So many times in the healing stories of Jesus he shares with the person, "Because of your faith, you are healed."  Faith is the belief in the things that are not seen, but for Jesus, faith seems to be the element necessary for healing.

Recently I was spending time with a patient who continued to tell me that she was going to be healed.  In fact, her church was telling her that, "If your faith is strong enough, then God will heal you."

She shared with me, "I'm just on hospice now for help, but God is going to heal me and I will no longer need you."

I believe in miracles.  I have no doubt that I have seen and experienced miracles in my own life, but I must admit, there is a bit of doubt that enters my mind when I encounter people who tell me that their faith will restore them, when my knowledge of the situation overrules the trust that the person has placed in God.

It is something that we all struggle with.  "If you only had the faith of a mustard seed, you could literally move a mountain."  (Luke 17)

First and foremost, faith doesn't come in varying sizes.  I could just imagine the dose of faith necessary for the dying woman to possess in order to be healed.  Even in the ministry of Jesus, there is one point when the paralyzed man is lowered through the roof to be healed, Jesus looks at the men on the roof who lowered the man and says, "Because of the faith of your friends, take up your mat and walk." (Luke 5)

It is in that moment that I realize that my faith in her ability to be healed is just as important as the woman's.  The importance of our faith is reflective in this story.  While I believe that God can restore, my human condition and my knowledge, causes the faith of the child that I am called to exercise is overwhelmed by what I have been taught.

So often Jesus reminds us that unless we become like children, we will struggle to enter the kingdom of heaven, if at all.  That within itself is another issue entirely.

But for today, I am reminded that I am to have faith.  Have faith in God, and to have faith in the things that I cannot understand or explain.  Maybe then, it will become easier to experience healing and in the healing of others.

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2019

Some mornings I am moved to spend time alone.  What I have discovered is that being alone for me is about finding time to be with God.

These are the times that I purposely step away from the phone, television, radio, and others as well.  When I think of spending time with God, I am reminded of the times that Jesus "withdrew," from the disciples to go off and pray.  During these times in scripture, we seem to have an understanding of who Jesus was as a person, but also, a reminder to us that in our relationship with God, sometimes we simply need to make ourselves completely available to God.

I love the story of the Elijah going out on the mountain to look for the Lord.  God "passes by," and there is a great wind, earthquake, the rocks are broken all around him, and then a great fire.  In all of these things he looks for the presence of God.  But then, in the silence, he discovers the still, small voice of God speaking to him.

I spend a lot of hours each day being alone in my car as I drive from one hospice patient visit to the next.  Some days, the traffic brings me to a crawl in the city.  I have begun looking at these interruptions in the regular flow of my day as a reminder that sometimes we are to slow down, and to listen.  It's in these moments that I find that I allow my mind to think about others, but also, ask God to speak to me.

Before you begin to envision a scene from the movie, "Oh God!" where George Burns suddenly appears in the car with John Denver (Yeah, I probably dated myself a little bit here), or God providing a sign of "Danger Ahead," as Morgan Freeman did with Jim Carey in "Bruce Almighty."  No, it is more about taking the time to simply allow God to be part of the day.  Even in our cars, or in the grocery line, the waiting area of a doctor's office, or while waiting on your daughter to get ready so that you can go to the store.  We can take the time to invite God to be with us.

Our ability to find a way to be alone with God will, and does, become easier when it becomes a daily practice.  What do you need to do?  God is waiting.

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2019

Each day I end my blog with the words, "Stay in God's grip."  Today I had the honor of being with a woman as she surrendered herself into the hands of God.

For the last several months she has defied all understanding of the human condition, and has taught all of us who have spent time with her what shear determination looks like.  In our time together I have learned about so many things.  I believe if this woman was part of an ancient tribe, she would have been revered as a "Great Elder."  

I loved the stories that she would share.  Her love for education pushed her to create a school that women would actually plan the birth of their next child around to fit the opening that might be available.  She shared the story of finding a literal "camel" for a church event, and her daughter laughed until tears rolled down her face telling about a time that they loaded a grown sheep into the back of the family car for another event.

One day we were talking about her resourcefulness, and that she was the original "Google," before it existed!

