"You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you." ... Isaiah 26:3
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I drove to the post office to mail a Christmas package to Naomi and I'd planned to just go home afterward, but I reminded myself I've only been to the supermarket lately and Target (mostly just to buy 'Boots and Barkley' for the finickiest cat on Earth, a.k.a. Sammy) and rather than become a recluse, I need a little push sometimes to get out more.
So after the post office (where I had to place Naomi's gifts in a cheaper box due to the postal guy's wanting to save me money--though I didn't really care since this was the only package I'm mailing this year), I forced myself to drop by Salvation Army where I bought two Beverly Cleary books (Jean and Johnny and Fifteen) which I'd given away years ago. Then I took a different route home so to avoid making a left-hand turn on the main road--and got lost. Well, not super-lost, just a tad, but I didn't mind because it was a glorious sunny December day, in the mid-40's, and days like these cannot last.
Our gas tank was nearly empty (especially after my I'm-kinda-lost two mile excursion) so after finding my bearings, I headed for the station at my supermarket and filled the car for less than $3 a gallon because of the gas points I'd earned there. That felt good and the sun still shone so I picked up a kids' meal at Burger King and drove to that park I've shown you, the one beside the huge river and bridge and I sat inside the warm car and read bits of Jean and Johnny while I ate my lunch and looked out over the gleaming water there in my secret place. Not the park, really, but the secret place inside me where God and I hang out. I left the park feeling relaxed and calm and glad I'd stretched myself like that.
And then I got home, climbed the stairs to my world up here and read about the Newtown, Connecticut tragedy. And cried.
Oh, what this world of ours has become...
... and how anyone without a secret place and a huge, huge God will get out of it sane, well, I don't really know. All I do know is that God is still God, He is still good and He is the only one who--in these demon-traveling, troubled years to come--will be able to keep our minds and hearts from breaking into tiny shattered pieces.
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"He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" ... Psalm 91:1.
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God." ... 2 Corinthians 1:3,4
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I am still in shock after hearing this at noontime. A bit ago I heard the shooter, my son's age, killed his own mother and her entire classroom of 5 year olds. Oh dear God. Speechless... unto you oh Lord.
ReplyDeleteLong time reader, decided it was time to stop lurking, you have expressed very well what I have been thinking. Thank you
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your blog and always look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Trish
With deep sadnessI will say I too do not know how anyone who is not walking closely with God could cope. These horrific news stories have been coming to us in waves, as one starts to wash away from our acutest memory another hits our conscious. The constant is God. He alone remains a standard of love and mercy. What sadness he must feel looking at his children. If we so grieve over the problems our children bring to themselves and others how much more can a loving God for his many wayward children? Sarah
ReplyDeleteMy hubby said to me tonight: "Oh how long till the Messiah will come?" Our world never needed our FATHER more than now...
ReplyDeleteElizabeth in VA now