"The Spiritual Life is a life in which we wait, actively present to the moment, expecting that new things will happen to us, new things that are far beyond our own imagination or prediction. That, indeed, is a very radical stance in a world preoccupied with control."
- Henri Nouwen, "The Path of Waiting"
Today was a day of refreshment, as I stumbled on both water and honey from the rock. Both were needed, as the previous week's journey had me quite parched. And hungry. Sustenance was in short supply last week - a very difficult stretch of wilderness was crossed (slowly) one step at a time. When the red-wings gathered this morning to sing me awake, they found me very tired from my journey. But they never waiver - always cheering me on to the next step on the path. They sang and called while I showered and dressed, and then commented incessantly as I took one last look at the sermon and filed it in my backpack. They chattered and clamored as I settled into my car, and sang me on my way into the unknown that is Sunday worship.
And there I found unexpected honey and water for my journey. The water flowed as the congregation stepped in to help a young mother sing a prayer to her precious newly baptized baby boy, and the honey sprang forth from the rock when a young boy proudly declared that he was autistic (and cute, too). I watched truth, love, and tenderness held by this congregation, and all the while I could see God's arms holding the entire moment in tender embrace. Holy ground.
Refreshed, I journey on. It would be dishonest of me not to admit that I would love to have GPS coordinates for my current location in the wilderness, as well as clear google map directions to where this journey ends. But this journey brings neither. Instead, it provides sustenance when least expected, and from unlikely sources.
The sun is still up, and it is a beautiful spring day - even here in the wilderness.
Walking on,
Kim
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