She would share pictures of gardens she planted, and even went so far as to suggest a tree for my yard.  After ordering it by way of a nursery based out of Delaware, that actually shipped the tree from Florida, the "Fireman's Cap" or as our family lovingly refers to as the "Nancy Tree," named for her, found it's way into our back yard.  When I first planted it, every leaf dropped, and I thought that it had died.  She assured me that it was only in shock, and that it would recover.  She was right.  It began shooting out new leaves, and branches, along with THORNS!  When I shared, "You didn't tell me about the thorns," she responded, "Well, you didn't ask me if it had thorns."

Another moment where laughter erupted.

Our conversations then turned to her funeral, which included directions and suggestions on songs, scripture and even the need for yellow balloons.  I laughed and said, "I suppose that I should wear a yellow bow tie as well?"

To which she responded, "That would be a nice touch."

One of the hardest things about being a hospice chaplain is knowing that the time that you have with someone is limited.  There are those people that you meet that will forever change your life.  The hospice relationship is usually six months or less with that patient, but for every encounter with her, I learned more about myself that will last a lifetime.

Living with a terminal illness can be a reminder that time is limited, and for some it involves "bucket lists," and a series of "lasts," but what I have discovered it can still be filled with hope, prayers, and possibilities.  Miracles and healing exists, even in the final moments of life.  Without going into a long story, she touched a very wounded part of me, and at the time of her death, I realized that she had brought it out of me, into the light, and that it no longer had power over me.

It's on days like these when I have been present for a person's last breath, I am reminded of the man who hung next to Christ who was promised, "Today you will be with me in paradise."  While there were no words shared today by her, her final look to see that she was not alone, was all that she needed to trust that the next moment would be welcomed by the outstretched hands of God.  

Once again I am reminded to have faith in the things that I have not seen, but in what I have watched others experience.  

Even Christ called out to God, "Into thy hands I commit my spirit," just prior to his final moments.  Once again reminding each of us of the importance of the hands of God, and that we are to trust that we will always be in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2019

The morning began with word that the daughter of a dear friend and colleague has died.  It has been a difficult journey for the entire family, and now the dance that we all seem to do with death, has partnered itself and danced a minuet that shall make today more memorial for other reasons.  

I write about a lot of things, but I must admit, there are simply some days that leave me asking God the larger, unsettling questions. I have grown to realize that these days are by far some of the most revealing to my own spiritual growth.

It saddens me when people suffer. 

It saddens and disturbs me when people are missing. 

It breaks my heart when parents with children who have young children still living at home die. 

I know that God is present. I have shared that message in sermons, discussions, and through my words. I have attempted to provide the example to convey God's prevalent love and presence, even when the days are dark, but if I'm truthful,  some days are left with no words. Simply silence. 

Yet, today I find it necessary to write and to voice that there is peace in this news as well, especially after having known some of the struggles.

I have often confronted myself and others to provide an understanding of the troubles we face each day, but in my own heart and convictions staring me in the face, I recognize the prevailing and living God who has heard my heart thoughts with the echo of each beat, and has embraced my questions and assured me and those around shall be fine. 

It's not easy at times to begin the day wandering within the valley of the shadow of death, but as I close my eyes in prayer, I greet the knowledge that the darkness may not, and cannot overcome the perceived and known light that exists that shall prevail.  

Years ago I was sitting in a small cafe in Georgetown as the sun was beginning to set.  There in the distance on the hill, a small flame seemed to grow in strength.  The "Eternal Flame," that lights the site where President John F. Kennedy's grave, reminds us that even a small dim light on a hill can be seen, and provide hope for the future.  

On this Memorial Day weekend, where we remember those who were lost to wars and conflicts, may our thoughts on death be comforted by peace, understanding, and rest.

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2019

This morning as I was brewing my cup of coffee, I was staring out the kitchen window as I often do, and found myself looking at the stained-glass window that hangs there. As I walked closer to look once again at this piece of art that I have had for nearly twenty years now, I began to look through the colors and thought of the old John Conlee song, "Rose Colored Glasses."

Like most country songs, it involves a man and a woman, and a relationship that just simply isn't working. In the lyrics, the man admits to looking at life through "rose colored glasses," which only allow for him to see the beauty of the woman, rather than looking at the truth of the relationship.

Funny how often we only see what we want, even when we know that things are different. You might even say that the stained-glass window I was looking through this morning, as it changed the colors of what I was seeing, was also teaching me at the same time.

You see, there are simply things in this world that keep us from seeing people as children of God. I might even go as far to say, our eyesight is stained, not by beautiful glass, but by how we are taught to look at the world. It is hard for us to see one another as being made in the image of God, when our image of one another is shaped by the very things that stains our image. Judgment, hatred, racism, as well as, love, beauty and hope, all are things that cause us to look at the world with the images that we have been taught to see.

