Friday, October 5, 2007

Dearest God,

One day behind in writing, I sit at my desk asking, "Where did I see God yesterday?" When did I hear your voice?

I run through my day, up early, started painting the bedroom, made numerous phone calls to members to check in on health and other issues, finished painting the bedroom, shopped for picture frames and bedskirts, picked up pizza, returned home, ironed the bedskirt, put the bedroom back in order, picked up a sick friend.

Like a telescopic lens my mind returns to the parking lot at Bed, Bath and Beyond. As I stepped out of my car a woman called out to me. A former church secretary I had worked with almost 15 years ago, we hugged and caught up on each other's lives. "Have you picked raspberries this year?" She asked me.

I took a trip back in time. She was struggling in her life. She was upset, distressed, not sure what to do. On my day off I had planned to pick raspberries to make jam. I invited her along for picking and lunch by the pond at the orchard. She had so much fun and could not believe that raspberry picking could be so wonderful.

She's been picking ever since. Our time in the orchard had been so emotionally and spiritually enriching that she now takes other people for the same reason. "It's so much fun. Thank you for inviting me that day."

A simple invitation to join me in nature, taking in your beauty and goodness, picking raspberries and a few apples, making it fun and entertaining because it is. A sampling of your presence at work in the world.

Although she focuses on the raspberries, what she is really saying is that she found your help in the raspberry patch. She discovered joy in her sorrow, faith in her fear, and strength in her weakness. She returns yearly to keep your relationship in tact, to enjoy the wonders of your mystery in unexpected places.

Truth is
you were
in all the places
yesterday.
In the car,
in the bedroom,
on the phone,
in the store,
and the parking lot.
I was never
alone.
You spoke
all day long.
Did I listen?
Was I attentive?
Did I honor you?
Did I keep
the commandments?
Was I loving?
Perhaps
the question
is not so much,
"Where was God..."
but rather
"Where was I..."
How did I
live faithfully today?
How did I
keep my relationship
to you today?
How did I
attend to your people?
How did I
show love?
Remind me, Lord,
that you are not
on trial.
I am.

Love, Andrea