ok, I get it!!

It's been a weekend of quiet messages.

On Saturday, I saw a short film about "Grandpa Bill". He's 76 years old and lives in Leeds, Alabama. Years ago, when his wife died, he moved in with his sister. Knowing he needed to get more exercise, and find a way to fill his time, he decided to start going out to clubs in Birmingham. So, Grandpa Bill has become fixture in the jumpingest joints in town, where he parties until the sun comes up. Then he goes home, eats some popcorn (because he loves popcorn), goes to bed, and then gets up and works in the yard at his sister's place. He wears a hearing aid, and says that he enjoys the clubs, because he can hear the beat and dance. When asked, how he decided to start going out to the clubs, and if it made him nervous at first, he replied, "you don't know what you can do until you try it. Just get out there and start moving to the beat."

At church on Sunday morning, the sermon was about prayer. After reading Acts 1:12-14, the pastor pointed out that the disciples (and Mary and all of the women!!) went to the upper room to pray and wait for God's gift of His Spirit. They didn't have any idea what shape it would take, they were simply faithful in following Christ's command to go back to Jerusalem and pray. So they prayed without ceasing, every day, until that gift came. They were faithful in small things, without knowing what the result would be. They were faithful every single day.

On Monday, I picked up Gerald Sittser's Book, "The Will of God as a Way of Life". It's been on my shelf for years. I can't even tell you how many times I've moved it. I've flipped through the pages, and have read parts of it over the years, but hadn't looked at it in ages. So, while I was waiting for a friend to show up, I just flipped through, and this is what jumped out at me: "Experience teaches us, prepares us, and seasons us for what lies ahead. If we are attentive to God in this present moment - which ... is the primary will of God for our lives - we will begin the glorious process of that discovery." [Sittser is talking about discovering our calling.]

And then today, I came across this.

So, ok, I get it. The message is to take that small step, faithfully, every single day; to be attentive to God in this and every present moment; and to pray. Every day. Without ceasing. Because otherwise it is all too overwhelming and there is too much. How are we supposed to make a difference in this world, where the need is so great?

The most powerful message is to be attentive to God in this present moment, because if we listen to His voice today, and step into the circle of light just two feet away (as Ann Lamott's pastor once told her), we don't know where it can take us. But won't it be a great journey!

As Ann would say, I wish you all "Traveling Mercies" and God's blessings for us all.