The racist policeman cannot see the empty hands of the black man if he can only see the color of his skin. The man cannot see the amazing talent of a woman if he can't see beyond the skirt that she wears. The baker cannot celebrate the love of two people if he only focuses on the fact the couple getting married are gay. A woman anxiously sits in an airplane, all because the man across the aisle is wearing a turban.

These are all the things that have stained our ability to see one another as children of God.

The stained glass windows of a cathedral draw us in. As the sun moves across the sky, the images change, and their colors track it's progress. The light of Christ continues to shine on us, and invites us to look at the world God has created. The light is bright so that we can see things things clearly.

Matthew reminds us that we must take the plank from our own eyes before attempting to remove the speck of dust from our brother's, otherwise we become hypocrites. (Matthew 7:5)

Before we look at one another, let us remove the things that have stained our views of one another and the world, and let's try to look at the world with the eyes of Christ.

Stay in God's grip!

​G. Todd Williams (c) 2019

The funny thing about water is that it flows where the pathway has the least resistance.  I have come to believe that it also is that way with God's Spirit.  I must admit, I have met people who seem to resist everything, especially when it comes to being vulnerable.   "I'm not going to cry," or "You can't make me," are just among the few things that I have heard over the years.

Understanding how God moves within us and those around us can take a lifetime to learn.

As a kid growing up in Southern Indiana, I knew of and explored several caves around our home.  I remember one cave in particular, Blue Springs Cavern, home to a large underground river, that was known of by earlier settlers, but then in 1940 a pond literally disappeared one night after a storm, when a portion of the cave gave way because of the weight of the pond, and an opening was discovered.   The river had found it's way below ground through limestone hills and valleys, because that is where the pathway of least resistance existed.

You can now enter the opening and actually take a boat ride underground.
​
God is always present, hoping for the moment where we will finally allow God's Spirit to flow.  God's Spirit begins within, and depends on us to make it's presence known, and when it does, incredible things happen!

Stay in God's grip!

​G. Todd Williams (c) 2019

Yesterday I spent time with a diverse group of people from all walks of life, but for two hours, we all assembled together for one common cause.   I walked away realizing that the greatest message I can take away from the gathering is that we are called to be authentic.

It's interesting how many people that I meet that are "trying" to be something that they are not.  Years ago I would tell the youth group that I worked with to, "Remember who you are."

In the gospel of Matthew, we are reminded to, "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they do not toil, nor do they spin." (Matthew 6:28)  Matthew is telling us they know who they are.  The lilies do not try to be something that they are not, nor do they waste the day trying to be a rose.

The happiest I have ever been is when I have been my authentic self. 

One of the things that I ask people when I meet them is, "What do you do for a living?"  Often it is the identifier of what role the person has taken in life, but also says a lot about who the person is.  I then ask, "Do you like it?"  Sometimes the answer catches me by surprise.  It is amazing the things that we will do, or try to be, in order to satisfy some role, but at the end of the day, we must ask ourselves, "Did it allow for us to be authentic with who we are and allow others to see us for who we are as well?"

The moments when you realize that you are "trying to be something you are not," can be a source of anxiety, and for some, complete disappointment.  I can remember doing things as a child because I knew it made my parents or grandparents happy.  I think that there is a sense of wanting to please others in everything we do, but actually we should ask ourselves, "Did this make me happy, and was this the best use of who God created me to be?" 

The writer of Corinthians reminds me, "When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things." (1 Corinthians 13:11)

Being our authentic self is something that God wants us to be.  After all, we were created in the image of God.  With that knowledge, we have a source to begin with, and only we know what that means for us.  

Being authentic means that we also know who we are. 

There are some things that I realize about myself that are unique to me.  I have an intense fear of not being able to see the bottom of where I am swimming.  For that very reason, I know that I will never swim out into the ocean.  I had to take Calculus twice in college and managed to squeak by with a D.  I know I will never be a math teacher or tutor!   I love to sing loudly in the car with the radio, but I know that I will never sing at Carnegie Hall (well, you never know!)

Don't get me wrong, we are all allowed to have ambitions and dreams, but being authentic means that we don't obsess on things so much that we fail to realize the blessing that are already before us. 

