It has been a little over nine years now since I stepped across the threshold that took me into the world of a retired United Methodist pastor. It was a big change in many ways, but chief among them was movement from what had largely been an urban life to life on a small farm where livestock greeted me each morning instead of parishioners. Back then I often thought of the time ahead which I knew was not going to be as long as the time behind as the last season of my life, but since then, I have learned that life is filled with one season after another. The last one is still out there over the edge of the horizon.
What has come to be supremely important is the present season, or the present moment. I have known some folks who talk about the way the Lord gives them a "Word" to carry with them through a particular period of time and while it one time sounded strange, such an experience does not seem as strange now as in the past. When I came here and started settling into life, a Word began to come and grow in me. At the time I did not call it a Word from the Lord. Now I am not so sure.
Early on as I walked over the threshold that separated the past from the future, I kept hearing within a word which said, "Pay Attention." It came to the front of my mind and heart so often I soon learned it was not a Word to be ignored. If there is any Word which I believe came to me from the God who has brought me to this time and place, it is this word. Paying attention means treasuring each hour and each day. It means experiencing blessings from sources I had never received them. But, most of all it means learning to live with a spirit of gratitude that stretches beyond one moment into all of life. I am grateful I was able to hear and receive this Word. After all these years have passed, it still comes like the sunrise reminding me that blessings are always in my path.
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