Moving Too Fast

Years and years ago I went to a House of Prayer not too far from here and the retreat leader ask us to take our Bibles and find a place somewhere on the grounds where we could be comfortable and alone.  Looking back at who I was then, I know my life was too much about hurrying to experience what was there for me to experience.  Why we are so caught up in hurrying is one of the great mysteries of life.  Of course, the one hurrying can offer a hundred benefits of such a lifestyle and all of them may have some measure of truth, but it is always at the expense of living.   

It has been some thirty-five years since that day and I am slowly learning the value of sitting silently, hearing what God might be saying through what is in front of me, and being more alive than I was yesterday.  I see those around me who are like the younger version of myself who lived long years ago and I want to give them a warning, but, alas, they would only dismiss my words as I would have dismissed the same words long decades ago.  Sometimes life grabs us and shakes us in such a way that our eyes are opened to the frailty of our life, but even then, it is easy to go back to things as they were before the rocks fell on the road of our life.  I thought I was having a heart attack back in '91.  It turned out to be nothing more than stress.  I kept the blue hospital bracelet on my desk for the remainder of my ministry, but I must confess to forgetting what it was telling me about every day of my life.  

"Slow down, you're moving too fast" are lyrics in a song that I would like to sing to some folks, but they likely would not listen as they continue to live in denial.  I am grateful for the mercy and grace of God and time I could have used more wisely, but instead wasted.  God has been patient.  I am grateful, too, God, is still reminding me to put the brakes on my life so I can hear and see what it is that He is unfolding before me in the present moment He is giving.