Being an authentic person also means that you can honestly answer, "I understand," when someone has experienced the same pain that you have experienced.  It's being able to love others, and admitting that sometimes, "I struggle to love others," when you have been hurt by someone.

I remember spending time in the emergency room with someone who was like a person I knew growing up as a teen.  I struggled to be supportive in the person's time of need because I kept thinking about the person from my childhood.  Afterwards, I spent time with my supervisor sharing how hard it was to be present with the person because the man was so much like the person I had an experience with thirty years earlier.

First and foremost, God knows who we are.  We don't serve a God who creates us, and then leaves us to figure everything out about us.  Granted, there are some things that I know about myself now as a man in my fifties that I wish I would have known in my twenties, but the time and the experiences have also helped me to be who I am now.  We are not guaranteed anything in this world, but knowing who we are is something that we can always explore and learn from.

"Remember who you are!"

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2019

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
~ Matthew 9:36-38

Sometimes I have to remind myself that the word Emmanuel means, "God with us."

It's a gentle reminder that anything I try to do involves God. A few years ago I listened to Marjorie Suchocki describe what that meant. It means that God is always present. God does not pick and choose when to be present in our lives. As much as God is saddened by the violence we inflict on ourselves, God is present with the victim, as well as, the perpetrator. God cannot suddenly not be present, and then reappear when the tide has changed.

Although we may decide to, or not to, include the Creator in our daily life, God is there.

​As hard as it may seem, the choices that we sometimes struggle to make, both good and bad, God is there, living through the entire process and results with us.

The whole idea of God's omnipotent presence reminds me that when Jesus reminds the Disciples that he would be present always, he understood that perfectly, because he fully understood God's presence in his daily walk.

It's not easy thinking that God loves people who do evil things, or make such terribly sad decisions that hurt the human condition, but we are all faced with difficult decisions each day.

The question is, do we reflect God's presence? How many times did Jesus remark, "So that others may know You are God," as he prepared to pray and perform miracles.

Perhaps when you are faced with difficult decisions, or surrounded by your enemies, that you remind yourself that God loves them as well, and if need be, start the situation with prayer, remembering that even Jesus handled the moment by saying, "so that you may know God's power.."

The harvest is great and the workers are few. It's clearly a call to recognize the need to allow God to be clearly present in you.

I'm praying that you find the ability to see God, everywhere, this day, and that finding strength to love your enemies may invoke that presence to tangible reality. Amen.

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2019

There are many ways that people waste their time, but taking the time to pray will never be one of them.  

"I don't think God is listening," is a common thing that I hear when it comes to the prayers of many of the people I meet.  "I keep praying for a miracle."

I must admit, I wish there were some way that when God has received the request, is considering the options, and had provided the answer, that we might get an updated text from our request.  Of course, I'm being a little crazy here, or am I?

My humanness overshadows my spiritual journey at times.  The shadow, cast by doubt, anxiety, and expectations, can often leave me feeling ignored by God.  "But why not?"

I still have to remind myself that God provides for our needs.  Not our wants.

There are simply so many things that compete for time in our mind, that spending time in prayer can almost seem like something that gets in the way.   That's when I remind myself that I am spending time with myself, and with God, who was present before my first thought, who loved me before I could love, and knew me before I knew others to compare myself with.

It is in prayer that we all can come to the realization that we have been created by God, and through this relationship, any time that we spend in prayer, even when the conversation may seem to feel one-sided, is still worth the time to be with ourselves, clearing our minds, and thinking on things of God.

In these moments we discover more about ourselves, and build on the relationship we have with God.  None of these, would I ever consider, a waste of our time.

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2019

Each day when I meet new people, I generally ask them to tell me about their faith journey. We all have one. Even the atheist has a faith journey.

What surprises me the most, is that often the climatic moment when the person acknowledges the presence of God in their life, it doesn't involve a pew surrounded by four walls, within the context of a church bulletin, or while telling someone, "I am fine," as they shake hands and promote the peace of Christ with one another.

Often I hear of stories in hospitals, in the darkness of night, when there has been pain, when brokenness has been encountered, or when something that was once thought to be impossible, happens.

While attending seminary, one of my professors described his first church experience as a pastor, surrounded by a group of "planners," who orchestrated some pretty amazing worship services. As they planned the service that included dramatic readings, a choral arrangement, and even how the chancel candles would be lit one morning, he sat back and asked, "And when do we invite God to be part of things?"

