Before the daffodil petals disappear. Before the
bright colors of the tulips turn to green. Before
the maple trees burst into fits of green. Before the
whites and yellows, purples and pinks are gone take
time to enjoy them.
Luke 12.27
27Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither
toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all
his glory was not clothed like one of these.
Take time to be still today. Take time to watch the
robin hop from limb to limb. Take time to watch a
squirrel struggle to get every bit of that bird seed
from your feeder.
Thoreau said, and I think suggested, “Many a
forenoon have I stolen away, preferring to spend
thus the most valued part of the day; for I was
rich, if not in money, in sunny hours and summer
days, and spent them lavishly; nor do I regret that
I did not waste more of them in the workshop or the
teacher’s desk.”
Do what you need to do today. Work a solid 8 hours.
Accomplish all that is on your to do list. Go
grocery shopping. Mow the lawn or weed the garden.
Grade papers or bake goodies. hatever it is you need
to do, do it and do it well.
Then, be still.
Take in the season of spring. Take a stroll around
the block and notice the plants you haven’t before.
Take a drive to the park and walk a trail.
Whatever it is you need to do, take time to do it
and be still.
Be still. Stop. Don’t argue. Don’t make excuses. Be
still. Your spirit will thank you. The earth will
too.
|
April Prayer
by Stuart Kestenbaum
Just before the green begins there is the hint of green
a blush of color, and the red buds thicken
the ends of the maple’s branches and everything
is poised before the start of a new world,
which is really the same world
just moving forward from bud
to flower to blossom to fruit
to harvest to sweet sleep, and the roots
await the next signal, every signal
every call a miracle and the switchboard
is lighting up and the operators are
standing by in the pledge drive we’ve
all been listening to: Go make the call.
[Adam Quine, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church in Lincoln]
|
