If we rely on the Holy Spirit, we shall find that our prayers become more and more inarticulate; and when they are inarticulate, reverence grows deeper and deeper. -Oswald Chambers
Category: Winter
Captured by Surprise
“The earth is art, the photographer is only a witness ”
― Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Earth from Above
The change of seasons is a vertical event in the mountains. We can watch the snow-line descend from the peaks, to the hills, to the valley. We can see it coming, yet we are somehow caught by surprise when ice and snow cover our own doorstep. The first snow that stays brings forth Facebook chatter like the queen has suddenly arrived unannounced. Skiers are thrilled, shovellers -not so much. (In these parts some folks complain bitterly about the cold and hazards of walking on ice. Others are giddy at the gleeful possibilities of ice fishing or skiing and being surrounded by pristine blue-white beauty.)
It amuses me that every year is the same; we can see it coming, but we are always caught off guard and need to dig boots and mitts and shovels out of their summer hiding places.
There are spiritual seasons too. We know there are changes in the air; we know there will be times for planting, and harvest, and times for rest. We can see cycles of learning and testing and play, and cycles of birth, growth and death ascending and descending the mountains around us. We need not be surprised, but we do need to be prepared. The day adversity arrives, piled up like blizzard snow against the front door, is not the day to think about buying snow tires, or a shovel.
We need to seek the Lord in the good seasons of our lives as well as the tough times -because knowing that He loves us and holds our future in His hands is the main tool we have to have in an accessible place in our hearts to survive more difficult seasons. (He gives many others as well.) Those who understand that change is a constant can rejoice with every new thing, and when adversity descends like winter, they may even be able to strap on their skiis or grab their sleds and find the joy.
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How Wide
And may you have the power to understand,
as all God’s people should,
how wide,
how long,
how high,
and how deep his love is.
May you experience the love of Christ,
though it is too great to understand fully.
Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power
that comes from God.
(Ephesians 3:18, 19)
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Ice Fishers
I have friends who love ice fishing. They are out there all bundled up before dawn and after dusk just for the thrill of pulling a skinny little fish out of the hole.
Me? I have to contemplate whether the joy of buying a hunk of fish more frozen than the ones in the lake is worth scraping the snow off the car to drive down to the Superstore. The whole idea of freezing precious parts of my anatomy to catch one from a frozen lake leaves me cold. Ice fishing is not my talent and I politely refuse even when friends try to pressure me into joining them. I don’t even feel guilty, which almost makes me feel guilty, but not quite.
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Winds of Change
Real change threatens the familiar and messes up our landmarks, but we can’t grasp the future until we let go of the past. The abundant kindness of Jesus Christ teaches us the joy of surrendering the good in the interest of the best.
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Rise again
The Roses in Winter
My daughter had this conversation with her three-year old recently.
“Mom, we don’t know what it feels like to be dead. That’s because we have never been dead before so we don’t know how it feels, and then if you are dead you can’t tell anyone because you are dead….. but maybe we could ask the flowers because they die every winter so they know how it feels…. too bad they don’t have mouths, or they would probably tell us.”
Christ is also the head of the church,
which is his body.
He is the beginning,
supreme over all who rise from the dead.
So he is first in everything.
(Colossians 1:8)
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Peace Like a River
I kept dreaming about waterfalls. All night. Tumultuous white water splashing over boulders. Surges of deep sweeping forces drawn over precipices.
Now you need to understand that for years I had a phobia for waterfalls. Strange, I know, when there are so many other options available for things to be irrationally afraid of –spiders, heights, speaking in front of crowds, public toilets, goats, turning left…
In the dark years I had many nightmares about waterfalls and about falling in and being pulled over the edge. I knew even then that waterfalls represented feeling out of control emotionally. In real life I avoided them.
I met a woman who had fallen over Athabaska Falls as a child and survived. She told me how she decided to face a life-long fear of the falls and revisit them. After considerable therapy, she stood trembling near the edge. Just then a child came running by and tripped right in front of her. She lunged forward and grabbed his leg as he was about to go over the edge. What are the odds? (It was actually a very healing experience for her.)
As I regained health the phobia lessened to the point where I could go to a waterfall and take photos –usually from the bottom, but eventually from the top. So the dreams about waterfalls surprised me.
In the dream I asked, “What is this?”
The answer came back, “Peace like a river.”
I woke up.
“Oh no, no, no. Peace like a river is a calm blue sky river with no ripples but the ones stirred by my paddle,” I said.
As I asked the Lord about these images I felt Him say in my spirit, “Peace is not conditional on external circumstance. There is as much of My peace available in white water rapids as in a lazy meandering river. A waterfall is still a river. A giant cascade is still peace like a river.
Could it be there is as much peace available in the midst of emotional upheaval as there is in emotional calm? Jesus was not afraid to express emotion. He experienced righteous indignation to the point of turning tables, anguish to the point of sweating blood, and elation to the point of glowing –yet He was always the Prince of Peace. He could sleep in a boat in the midst of a wild storm because He knew who He was.
I believe now that it is possible to experience peace even in the midst of whatever circumstance we find ourselves in. When Jesus Christ lives in us, and we in Him, He shows us who we really are and how to live in the Peace that passes understanding.
God is good.
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How High
And may you have the power to understand,
as all God’s people should,
how wide,
how long,
how high,
and how deep his love is.
May you experience the love of Christ,
though it is too great to understand fully.
Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power
that comes from God.
(Ephesians 3:18, 19)
Charis: Subject to Change 