Allowing for God is something which often gets overlooked among meetings and plans. I can remember my grandfather sharing stories of sitting for hours in a Quaker meeting house as a child waiting on the Spirit of God to move someone to speak. He tells of the day that he became so restless that he thought of asking his mother for her hat pin to help "poke" the Spirit of God along.

Often it is at the end of life, or when something happens in our life to cause us to pause, that we suddenly realize that God has been pursuing after us in our marathon of life.

I find that it is necessary that we remember that in the 23rd Psalm, David writes that, "surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life." It is up to us to stop and allow God to catch up.

Discovering God in each moment is what Jesus tried to teach us. Within the parables on a hillside, among the sick and poor, and at a well where a lone woman sat. In times when Jesus went off to pray, and in the invitation for a man to step out of a boat and to walk on water. Among animals in a barn where baby lay, and from the cross on a hill. God is seeking after us.

We seem to have lost our bearing when we focus on ways to entertain God, rather than invite God. Our worship of God begins with us. Each one of us, in relationship with the One who has created us. Ephesians 2:10 serves as the reminder that each of us are part of God's workmanship, created by God to do God's will.

When we recognize that we are invited to be the instruments by which God is known in the world today, then suddenly our lives have new meaning, and so do our actions. This is when we begin to understand better how God is known in our life and the lives of others.

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2019

Recently someone described themselves as being alone, but never lonely.  It's one of those things that we all have encountered at some point and time in our life.  God created humanity with the understanding the need for community.

I remember nearly ten years ago when my daughter left to go to college, I suddenly realized that for the first time in over twenty years I was living alone.  I must admit, the definition of "empty nesting," took on new meaning for me.  It took several months of living alone before I began to feel comfortable about many things.  Even the simplest grocery list had to be re-thought because I suddenly was cooking for only myself.   I did learn that if I wanted to come home and eat cereal for dinner, and spend the whole evening watching television in my pajamas that I could do that.  If I wanted to go to the movies, I did.  Even by myself, and sometimes, early in the day on the weekend, or even late on some weeknights.

It wasn't an easy transition.  Even now with another season of graduations upon us, I spend some of my time listening to friends who are parents embarking on this new chapter, and I remember what those initial months felt like.

After three years of living by myself, I remember one Christmas my daughter being home for the holiday, and suddenly wondering when she was going back to school.  It was at that time that I had grown accustomed to living alone, and that I actually "liked," my independence.

When we encounter aloneness, or the times that we feel lonely, it can often be accompanied by grief and the feelings of loss.  When someone dies, then there is a new understanding feeling alone.  This week I was with a woman who had just lost her husband, and she shared, "I just keep expecting him to call to let me know he is on his way home."

I remember talking to my grandmother several years after my grandfather died.  She said, "The first year is full of all the 'firsts.'  First holidays without him.  The birthdays, and annual events that you would do.  The second year you are still looking at the door, waiting for the person to walk in."

She then went on to say, "But I have to think that the third year was the worst, because I suddenly realized that he was 'never coming home again.'"

I have often wondered about how the disciples were handling things with Jesus weeks after the resurrection.  His random appearances seemed to bring comfort to their loneliness they encountered with their grief, but he continued to remind them that he would soon be leaving them again.  Our mind struggles to understand when we feel lonely, or loss.

For the first few months after my stepmother died, I remembered picking up the phone and dialing her number to talk to her about something that had happened that day, only to realize that she was no longer there to answer the phone.  The same could be said about how lonely I would feel on Sunday afternoons after my grandmother died.   For years, it was her habit to call me Sunday afternoon to ask me how my sermon went that day, and whether I brought the people, "Closer to heaven or hell," and "Why?"

Jesus reminds us that he will always be with us, but our human condition focuses on our aloneness.

God invites us into relationship, but it is often in times when we encounter loneliness that we begin to know of God's presence.  Sometimes we must turn off everything around us to hear our own thoughts.  It is the same when it comes to knowing God's presence as well.  Sometimes we need to encounter aloneness to realize that we are never alone.

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2019

When I think of Jesus reminding us to love others as we love ourselves, I'm left with the reality that before I can even begin to love myself, I need to like myself first.

We all seem to be working so hard at keeping up with the rest of the world, that we sometimes leave out the most important person.  US!

I have watched people literally fall apart trying to do for others, while they fail to do for themselves.  It is a fact that people who are caregivers will often wear out before those that they are caring for.

