My evening walks had always been my time alone with God. When I began this habit, I was amazed at how real he seemed to me. How present. It was an exciting new feeling. A surprise, really, that God could feel so close.
Praying doesn’t feel that way anymore, I thought one evening as I left the house. There were no more surprises. No unexpected assurances that God was right there walking beside me. Maybe it would never feel that way again. Maybe it couldn’t.
I walked through the neighborhood, alone with my doubts, under a canopy of trees. Was God hidden among them? I couldn’t tell. I wish I knew for sure that you can hear me, I said.
Above my head the trees swayed in the wind. I looked up at the beautiful leaves dancing on the branches. I stopped to admire them. Instantly they stopped moving and were as still as could be. The wind must have died down, I thought.
I continued on my walk. The trees swayed once more. It was so strange I made a game out of it: walk a ways, then stop. Every time, the trees swayed when I walked and stopped when I stopped. It was so exciting. And unexpected. And reassuring. God had many surprises in store for me, and he heard my every prayer.
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