Camera slung across chest I traipse through tall grass along the side of a country road. An old tree standing guard at an old country house long abandoned. My eyes searching for details yet at the same time pulling back searching for the wider angle unseen.
Colors smear across the palette. Brush tips touched with colors. I brush the colors onto canvas. Another layer covering the image that did not match that which was in my head. Yet this doesn’t bother me. I breathe deeply knowing the layer upon layer will eventually bear resemblance to what can only be found in my mind as of now.
Photos spread across pretty paper. Sketching, arranging. Making the memories somehow tangible.
Worship music plays as I go from chore to chore. My voice singing out as no one is listening save for the one to whom it sings.
Blanket wrapped around my shoulders as the fall night air chills. Sounds of night singing to its creator. Stars twinkle as I sit. My silence finding its way to prayers.
God’s fingerprint uniquely found on each of our lives. How we learn. How we create. How we feel loved. Even how our souls are renewed.
Some activities I find myself turning at various times to give my spirit space to breathe. Having learned over the years which ones bring needed respite.
I also find my soul being fed when the smallest thing is added to something otherwise mundane. Singing along to favorite worship songs as I fold laundry or straighten the house.
The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. (1 Kings 19:11-12)
It is resting in the silence though that often brings the most refreshment. Yet if I unmask life for a moment the silence is the hardest one to bring myself to this time of the year. To quiet my mind and body long enough to reach the silence. Ironic that the thing I crave the most seems just out of reach. Usually calm schedules and routines give way to busy and people pulling at my time. I know these few weeks of activity will slow down and finding the silence will become easier. I will be able to find rest in the silence again.
And it is sitting in the silence, in the quiet, that will bring even more creativity to the other activities that feed my spirit and help my soul breathe once again.
What activities feed your spirit? Do you ever find yourself needing to rest in the silence?
