The Importance of Being There
I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.—2 John 1:12 (NIV)
… then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth …—ISAIAH 58:14 [RSV]
I hurried out of the house for a walk. I needed to clear my head; the day’s pressures seemed impossible. I followed a trail on our farm leading to the top of a grass-covered hill. There, I plunked down on the grass in a spot overlooking our farmyard.
I tried to pray, but instead found myself rehashing my emotional struggles. My husband, John, and I cared for my mother in her farm home. Ministrokes had made some of her behaviors hard to deal with, and I struggled to accept them.
Besides caring for my mother, I also shouldered some of the economic pressures of our farm. My work as a freelance writer filled in the financial gaps. We couldn’t afford for me to get sidelined by an emotional roller coaster of feelings. Yet I sometimes did. I often felt squeezed breathless by competing pressures.
Sitting on the hill, I tried again to pray. Still, the words wouldn’t come. But then a gentle breeze sprang up and caressed my face. The knot in my stomach let go. I saw that simply coming to a quiet place away from the turmoil—seeking peace— was a prayer in itself. I began to feel my spirit renewed, like I could go on. I made those walks to my Prayer Hill a daily habit.
Lord, no matter where life leads me, help me always to find those peaceful places where I can more fully sense your lifegiving presence.
I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.—2 John 1:12 (NIV)
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.—2 Corinthians 1:3–4 (NIV)
The one who gets wisdom loves life; the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper.—Proverbs 19:8 (NIV)