Monday, July 17, 2017

I’m late for fiveminutefriday. This is Monday. Adding my short input on the word comfort.

A Comfortable Place

I look for the most comfortable position when I sit down to write. My chair and the way it supports me and holds me is important. I need to have all my books, my pens, pencils and tablet situated for easy access. And of course let’s not forget the coffee, iced or hot, depending on temperature and time of day. Then the quiet has to be there. Natural sounds only please, as much as possible. Birds, wind and rain all add to my attention. They don't diminish it.

Recently I parked at the cemetery early in the morning to pray and to practice a song I was to sing at church. It’s an old hymn titled “In the Garden.” As I prayed over the words I sensed the comfort of God. Strange, for visiting cemeteries can be so despairing. But that morning God said, “Here you are alone with me, for though every marker bears a name and a timeline, every person is in his rightful place. Do not worry, just be comforted. And I was alone with God in the cemetery.

But there were flowers that adorned the stones. Some were potted, some planted. They were growing. I thought of a garden. Flowers grow in stillness and quietness. They only received what others give them. The sun and rain make them flourish as their roots grow deep. And some last only a day, some a season, and some return year after year. Sometimes you find them where the wind or birds have scattered the seed.

I wonder if the quiet, still places of the heart, where God comforts us is where we do the most growing. In both adults and children that comfortable stage of sleep is where growth happens. The rejuvenation of energy, the sorting out of memories, the strengthening of cells and muscles take place while the body is in a semi paralytic state. It is not when we are most active. It is why we can be active.

In the garden and in the cemetery, among the growing and the memories of a people that were, there God's voice speaks and comforts us as He supports and holds us. That covers just about everywhere we go.

6 comments:

  1. Beautiful! I often find comfort in some of these places too.

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    1. Tara, thanks for visiting and commenting. Have a blessed day.

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  2. Mary, these words are like treasures in the dark for me today. Thank you for affirming me in Christ through such a difficult time. I am looking at this dark time now with new eyes- I'm going to treasure the quiet, let Him keep speaking in His tender love and be my Defender. Thank you so much.

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    1. Anna I'm sorry for your difficulty. So thankful these words comforted you. I will keep you in my prayers.

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  3. Ah, yes, I, too, love to write in silence (with only nature's sounds). I don't always get my wish, though ;). I think God can bring us comfort wherever we seek him--be it a quiet cemetery or a busy corner.

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    1. Yes his comfort is not limited by place, space or noise. Have a blessed day. Thanks for visiting.

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