This morning

     It's still out this morning.  About 55 degrees, partly cloudy and no noticeable wind.  The world is quiet having been up since 4 AM.  Distant trains are all that pierce the morning vacuum.  I look out my sliding door and see the orchard and my back yard which are loaded with fruit at this time.  I didn't plant the mature trees and am the reaper of many years of God's work in keeping the trees productive.  There is also my seedless champagne grape arbor, various berry bushes and of course my gardens.  Though they make no noise, I know that they are growing.  You may hear the corn grow in Iowa but the growth of the veggies and fruits is quiet.  Like the day.  The pines that surround my property are not whispering this morning.  They stand like tall guardians silently poised to protect at any moment.  There are mole hills in my backyard that pock the lawn with piles of dirt.  I don't see or hear them but I know they are there.  All of the creation I've described is just a minute part of God's marvelous gift to me.  I'm humbled at the thought of his finger painting the veins on a leaf, use of various colors on various fruit, and of course the stillness with which he accomplishes this feat 24/7.  Never stopping creating and never missing the needs of the birds that flutter in and out of the yard.  They are still quiet this morning as well.  The deer that live in the thickets at the rear of the property haven't come out to eat the grass and drink the dew this morning.  They, no doubt, are asleep like I should be.  They too are silent.
     All of the silence betrays the hand of the Father.  There is silence he works in just as he noisily erupts a volcano to create.  My soul is reflective this morning and not so much in a focused frame of mind.  He created this as well.  While the thoughts my go noisily in, through and around my mind, I catch fleeting new revelations that God has brought to me this morning.  He does this every day but today I am quiet and can hear better.  Today I am looking and can see better.  Today I am unburdened and can just relax in the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Today I can come before the Father and walk hand in hand with him as my only Father.  All hauntings of the past are gone this morning as are the nightmares that have pocked my life since shortly after birth.  The fears have subsided and there is peace that can only come from the presence of God.  I too have my wrestling's but today they are without anyone or anything to wrestle with.  It's just me and my dogs sleeping on my lap.  They too are silent except for the infrequent snoring.  In this cocoon I can relish in what God has provided for me on all levels.  God has given me the love, acceptance and approval that I've always wanted from the world though it wouldn't be found just as King Solomon said.  Everything in the world is meaningless.
     I will choose to live in this moment for now.  The dogs will get off my lap at some point but I won't force them away.  The need for breakfast can wait and won't press me from leaving this place of communion with Jesus.  The cares of the world brought into my home by TV, internet or other means will have to wait because I refuse to engage them right now.  There is indeed a time for everything and right now is the time for silence.  Right now is the time for peace.  My day is filled already; on calendar at least.  As I move through the day that the Lord has given to me, I'm reminded that TODAY is the day the Lord has made and I will rejoice in it.  TODAY is the day of salvation and that salvation has come for those who don't know there is forgiveness, acceptance and love waiting.  TODAY my life, and yours, may be demanded of us.  We may be called home.  It's important that my heart, head and soul be in the right place.  The last thing I want people to see in me is the first thing I want people to see in me: Jesus.