Running Through my Favorite Season
Summer is absolutely my favorite season! I love the long days and short nights and warm sunshine and damp, dewy mornings. I love summer showers that nourish the grass, trees and flowers. And I actually like to mow; I like the way a freshly mowed lawn looks and the smell of cut grass. I also love to hike and camp, I love coffee on the porch at sunrise, and a late, lite supper in the shade of the porch. Summer is a time to live beyond interior walls; it is a season to spend lots of time outdoors. However, if I’m not intentional with my time – and often despite my best intentions-I will spend all my time working outside and no time enjoying just being outside.
And while we can and should enjoy our work, I don’t think that our purpose here on earth is to simply run through our days and try to accomplish as much as possible. Of course, a good work ethic is still a virtue, but I think many of us struggle to maintain a good balance between work – or sometimes even play – and rest. I don’t mean sleep, but that soul rest that happens when we slow down and take the time to enjoy the moment and be grateful for what we have right here, right now.
Be Still
Most of us have heard the first part of Psalm 46: 10 “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, …” (NIV) But Psalm 37:7 isn’t quite as well known. “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him…” (NIV) Many versions of Psalm 37:7 say, “Rest before the Lord”. Both words mean to quit striving. Both Psalm 46 and 37 are songs that remind us regardless of the chaos we may see all around us, God is still God of the heavens, and He is the author of peace. Rest and peace are found in Him.
I suppose we can be grateful on the go, but deep heartfelt contentment comes when we live fully in the moment. When we slow our minds and bodies long enough to really observe the world around us and step into the moment, restful and still, I think we step into God’s presence. God may be ever present in our moments, but we aren’t ever present in Him.
The Practice of Prayerful Silence
Establishing a regular practice of setting aside time for prayerful silence prepares us to still our minds when we are amid a crowd, at work, at a ballgame, or wherever else we may go. When we have set aside time in our day to stop and be grateful, then the world around us doesn’t have to be quiet before we can pause, quiet our minds, and live fully in the moment. We can practice this habit of pausing anytime and anywhere.
Brother Lawrence once said, “The time of business,” (said he), “does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament.” (Lawrence, 1958,1967,2003) However, it is important to note that Brother Lawrence also spent a lot of time in the silence of prayer, training his mind to attune to the presence of God. His little book, The Practice of the Presence of God is an incredible read that will both encourage and inspire your own journey in this practice.
A Practice to be Present in Summer
So, here at the peak of summer, I encourage you to make time to pause and be silent in the presence of God. Then, whether you are working in the yard or garden, at the pool with kids, at a cookout with friends, or in the parking lot at Walmart, pause for a moment, breathe deep and feel sun on your skin, smell whatever fills the air around you, listen to the sound of birds, people talking, water, or laughter, and be thankful for all that fills the moment. And in this pause, I think you may find that as you lift your thoughts in gratitude for whatever fills the moment, you have once more stepped into God’s presence.