Monday, June 15, 2009

It's All very Simple, Really

This Sunday, in meeting for worship, we were blessed to have many guests. Among the guests were two visiting Friends from Kenya. One of them spoke in what I think was French and then English, and the other one spoke in English and then a language I did not recognize. It was sort of a moot point… their English accents were so unfamiliar to me that I was barely able to determine that I should have been able to understand what they were saying. Non-understanding being a given, I relaxed into their voices, listening for where the words came from.

What I found was Joy, and Love, and Kindness, and Gentleness, and Peace, and Patience, and an abiding Trust in God. It felt so good to just listen to the foundations of those men’s words, that I began to do the same when other people stood to speak… I let their voices wash over me, without attempting any form of linguistic deciphering at all. Sometimes a word or two would wash up on my ear drums, but mostly I found myself listening to foundations.

Guest or homey, my brothers and sisters all seemed to speak out of the same place. Joy. Love. Kindness. Gentleness. Peace. Patience. Trust in God. They were all singing verses from the same song… It was so healing just to sit and listen to the spirits of those around me sing. Such voices.

Afterwards, I thought about how easy it is sometimes to get caught up in the details, and how easily we can get distracted from what is important. I think that spiritsong I heard yesterday doesn’t come from grasping and studying and debating, but from Letting Go. There’s nothing complicated about finding God. It’s just Letting Go, and relaxing into God.

Lord, let my own song come from Your Foundation. Amen.

6 comments:

Nate said...

"Lord, let my own song come from Your Foundation. Amen."

Indeed.

I've missed your posts

Robin M. said...

This was beautiful - I haven't read much blogstuff lately, but this is a good re-entry. Hope this post is a sign that things are looking up for you too.

Anonymous said...

Ah, yes.....relaxing into God. It takes trust, and so much about our society undermines trust.

I hope we all can find that moment when we know that "underneath are the everlasting arms."

cath

Gil S said...

I too have missed your posts Shawna so this is to let you know that there is a blog award for you over on my blog at http://stumblingstepping.blogspot.com/ Enjoy!

Anonymous said...

Hang in there.

Kevin

Shawna Roberts said...

Well, I managed to post that, and then I disappeared again. Sorry.

Thank you all so much for these beautiful comments.

Things are beginning to look up. I've been hiding and resting, but I am beginning to feel like I want to do things again, and that is a very very good sign!

Gil, I will come and see what is up... Thank you for this mysterious award.

Thank you, again, everyone... for such lovely kindness.