I have been on a spiritual path for quite a while now. I started down this path by asking God to help me to get closer to Him. I know, kind of scary right?!?! Most of the time we think that will cause us some kind of pain in order to draw nearer to God. My thoughts exactly.
Here’s the thing… I can recall a time in my life where I was perfectly at peace and in alignment with God – no separation – no fear – complete PEACE and HARMONY. I was young and I can see it clearly… standing on a fence post (you know the old wooden fences that you could climb up on and sit there) looking into the woods and having a conversation with God – like He was my best friend – like He was right there – listening to me – wrapping His loving arms around me – I was so happy and so free – no worries – no fear – only that moment. I was confident and sure of the world around me, I didn’t look for more than what was right there and how I could please God the most with my service.
All that I could ever want or need was supplied to me. There was no desire for more – I had it all! It was probably the closest to living in the garden of Eden that a person could come to. I was visiting my Granny and Grandpa in Louisiana – they lived near a swamp (yeah a real one, the kind with gators, snakes and slime) with flowing water (a river called Dugdemona) and they had a cow, a pony, chickens, ducks, flower garden (Grandpa loved flowers) and a BIG garden.
We had fresh purple hull peas (my favorite – I ate them as I shelled them until I got sick , squash, watermelon, tomatoes, greens and who knows what else. There were fish fry’s with friends, playing in the hot sandy soil of the garden, walks on the trails, scouting for arrowheads (and there were plenty), building forts out of anything we could find. My God it was wonderful! My older sister and my younger brother were there too – we had such a great summer there. We all learned how to drive sitting on Grandpa’s lap, steering on the dirt roads (we could all drive by the age 12), laughing and swerving (after all who was it going to hurt, no one on that road for sure) – Grandpa was so patient and laughed right along with us!
Life was simple then. Life can be simple now. That is what I asked for – simplicity, love, peace and harmony. These can be found in every day – no matter where you are, what you do. I am there now…
Psalms 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God.