Summer dancing with fall

It has been different this year.  Not a bad different; just different.
Never before glancing at the clock, a few minutes to go, the numbers relentlessly changing, moving ever forward.  A tide unstoppable, finally lining up; midnight.  Turning sixty.  Never before so reflective at the passing of an hour. 

In awe even.  Of this passage of time.  Seasons changing.

Earlier on the patio the very fullness of summer.  Air thick with cicadas, flowers bursting from pots, barefoot and carefree with air warm and starry sky filling.

But, ever so subtle.  Crickets too and geese overhead and a few leaves changing color.  The fire pit welcoming.  Evening soon turning to chill.

Summer dancing with fall.

A beautiful thing really.  The merging of seasons, this overlap of beauty surrounding.  This dance.  And so the passage of time. 
Also of beauty.  This life we have to live well. 
Wrinkles reminding, birthdays celebrating.

But even more than that.  This time.  Even more.  Another season colliding head on.

An injury sidelining.  A sister encouraging.  My own heart yearning.

A time to slow.  A season.  To do things differently.
From busyness and distractions and the constant doing.

And what I found.

Summer.  Beautiful Summer. 

Warm and gentle and unhurried.
Turning it's head right there in the slow; my quiet pursuit.  With God.

And in choosing slow.  Over time.
Giving up the frantic, the wild hanging-on, the paddling upstream.

Instead, life in the moment; holy ground.
  

 

And now.  Summer's end.
Candles glowing.  Evenings lingering.  To savor. 

Because other seasons fall hard.

Losing jobs, losing friends, losing health, losing hope.  This brokenness. 
Sometimes deep and razor sharp.  Finding sorrow part of our lives.

But what I've learned in the summer, turning fall; shocking grace. 
God redeeming. A faithful Father. Relationship.  Every day.
Filling my heart. Forgiving me.  Amazing me.  Asking for a dance.
Unfathomable love.

That's the thing to be in awe of.

Not the turning of a clock or the passing of a year.
Not that.  But God filling.

Summer dancing with fall; reminding.

Reflections upon 9/11


Reflections today
Taken yesterday in Washington, D.C.

Remembering  . . .  the wars fought, the lives lost, the battles continuing.

Our forefathers, the brave men and women of today, their families.
Sacrificing, suffering loss, serving still; praying together.
One Nation Under God.
Reflections today.

 

Beauty reminding in the summer night.

This republic on a bright and shining hill.

 

 

But never to forget.  9/11 reminding.  To pray. 

For our leaders.  For our country.  For freedom.

 

 

 

September summer

                                                Welcome to 10 on 10 
                      

Like a lover's kiss

Getting away.
The last days of summer.
Squeezing hard the pursuing.
For rest.  And beauty. 
To just be.

And so we hit the road.
My man and me.
Just a bag and a camera.
Some books and a journal.
To celebrate what is.

And what we found.
By letting go.  Traveling light.
Conversation good; unraveling life.
Beauty-surrounding goodness.
Soaking it in; this unencumbered.
The unhurry; days full of slow to recapture our hearts.

Living the moment; savoring well.
Kisses stolen.  A playful grin.
Laughing and teasing and drinking in new.
Tables on street corners under the moon.
A quiet understanding; a girl and her man.

But ahh, now it's Monday.
Home.  Missing then.

Somehow it's different.
And no going back.
Life stretches forward.

And I am reminded. 
How we are wired; how put together. 
To enjoy and live full; this life.
To pursue the romance.
The happiness, joy.

But the stuff here on earth.
Comes too quickly to end.
And the arrows and disappointments fall hard.

And the happiness trips. We fall in pursuit.
Of things not fulfilling.  Disappointing.  Again.

And as good as a trip with a man I adore.

The getting away, the romance, the fun.
The beauty of seasons colliding.

There is more.

Journal filling.  Eyes wide open.
Turning pages. Conversations deep. Hungry for God in the beauty of slow.

And then.
Grace falling like rain.
Helping me breathe. 
Helping me live.  Seeing truth.

The stunning love of God.

And like a lover's kiss. 
The response comes easy.

Delight.
 
Pure and simple.
For this sacred romance.

To be loved so by God.
Unconditionally.  Unfathomably. 

No difficult task; loving back.
It's the sense of duty that kills.

And just like the joy in spending time with my man.
And the extravagant goodness of being away.
So, too, the joy even better.
This worship.  Of God the Creator.

And me.  Delighting in God.

All else. This past week. 
All the goodness.
A sweet gift. 
From God.

And so I miss that time tucked away.
And I am grateful for my sweet man.

But this I remember on Monday.
And all days in between.

Happiness.  Joy. 
Within our grasp.

In delighting in God.
The Sacred Romance.

And my response.
Easy. Like a lover's kiss.

Delight.
On a Monday morning.