One little girl

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:4-6)

One little girl

She was five, as close as I could tell, but I am not a good guesser about such things. She sat on the concrete walk by a Spanish river as adults sipped wine at outdoor cafes long into the evening.

A cascade of jet black hair, full and free, fell across on her shoulders and nearly half-way down her back. Her attention fixed on the doll she held in front of her face. Eye-eye with her baby, she carried on a spirited conversation in a language I do not understand.

She never looked up at me. I doubt she ever realized I was standing there, less than 10 feet away, transfixed by her beauty. My existence was irrelevant to her.

I raised my camera to capture her, but immediately changed my mind and slowly lowered it, knowing I had almost committed sacrilege, breaking the trance of total trust and innocence, perhaps introducing fear into a beautiful heart absorbed in the joy of this single moment.

She was free. Anxiety had no place. It was banished. All that existed was her, her doll and whatever point of conversation moved her to hug companion to her heart a couple of times.

Her image comes back to me today, sharper than any photo I might have taken.

Although she never said a word to me, she speaks of the life that could be mine … and on some days actually is mine, a life where every fear evaporates in the warmth of knowing Love, where all that matters is being in the moment, eye-to-eye, heart-to-heart, with the Love who speaks wisdom through little girls … in a world aflame with God.

Pr. David L. Miller

Real peace

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. (John 14:27)

Real peace

Peace, one word for which there appears no definition. Not of real peace that is so much more than the absence of conflict.

Peace is not an inside job. You cannot give it to yourself. You can strive for it, but when it comes you know it is a gift you’ve been granted by a Source you neither control nor begin to understand. It is a gift from beyond that one knows ever-so personally within.

Even now.

The breezeway beckoned this morning. Early morning sun slanted through the bushes and iron grates that frame this sanctuary, making a mottled light, golden patches and gentle shade dappled across the padded arm chairs and concrete floor.

The light warm, yet requiring loose sleeves for comfort, led to the chair and book, the coffee and quiet, to sit and know that I am within, not just here but everywhere, within the compass, encompassed everywhere, inside a Love that beckons me here that I might know … and know that this knowing is all I will ever need to live the life of blessing and being blessed that my heart wants beyond all else.

There are so many people I want to bless so that they know … what I know … here, in this light.

Peace, it seems, is about being within … and knowing it. It is not something produced or arising from deepest soul, but the ultimate well-being, the blessed and holy quiet the soul knows when it steps into the awareness of reality, which is not what we usually imagine that it is.

Reality is the Love who meets us in every love. Reality is the Love who speaks in dappled light, beckoning us to know, always, “I am with you and I will never let you go.”

Reality is the Love in whom we find our peace.

Pr. David L. Miller