Nature Whispers the Name of God

Up until about a week or two ago, even though the sun is at its peak this time of year, it has been unusually cool in New England.  It’s already the beginning of August and we should have had at least one pretty good heat wave by now.  But not so far this year.  In fact, I don’t think we even had a day hit 90 degrees yet.

I’m not complaining.  We haven’t really had to use the air conditioning too much yet.  Besides, I just love sleeping with the windows open – especially when there’s a nice breeze blowing.  At night, with the windows open, we can hear all kinds of wildlife:  bullfrogs in the pond, crickets in the woods, and occasionally a coyote or two howling at the moon.

The days have been just beautiful.  After a wet spring, the skies have cleared and the sun has come out.  The wild turkeys have come back and are in the yard looking for a handout.  Baby rabbits and baby deer run around chasing each other or, more often, chasing nothing at all.

The other day I was outside standing in the yard and the wind was blowing through the trees.  The rustling leaves began to sound like a symphony being played all around me.  As the wind blew from different directions, the music of the leaves rose in wonderful crescendos only to quiet down before the breeze started to move them around and build them up again.

I stood in the middle of the yard for a few minutes taking it all in.  And in this symphony I could hear the breeze and the leaves whispering the name of God.

How lucky I was to have this moment.

As I listened to this wonderful symphony being performed by nature just for me I started thinking of all of the good things that are happening for me.  Don’t get me wrong, I have the same trials and tribulations as everyone else but I try to focus and draw strength from the good things in my life.  Spending my time on the negatives only drains me of the energy I need to further promote the good things in my life.

One of the things that I am most thankful for is the gift of writing that I have been given.

I find stories to tell everywhere around me: something I see, something I hear someone say, or a thought that just pops into my head.  Sometimes I wonder if these ideas are random or if they were put in front of me by God for me to write about.

One small idea blossoms into a nice story.

Over time, I have found it has become easier to write articles that are interesting and have a nice message.  I have also found that my writing is more cohesive and flows better right off the bat.  I used to write and then spend a lot of time editing but now I can write and find that the story becomes more coherent quicker.

Because of my writing, I have had people come to me with tears in their eyes telling me I touched them or helped them in some way.  I have had people email me telling me that one of my stories has helped start to heal them or a relationship they are in.  The feed back has been wonderful.

I don’t say these things to impress you or myself.  I say these because I am genuinely and greatly humbled by them and truly consider my writing a gift from God.

Every night when I go to bed and I think back on the day, I am in awe of how many good things are in my life.  I am in awe of how God has blessed me.

And every night I say “Thank you God for being with me and letting me have this day.”

Everyone has a gift which may take time to discover or understand – have you found yours yet?