Join the Conversation

“God spoke today in flowers,
and I, who was waiting on words,
almost missed the conversation.”
~ Ingrid Goff-Maidoff ~

I spend a lot of time waiting on words.
Hours have been spent staring at a blank screen—
hoping letters will drift down and come together in words,
praying the words will join up into concise sentences,
trusting the sentences will band together into sensible paragraphs.

If I stay close enough to the Author of Life,
I figure I stand a chance at catching a few meaningful words.

On my “About Dinah” page I wrote: “Writing has always been my pathway to finding the truth in both my heart and God’s heart. Words swirl in and out of my life in many ways. I like to read them, write them, sing them and put them into crossword puzzles.”

That’s as true now as it was in 2010. (16 years ago?!) 

But lately, I’ve been awakened to another way of capturing truth, beauty and goodness. It seems the Author is also a Gardener.

Charles Spurgeon said that the created world is God’s “outward temple” and that nature is “the second Bible.”

David wrote psalms about stars and skies, the sun and moon, oceans and trees.

Jesus taught that there is much to learn when we are attentive to nature. He suggested that a meditative look at a wild flower could help us become less anxious. (Matthew 6:28-29)

“All nature sings and round me rings the music of the spheres.” *

Here I’ve been, waiting on words,
and in the meantime,
I’ve been missing out on the language of
lilies, oak trees and the Milky Way.

May this be the summer of listening for the music
and joining the conversation.

* “This Is My Father’s World,” Maltbie D. Babcock, 1901

Hummers

PB put a hummingbird feeder on the kitchen window. The little hummers buzz around like dive-bombers in the back yard, but I wanted a little action in the front window.

I’ve been watching out the window to see what lessons I can learn from these avian wonders.

This little fella was my first sighting.

He didn’t know Who was providing the nectar or how it got there.
He didn’t know his Benefactor was waiting and watching his every move.
He didn’t know how much joy he was bringing to The One on the other side of the glass.

He knew there was nourishment there, free for the taking.
He knew that in order to receive it, he had to stop his constant movement.
He knew something instinctual was beckoning him toward the beautiful, good and true.

“Come all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!”
Isaiah 55:1

“Look at the birds of the air;
they do not sow or reap or store away in barns,
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not much more valuable than they?”
Matthew 6:26