love Mischief for the World

This week I camped in Sasquatch Provincial Park with Fred and our grandson. In the early morning, while they were still asleep, I was reading The Growing Season, thinking about wine and considering my “somewhereness”–that “place you’re deeply connected to that informs and fuels your sense of personhood.” I was in it.

Nelson Boschman is a pastor, writer, spiritual director, wine enthusiast, husband, father, and a co-facilitator of SoulStream’s Living from the Heart course. “The Growing Season explores the intersection between vineyard, cellar, tasting room, and soul. It’s a closer look at the transformation that occurs from grape to glass, and what that process can teach us about what it means to flourish as human beings.” (Amazon)

What love mischief are you and God doing for the world?
Let me know and I will include it in an upcoming post.