I carved out a few hours this morning to take a prayer walk near Lake Carnegie. I still remember the first time that I rode my bike out the canal path and arrived at the lake. I couldn't believe how close I lived to an open area of beauty. I have always been one to search for my "spots" and to go there for times of silence. Almost all of my favorite spots in the past were near bodies of water.
Today, I took some time to simply be quiet before God. I was reminded last night in reading Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics IV.3.2 part 1 of how humans evade God and do everything to avoid being encountered by his living Word. I opened my time of prayer asking God to encounter me and to open my heart up to his address. I needed to hear from God, especially after a jam-packed month of February that has featured more than I can begin to document here.
The time of silence was exactly what I needed. I toggled between moments of silence and simple prayers for my family, my future, and my openness to God's Word in my life. At one point, I was walking on the path and I realized that I was listening to my own breathing. How often do I actually slow down enough or remove distractions so that I end up focusing on my own breathing? Rarely. After today, I remembered why I need to carve out intentional times of silence.
2 comments:
very nice - I think I'm going to take some time right now...
Thanks for the advice, Jeff. I think I'll do that tomorrow.
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