When you exit the parkway and turn into my neighborhood, there is a pretty entrance that features a boulevard-type center area between the opposing lanes of traffic.
For many years, the spring's first wildflowers bloomed there. Each year the crop increased, and the flowers grew more numerous. One year the blooms were extraordinarily bountiful, and I enjoyed them so much that I remarked on them to several friends.
As development in our area continued and all the vacant places in the neighborhood were replaced by residences, the homeowners along that stretch of road banded together to take better care of the common areas along the road.
No longer were there unsightly weeds in the right-of-way. Trees were planted at prescribed intervals along the way. The neighborhood's entry way took on a manicured look. Very upscale.
I appreciated the orderliness of the new maintenance activities during the summer and fall, but when spring rolled around, I realized with a start that there were no wildflowers!
The well-intentioned regularly-scheduled maintenance had eliminated the spontaneous beauty of the spring flowers. What a trade-off! I mourned the loss of those unplanned, unregimented blossoms, and I was further saddened to think that most of my neighbors were unaware of what they were missing.
Then I wondered how often we do this sort of thing. How often to we humans bustle around, taking control, taking care of everything around us, busily making things "better" -- only to "maintain" ourselves out of a blessing God has in store.
I think about my daily approach to life. I have appointments, errands, responsibilities so tightly scheduled, that there is no room for spontaneity of any sort. I imagine that if a burning bush showed up in front of me, I would probably breeze right by it on my way to my next calendar item. I wonder if the Spirit's whispering is lost in the noise of cell phone conversations.
Surely there is a way to be responsible, be productive, be efficient -- but still leave room for God to be God . . . ?
Leaving room . . . I guess that's the idea of meditation, of quiet time, of prayerful listening.
2 comments:
I've been there before. God encouraged me to take an afternoon and just be. So one day a week I have open, it is scheduled open time. It is amazing what God shows me in that one afternoon. Sometimes with a friend, a new experience, total silence, or a new adventure...
I wonder if upon encountering a burning bush I would just grab for a fire extinguisher?! I'm glad that He is not only the author but the perfecter of my faith.
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