Each day I see people caring for others at the end of life, and for some, it takes a major toll on them.  I have a man who has slowly watched his body quit working.  With every decline, his wife is left doing more.  Over the last five months I have watched her go from being someone who wore makeup every day, hair brushed and neat, with clean clothes on, to a woman who pulls her hair back with her hands, wearing sweats, and hasn't worn makeup in over a month.  She still cooks Sunday meals for her entire family, and plans her grocery run around the time that an Aide comes to bathe and care for her husband, because she hasn't been able to allow others to help her.

She just recently told me that she is now getting injections four times a year in her back because she has strained her back, "so many times," trying to lift and move her husband.  

"I do it because I love him," she shares, but then I ask, "what are you doing for yourself?"

"Oh, I will think about that later.  Right now it doesn't matter."

I understand where she is coming from, and her mentality about the situation.  She is a caregiver.  She has now asked me to start praying for her as well when we get together.  

What she does is a beautiful expression of love for her husband.  I have asked her, "What will happen if something happens to you?"

"Oh, I don't know.  It doesn't matter."

I stopped her and asked her to listen to herself, and instead of saying, "It" doesn't matter, insert the word, "I."

Loving one another is the greatest commandment that Jesus left with us, but what good are we to one another if we don't consider ourselves in the commandment?  Each of us are worth loving, but learning to love, or like ourselves, first, means that we also have to be willing to do for ourselves what we are willing to do for others.  For many, including myself, it takes a lot of practice.  For some it means that you must learn how to say, "No," and for some, it is more about creating healthier boundaries.

There is a way to love one another, but it really must begin with you!

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2019

As I sit and write this morning's blog, I'm sitting outside the room of a dear lady who is no longer responding, but is resting comfortably.   We had agreed that when she reached the point where she was no longer conscious that I would come, read to her Psalms and pray aloud for her, and that I am to treat her as if I am expecting a response.

I have loved the moments we have shared over the past six months, including planning her funeral, where she has basically dictated to me what I am to say, all the way down to the request for me to wear a yellow bow tie, have yellow balloons, and a detailed list of topics I am to cover.

One of the things that I often realize is that I am the one who will be left to tell a person's story.  It is a sacred agreement.  

She has been both transparent and candid with me, and we have both laughed and cried together.  She has even made suggestions for my garden at home, and I actually have planted a tree in my back yard that she recommended.  I call the tree by her name.  A few weeks ago I realized that the tree has small thorns on it.  When I told her about them, she said, "Oh, I guess I forgot to mention them.  Did they surprise you?  The tree is like me, I'm full of surprises."

As I sit and watch, I realize that peace has been actualized.  

I recognize in moments like these that we live our lives at such a fast pace.  We forget to consider the moments that we are living now.  In the silence of the slow and steady breath, the great grace of God can be experienced.  I am reminded to be still, and to wait.  Our presence for one another can exist without words.  It is just the knowledge that we are present.

In moments like these, I am reminded of God's presence, and that those who only seek God in the earthquake, fire, and wind, miss the moments to stop and allow silence, where God can be heard and felt.

I do miss her smile, and her words, but I am grateful for the body that is resting, knowing that it holds a spirit that is ready to make the journey home.

It is in times like these that I find the words to ask God to let my journey home be like hers, and to hear God say, "I will be with you, even unto the ends of the earth."

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2019

"By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures."
~ Proverbs 24: 3,4

Sometimes I find that I treasure silence. We need silence. We desire silence, but because we are so accustomed to the noise of the world we forget how to seek silence, until we reach a plateau, stop, and listen for the breeze to rustle the leaves.

Our home should be a place where silence may gather itself. It must be a place where it can be greeted and welcomed.

Simon and Garfunkel years ago wrote an entire song about the sounds of silence. What does silence sound like to you?

So often it is disturbing that our busy lives distracts us from seeking times of silence.

I often discover two very disturbing "noises" when I seek the sound of silence. They are "time" and "task."

Always convincing myself I don't have the time for such moments and I always seem to have a mountain of things I must attempt to climb.

These are two things I find hard to face and to challenge.

What are we to do? Jesus says, "Go and learn the meaning of the words: Mercy is what pleases me, not sacrifice" (Matthew 9:13).

We shouldn't do that with our focus on time and tasks.

We can be merciful toward our own noisy selves and turn these enemies into friends.

God, help me to make silence my friend so that I may know the precious gift of time and how to spend it wisely while not over - loading my day so that I may appreciate the moments of silence I need with You.

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2019