Good morning…
We have been preparing for this morning for a very long time. Today my husband, Steve, and I fly to Maine with twelve inner city PAWkids students and six chaperones, sponsored by the non-profit formed in my friend’s honor, Julie’s Dream. What an unpredictable adventure!
“Built on Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) conservation land and located at the confluence of Second Roach Pond and the Roach River, Medawisla Lodge and Cabins, part of AMC’s Maine Wilderness Lodge network, provides an ideal spot for exploring the famed 100-Mile Wilderness,” says the promotional material. “Activities include hiking, swimming, waterfront campfire, and paddling Second Roach Pond using complimentary kayaks, canoes, and paddle boards.”
“There is no cell service or wifi at Medawisla,” said the sentence that stunned me. “There are landlines available for emergency use.”
No cell service? No wifi? But, God, I use wifi every morning to write our daily blog and I communicate constantly through cell, text, and email.
Not this week.
This week our online community will be like the terrarium I received for my birthday. The lid to my beloved terrarium needs to be lifted off and set aside for thirty to sixty minutes every seven to ten days. No watering. No plant food. No additional care.
My birthday terrarium is a thriving ecosystem containing everything it needs to grow healthy and strong. Breathing fresh air is require. Lifting off the lid regularly is an essential part of the organic growth of the inner world.
Symbolically, might we as an online community benefit from the same experience? Time with the lid off, taking space from our daily blog posts, might allow us to see differently what God is growing in our own inner world. As we let the oxygen of the Holy Spirit freely dance into our innermost being this week, might we notice our ecosystem thriving in brand new ways?
As my blogging voice goes unusually quiet, no cell phone, no wifi, how might God’s voice be amplified during this unique week of silence?
The celestial realms announce God’s glory;
the skies testify of His hands’ great work.
Each day pours out more of their sayings;
each night, more to hear and more to learn.
Inaudible words are their manner of speech,
and silence, their means to convey.
Yet from here to the ends of the earth, their voices have gone out;
the whole world can hear what they say (Psalm 19:1-4, VOICE).
As we lift off the lid and listen for God’s inaudible words convey through extended silence, we will not interact through cell, text, or email this week, but will remain creatively connected in the powerful mystery of prayer.
…Sue…
P.S. As Steve and I are away, our four kids will care for our dogs and water our plants. Our twenty year old son, who is back from volunteering as a horse wrangler at a Young Life Camp in Colorado, is raising money to cover college expenses by pressure washing for the third year in a row. If you have any pressure washing projects you would like him to care for, please reach Jeremiah directly at 404-747-4971.
