Bigger
I wrote the following a few days ago and never shared it. I came back to it today really feeling that I needed this reminder after a day of Covid tests, church Covid decisions, some family things, and trying to get back from vacation-brain. Stillness...Stillness...Stillness---There are times I am reminded of how much bigger it all is.
I started my morning here in West Virginia with a short walk to an overlook above the New River Gorge while everyone else in my crew here was asleep. I headed out while it was still dark even while knowing it was a cloudy morning so not much for a colorful sunrise.
I wandered to this beautiful overlook and sat down to just rest in that space. Rest in the stillness of the morning. Rest in the sounds of the birds and insects that were far more awake than I. Rest in the coolness of the gentle breeze. Rest in the sound of the rapids on the river far below where I was sitting.
I sat with my legs crossed, eyes closed, and palms up-raised on my lap. Slow and gentle breathing in the darkness of the morning but even more so the darkness from my eyes closed. Yet I was not disconnected from what was around me - I was simply feeling that I was a part of all that was around.
I sat there for I am not quite sure how long. At points I felt like it was time to open my eyes but I truly did not want to. I truly wanted to simply rest and stay in that moment and in that space and in what I was feeling all around me. There was such a deep stillness and centeredness that I didn’t want to interrupt.
But when I did finally open my eyes it was overwhelming and beautiful and awe-some to try to take in the breadth of what surrounded me. The depth of the gorge, the vertical drops below and around me, the countless number of trees, and the gentle and wispy mist. But both spaces felt enormous. When my eyes were closed I felt a deep connection to what I felt around me and when I opened them was the reminder of how much bigger it all is.
I was reminded of passages of scripture such as Ephesians 3:20-21... Now to the One who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
And Isaiah 40:28-29...Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.
And Psalm 90:2... Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.