Consider the Lady Slippers

I am still thinking along the lines of, “just doing what Jesus says.”  Here’s an example of an easy obedience.

 One summer day, a while ago, my cousin Debra and I spent the day together after not having done so for too long a time.  We lunched at Pineridge Hollow, and then hiked the White-tailed Deer Trail.  It had rained in the morning, but now the sun was out, and we enjoyed its warmth as we walked.  The trail reminded us of our childhood days when we meandered the Manitoba prairie and bush surrounding her home in the country.  It was so pleasantly familiar, but then suddenly we noticed something that we had not seen way back then.  Lady Slippers.  First we saw one yellow, and then dozens and dozens of pinks, quietly dotting the prairie grasses with subtle hues, and intricate shapes.  Both of us immediately thought of Jesus’ words about flowers clothing the grass of the field.  Jesus said that we should look at them, and consider what they could teach our souls. Stop to smell the roses, so to speak.  I have paid closer attention to the wild grasses as of late, and yes indeed, that’s where the flowers are.  We also delighted in discovering a stand of Milkweed that day, and two huge Monarchs fluttering about. They depend upon the Milkweed, another picture I’m sure Jesus would have us ponder.

Beauty in my own garden.

We stopped to look and consider that day, and were refreshed with thoughts that followed about the beauty and extravagance of Jesus, the Creator of it all.  No wonder He tells us to look and consider these beauties; they point us to what He is like. I loved that He reminded me that our stopping to enjoy and consider was actually a simple act of obedience. He said that His commands are not burdensome.  Those words rest easy in this situation, but are no less true in all of the circumstances He brings our way, if we let Him in.  My prayer is that I will always remember to look, and in the looking, see Him. I had no camera that day to capture the beauty we stopped to consider, but even now, stopping to remember, it is all there in my mind’s eye.

“Jesus said consider the lilies, they do not toil or spin...God so clothes the grass of the field...”

— Matthew 6:28, 30

Sunday Clothes

One morning while on a holiday in the Caribbean, we were feeling, and no doubt looking, somewhat conspicuous as we poked along a highway (which is really just a road),  in a golf cart, on the Island of Grand Turk.  This is an interesting way to get around, especially for those sitting in the back, because we face backwards, and a following car gets a better view of us than I expect they want, and we in turn can see them very well, until of course they pass us, which they always do at their earliest opportunity.  As my sister-in-law and I observed the passengers approaching us, our comments went something like this:  “yes”, “no”, “probably not”, “for sure not”, “for sure”, and so on.  “Very random”, you might think, but rest assured we were referring to something very specific.  It was Sunday, so can you guess what it was?

Here we are! Ready for our slow journey - seat belts pending.

A lot of islanders go to church on Sunday, and we noticed that they get quite dressed up to do so.  Now can your guess?  That’s right!  We were guessing who was on their way to church.  Church, however, was not our destination as we bungled along the road that particular Sunday morning. It was the ocean, and snorkeling, that were calling us, but nevertheless my thoughts turned to dressing up for church.

From childhood on, I have always liked going to church, and back then it was definitely a dress up affair.  We had a bath on Saturday in preparation, and in the morning I would don a dress.  So would my mom, unless of course, she was wearing a suit that day. She usually wore a hat as well. My friends concurred that she always looked elegant.  Mother sewed most of our clothes, and my sisters and I would get 2 new dresses a year.  One dress was for Christmas and the other at Easter. These were worn over and over again, on Sunday; our Sunday dresses.  I remember one Monday when I was in grade 3, I had no clean school clothes, so I had to wear my Sunday dress.  It was red, with white lace trim-the Christmas dress that year.  I was rather mortified, but by the time I had walked the mile to school, the dress was completely forgotten, and the compliment from a little friend saying she loved my dress came as a complete surprise.

I still like to go to church, and sometimes I even wear a dress, but there is no longer an unspoken rule that it must be so.  I appreciate the line from a worship song that says, “Come, just as you are to worship, come, just as you are before your God, come…”  That’s the important thing, isn’t it?  Coming? I know that when I do, He looks at my desire for Him, not my dress; my attitude, not my attire.  It seems no matter what I’m wearing, He says, “Welcome my child”, and He’s glad that I’ve come. 

Temple Courts

Years ago I asked God to make Himself real to me in my ordinary days.  I can see that He has answered that prayer over and over, and today during my quiet time I encountered Him again.  An ordinary day for me holds a space of time in the morning with my Bible, a notebook, and my coffee.  I love this time, and generally anticipating it is what gets me out of bed in the morning.  This has not always been the case, and certainly not in those days when I prayed that prayer, but today, yes.

I was sitting quietly in our TV room, thinking, engaging in some prayers, and reflecting on the peace I was feeling.  I knew that soon I would step out; leaving this “space”, so to speak, to encounter all that is before me this day.  I know that Jesus is always with me, but I feel Him more especially in the quiet time, and so I am tempted to linger.  My thoughts turned to Anna in the Bible.  I have always wondered about her.  We are told that she never left the temple courts.  It seemed to me like a very narrow life, just being in the temple – all the time.  This morning I had a new perspective.  It is wonderful to sense God’s presence.  How could it be a narrow life; to be in the presence of the Creator of the whole universe?  This is not a narrow place, but a beautiful, grand and spacious place.  I thought of David where he says of the Lord, “He brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me.”  Anna didn’t have to step out into an ordinary day; she got to stay right there in the temple.  She must have felt the Lord’s delight, and her perseverance in seeking Him day after day into her old age got her the reward of seeing the Baby Messiah.  Many people saw Him that day, but she knew who He was!  Dare I say that I am like Anna, in a small way?  I am seeking Him, and at times like this morning, I sense His delightful presence, but one day I will really see Him.  Tears come as this extraordinary thought breaks into this ordinary day.  A “water to wine” thought, and the day is transformed.