Change your perspective.  Choose a different post.

On my morning walks across John Adam’s bridge on Manasota Key, I see these birds perched on their post. They amuse me and remind me of the many times I’ve been a single post sitter. 

These pillars are sunk deep in Lemon Bay and these individual birds claim them as their own. Their hidebound attitude allows no visitors or any change in the direction they are facing.  They have chosen a set perspective day after day.  Soon their pose becomes their attitude.  They define themselves by their rigid posture telling all that this is their territory and I am in control.

Sound familiar?  How many times I have looked at the same thing in the same way and it has given me an “ I can’t do this,” attitude or a closed mind.  Am I like the pelican on the post?  Have I become rigid and territorial because of my position and perspective? 

We know countless people who have looked at something from a different perspective and changed their world.  Think of Job in the Bible.  He thought he was doomed, dying, and disgraced.  Then, God changed Job’s perspective by reminding as he talked with him and about his Divine wisdom, magnificent creations, and asked him some difficult questions. Suddenly Job understood.  His epiphany guided him into gratefulness.  Job changed his position and was restored.  Abraham was willing to travel to another land, fly to a different post even though he knew not where he would land.  His life was changed and he became the father of nations.  Noah built an ark with no water in sight.  He followed Father God in obedience and saved his sons, who populated our world.  They each had to make a decision to have a different perspective.  Jesus chose death, and His perspective on the cross brought us life eternal. All these men had to release their “entitlement post” and move in obedience.  This is my challenge. 

I’m going to let go of my entitlement post, my limited view, and my fixed attitude on some issue this week.  I am not going to continue my rigidity on this issue but instead seek out new insights, broader understanding, and choose another perspective.  How will I be changed?  I must abandon my pillar, attitude, resentment, or stubbornness to discover my new understanding. How about you? Have you been post sitting lately?

Too slow my heart has been in learning how to live.

Too slow my heart has been.

Learning how to live

            Today I have learned to model my life after the nature God created. I will strive to stand tall like the oak tree. I will gladly give shade to those who are hot and sweaty from life’s hard work. I will hold fast during the storms of life. My roots are deeply grounded in the gospel, and that is why I can stand using the Creator’s strength, not mine. 

Today I will be serene like the mountains.  I will learn from them the importance of staying still and listening to that small voice. I will not be like the busy highway below the mountains that is cluttered with trash, cans, garbage, and fast paced vehicles. Instead, I will be those Smokey Mountains in the distance speaking peace.

Today I will mimic the free spirit of the light-hearted birds that eat from my feeders. I will drop in for bits of food and fly out to discover new branches to rest upon and watch the world. I will hide in these branches from the winds of the storm, and start the morning with sweet songs of praise and glory.

Today I consider the lilies along the roadside. Their beauty and brightness softens each landscape. As I walk beside them, I learn from them not to worry of a tomorrow that might never bring some direful, long anticipated thing. Instead, I will sway in the warm breeze and feel it upon my petals. Today I rejoice for how wonderfully I am created by the Master.

Today I will extend the loved odor of the lilac bush. I will refresh those who come into my path by my love extended unconditionally. Free kindness is what the lilac spreads by its pleasant fragrance. Me too, I want to have the sweet scent of the Savior and extend free kindness to strangers, friends, and family. 

It has taken a long time for me to gather these simple lessons that my Master teaches through His magnificent creations. Ah, too slow has been my heart in learning how to live. Dear Father, please forgive.

Finding Time To Be Alone

The Importance of Being Alone

            When I awaken early in the morning before sunrise, I am groggy and sluggish.  I make my coffee and begin writing thoughts in my journal.  I make out a daily prayer list and what I hope for each of these loved ones.  I search the Psalms for praises and meditate on those songs of ascents and love.  I reflect upon yesterday’s activities, lessons, and understandings of other people.  I am alone with the I Am.  This is the beginning of a wonderful day.

            How do I know?  Because I have carved out time to be on my own little island.  This refreshing paints my day.  The Creator stirs in me what I should write, paint, or draw. He directs my steps. Sometimes my creativity is brought forth in a meal to share with others.  Mostly, I bask in the presence of the Creator knowing He will lead me.

            Even drawing requires great meditation, quietness, and focus.  I must close out worries of the day and open my mind to see in a new way.  I don’t draw what my mind sees, but I seek to see through my eyes a new dimension or wonder.  If I am drawing the simplicity of a seashell, I find the memory of the sunset in its color.  I discover the complicated entry to the inner shell.  It is winding and deep, and  I observe I cannot see to the inner most part of the shell.  I relate with the shell closely.  Others cannot see my most intimate thoughts, but I know God can because He created the seashell and me.  Drawing is a very spiritual activity that takes time and aloneness.

            Today I realize how we are so busy in our contemporary lives that we stress or feel guilt about stopping, meditating, taking time to just be with ourselves.  I think this is why I love coming to the island each winter.  I am on an island with others who respect my island boundary.  They too have come for a respite in the sun, a time of meditation opened by the view of the vast seascape.  Folks are friendly but honor each other’s time alone when walking the beach or in the mangrove forest.  It is a time of rejuvenation and an awareness of all that is within. I watch as others stare into the endless sea for hours at a time.  I see the openness of the waves and understand I am a part of those great teal waters.  I hear the patterns of the waves and watch the sandpipers weave back and forth dodging each new curl of the ocean.  I become the sandpiper dodging business, responsibilities, and hardships.  I  weave with nature like a giant tapestry. I am at peace and know that God’s love endures forever.

            Each of us need an island experience of refreshing.  Perhaps it is meditating on beautiful photos of nature, reading a stirring poem, singing a song in our heart, creating a painting or scrapbook page,or writing a song or message.  I learn each winter how important it is to seek alone time to renew my mind and spirit. 

            Would you share your “island” experience and help others find quietness in this over processed world of technology, demands, and expectations?  I would love to hear how others find their time alone each day.

A Praise To Our Creator

 

A Praise to our Creator 

            The sea has a life of its own.  I can hear the waves hitting the sand one block away.  Its force announces its power.  In the night, it sounds like a growling animal hidden beneath the stars and darkness. 

            Early morning red sun creates pink and golden light patterns in the gentle waves.  Now, the sounds are soft and melodious.  Early fisherman and pelicans seek the first fruits of the morning, the first whites, snappers, and red fish.  Small little shore birds dive for baby crabs and other little creatures that call the ocean, home.

The loud screaming sun is a magnet to the sea.  Warming waters call swimmers to move from the shore to the water.  Walkers venture into ankle deep waves to enhance their walk on the seashore.  The ocean becomes a playground to children, adults, and fisherman.   This magnificent body of water is an endless pool of adventure.

Evening sun sets dramatically on the horizon.  The liquid sun bounces along where sky meets sea.  The audience is ding into the sea.  As it sizzles down into the water, applauds and the blowing of conch shells used as horns can be heard all down the shoreline. 

Porpoises play.  Sharks skim.  Pelicans dive.  It is their home, their sanctuary, and their shelter.   The majestic ocean is a reflection of its Creator with unknown depths, meaningful happenings, beauty beyond comprehension,  a constant truth, and a known presence.  I am in awe of our Creator.