I felt Father saying to me last November that this year would be a season of staying at home, spending time with family and with Him, of being still, of drawing closer, of really getting to KNOW Him. It's ironic that with the Coronavirus I suddenly don't have any choice!
I wrote this, walking the dogs a week ago. This morning, after announcing lockdown, it was even more relevant.
"There's an eerie silence as we cross the field at the top of the hill. A stillness, a soundless stillness. Except for a sprinkling of birdsong. It was as if the earth was waiting in anticipation for something and yet, all around me nature was carrying on as usual. The primroses are out, blackthorn blossom is appearing, and the shiny leaves of the bluebells are waiting for their blue flowers to burst forth! The Red Kites rise and swoop, ever vigilant for a moral of food, with the crows diving and squawking behind them. It is Spring, there is so much to do, the birds are choosing mates and making nests, holes in the ground indicate squirrels digging up their winter hoard. Underground many things that have laid dormant over the winter are coming to life. As I stand there in the stillness I believe, if I stand there for long enough, Jesus will appear in the flesh...then there is the slightest breeze reminding me you are always with me.........
Creation groans at what we have done to this earth that you have given us stewardship over. But, like Your love, which never changes and always loves, despite our sin and imperfections, so nature ignores global warming, deforestation and the chaos of this world and carries on doing what it was made to do - create new life in season" Father, create in me a new heart!
I realise I am very fortunate to live in the countryside. I can't imagine what it must be like to be shut up in a small apartment, in the middle of a city, with several children who can't go to school. Or to be on the front line in hospitals. Or worrying how you are going to keep your business going or pay your mortgage. I just pray that everyone can seek out a quiet place to be still and know that in this chaos He is with us and He is GOD. And maybe people will start to evaluate what is important now that the busyness has subsided. Maybe as we turn our faces towards Him we will begin to see the fullness of Him and just how great He is.
I am rereading a book by David Adam, who was Vicar of Holy Island, Lindisfarne, for thirteen years, called "The Awesome Journey - Life's Pilgrimage", and he says this:
"Our awareness of God most often comes through a deeper perception of what is around us. When we open our eyes to the beauty and diversity of our world and our hearts to the mystery of our being, we become aware of a "beyond" in our midst."
STAY SAFE!
