This morning I planted two Russian Sage shrubs in my garden. I love flowers that give an airy cottage-garden ambience while attracting bumble bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies. In my pollinator garden, my eyes are often drawn like a magnet to butterflies as they float and flutter, landing on blossoms to find nourishment. My attention is captured, enchanted by their colorful patterns and gentle yet erratic movements. Suspended, I gaze, sensing a stab of hope, lifeblood of wonder and awe seeping over me, soaking in, overtaking the coldness of disillusion, the paralysis of an empty spirit, bringing back life, resurrecting the child in me.
God's creation contains many messages pointing us back to him. In order to encounter God in these small ways, we must carve out time to pay attention, if only for a few minutes.
Practice:
Take 5-10 minutes to sit outside in a natural area, gazing and listening. I cannot tell you what you will hear and see, but if you give your attention, you will receive something.
Prayer:
Thank you, God, for butterflies and other little messengers in your creation that quietly point us back to you, teaching us how life-giving it is to worship you and revealing that worship is much more simple than we thought.
Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. ~Psalm 96:12
by Heather J. Willis, author
Quietly reflecting on God’s amazing creation does restore my spirit.