27 Minutes

I found nowhere to sit in Starbucks, for my tiny window of 27 minutes of book rewriting time, but let me tell you what I saw. 

He wasn't any taller than me and was only a few years older.  He stooped yet stepped concisely, as he tucked himself into the tiniest corner available.  I saw no beverage before him.  He stared out the window through thick glasses with his emblem covered cap on his head and large earphones adjusted snuggly over his ears.  His Nascar leather jacket hung loosely over his narrow frame.

As I left, he scooted out the door ahead of me, with a look of intensity on his face.  He then immediately sat on an outdoor chair.  A car drove up to the curb, and out of the backseat climbed a lanky young man. He displayed an extra-wide grin as he struggled to steady his feet on the pavement below him.  He waved timidly and the friend who knew him greeted him back.  They were glad.  

I turned to capture the vacant seat that the first friend had left inside, but I was too late.  I'd seen what I was meant to see.  I sipped my soy latte with a lump in my throat as I walked away from their joy filled moment. 

This morning I'd read from John, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us."  Their tender greeting, their friendship, their courage in facing this complex world with plans and purpose blessed me.  The Lord is among us.  How kind He is to draw us into loving those He loves especially tenderly; those who are described in the Beatitudes.   May we be anxious to greet each other, so glad to make time to sit together and have courage to embrace our own days in this way!  My minutes are up, I am so thankful to have shared them with you!

Remind Me

The sky in the daylight, almost as beautiful as in the night.

     At 1:23 a.m. one child needed me and then another, both had slept through the necessary bathroom visit. Then the old dog barked and dripped her way to the door. 
     As I stood on the edge of the cold porch and looked up into the night sky, awe overtook me. From background tones of deep navy, a myriad of billowy clouds, in soft gray and white spanned the heavens in full canopy, while stars twinkled as if in lively conversation with one another. Under the silent crescendo of the heavens, I felt miniscule and privileged to be invited to such a display of majesty.
     Now here is what I happened to read this morning, in the study section of my Bible in reference to the first sentence of John, "In the beginning was the Word..."
     "A deliberate echo of Ge 1:1 to link God's action in behalf of the world through Jesus Christ with his first work, the creation of the world. Word. Greek logos, a term Greeks used not only for the spoken word but also the unspoken word, the word still in the mind - the reason." (NIV)
     The reason...the unspoken belief in our spirit, that draws us to the truth, that Someone has created all that is within and without us. Sometimes I need to be awakened from deep sleep, for my soul to remind me, that in this vast universe, our Creator loves us!