31 Days: Listen in Solitude

In solitude we can listen to the voice of him who spoke to us before we could speak a word, who healed us before we could make any gesture to help, who set us free long before we could free others, and who loved us long before we could give love to anyone. It is in this solitude that we discover that being is more important than having, and that we are worth more than the result of our efforts. In solitude we discover that our life is not a possession to be defended, but a gift to be shared.

Henri Nouwen, Out of Solitude: three meditations on the Christian life

 

This is Day 21 of the series 31 Days to Listen. Visit Write 31 Days to see what other writers are doing for this challenge.

All creatures great and small

We had the pleasure of visiting Monarto Zoo over the weekend. As I looked over my photographs I was reminded of the old hymn:

All things bright and beautiful
All creatures great and small
All things wise and wonderful
The Lord God made them all

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O Lord, what a variety of things you have made!
In wisdom you have made them all.
The earth is full of your creatures.

Psalm 104:24

May you be blessed by the bright and beautiful things that God has made and given you to enjoy.

The presence of God

The key [to the presence of God] is searching for God, learning to listen for his voice, burrowing into his heart, listening to what he says, and then doing it, however simple or complex it might be. If he says it, do it. If he doesn’t tell you to do something then why are you doing things? Why not just sit at his feet?

Roy Godwin and Dave Roberts
The Grace Outpouring

Image sourced here.

Gifts of grace

A good sleep is grace and so are good dreams. Most tears are grace. The smell of rain is grace and someone loving you is grace.

Frederick Beuchner

Image sourced here.

Everything we need

May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvellous glory and excellence.

2 Peter 1:2-3

Image sourced here.