My beloved Mt. Tam Church,
In the newly dark early mornings post-Daylight Savings Time change, my alarm clock has become the “hoot-hoot-hoot” chorus of the two great horned owls who have taken residence in our neighborhood. They like the trees right behind the parsonage as their morning last stop, much to my delight. To awaken to such lovely music is pure joy! And in those moments, “for a time, I rest in the grace of the world and am free.”
In these days of uncertainty and fear, from viruses to elections and any other source, how do we find “a time to rest in the grace of the world?” I am finding it:
–in meaningful encounters with others. From conversations with our Confirmation youth who are quite knowledgeable and funny and kind (and from whom I learn something every week!) to purposefully seeking out and engaging with my humorous next-door neighbor who always brings a smile.
–in playing with my granddaughter, who has informed me that at age 3.75, “I know how to tell you how to play.” Okay, then! Boss me around, baby!
–in nature, whether focusing on the owl song or taking a walk to enjoy the colors of flowers and the flow of spring or just sitting in my backyard, waiting for wildlife to come and surprise me with their own ways which are oblivious to the stress and problems of my world.
–and always, in poetry, from Mary Oliver’s “Wild Geese” to “The Peace of Wild Things” by Wendell Berry, one of my standards for meditation and prayer.
In these troubling and trying times, give your spirit nurture and make choices to“rest in the grace of the world,” whatever that means for you.
Seek out laughing encounters, engage the joy of children, embrace nature and always, read a poem and take a few moments to reorient toward the constant love and grace of God, which floods the world with its assurance and peace.
Peace,
Pastor Kim
“The Peace of Wild Things” Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
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