When I was in Utah a couple of weeks ago, I saw the stars and I almost cried. How do people in this city feel a reprieve from the busy-ness when you can't sit on your front porch without hearing fire engines and horns honking and the sky is never clear enough to feel like you can reach out and touch a star? It's been interesting for me to figure out how to escape. On Sunday afternoon I went to Roosevelt Island with some friends....a little park on the Potomac surrounded by trees and a monument of Teddy Roosevelt. It was lovely--really. I felt secluded from the city every few minutes when there wasn't an airplane overhead and I couldn't see highrises above the trees. I'm becoming more and more attached to those brief moments.
On Saturday I walked down to the Jazz Festival on the mall and on my way there I saw a demonstration of naked men riding bicycles--protesting the use of foreign oil (I still don't understand that connection). I saw some other perverse and depressing human spectacles that are obviously more typical in a metropolis. It wears on my soul, but thankfully it is interspersed with plenty of interesting and wonderful experiences. I think city life is helping me to be more grateful for small things. It's so kind of dog-eat-dog that every human kindness and every quiet moment in a park and every single firefly fills me with a smile. The night of my jaunt to the Jazz Festival I went to stake conference and it was the first time in my life that I have felt so starkly what it means to stand in holy places. In my mind, that chapel was a little corner of heaven...a real reprieve. And my heart wanted to burst with thanks.
I've been listening to the hymn "Rock of Ages" over and over and over again. I can't get enough of it...my favorite words and I think the whole point of this post is the very first line that says, "Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee..."
So I guess what I'm saying is that I really love God. I love that He is my Protector. I love that I can hide myself in Him when this big old world seems like too much. All I have to say is, "where are you in all this craziness?" and He sends a firefly. Just like that. It makes life really beautiful. The way it's meant to be.
3 comments:
Heather....I loved reading your post. It was so beautifully written. I am SO THANKFUL for God's love and his tender mercies in our lives. It truley is what makes us smile, even through some difficult experiences at times. Love you.
I miss you sister! Thanks for your reminder to not ever take for granted the little things that make life so sweet. I need to be better at recognizing God's hand in my life.
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