– Kim R. Smith, Sound District Lay Leader
We have a 17-year-old rescue hound mix that has lost most of her vision and hearing. She has lost most of her teeth too. Livvy was rescued by our youngest daughter her freshmen year of college and when that daughter married a handsome young marine and moved to Japan, we became the retirement home for the sweet dog.
Livvy follows me everywhere when I am at home. Right now, she is curled up just beneath my chair as I spend my morning writing. Ten minutes ago, she was wandering the house looking for me. She can’t hear much at all and she can only see shadows apparently. Sometimes I can be in the back of a room, and I will see her stop at the door as she looks for me. She pauses to see if she can hear me or smell me. I will scream or clap my hands and she won’t hear me. Only if I approach her closely enough for her to see my shadow and feel my presence… does her tail start to wag with familiar recognition.
Her world is scary at times. She can’t see if anyone is with her. She can’t hear as people approach her. Her body doesn’t respond as quickly as it used to, and she does not want to be alone. I think we can all relate to some of what the old girl is going through. What fascinates me is her ability to sense my presence before she sees or hears me. She trusts that I am with her and that I will take care of her.
I feel like we have all had days when we wondered if God was napping or worse, maybe even had forgotten about us. We can’t always easily see him in our lives. We can’t always hear his words with the same passion as we did during less challenging times. We search for him in lots of directions, but we pause and then keep walking because we can’t feel his love and grace in that place or in that moment.
The challenge is being able to see without sight and feel his words without even having to hear them spoken. Haven’t you ever witnessed a beautiful sunset and actually closed your eyes to give thanks for that experience? You didn’t need to see the human image of God; you KNEW he was present in the brilliant colors that were bidding the day goodnight. Pinks, purples, shades of orange so amazing that only our Creator could have painted them on the sky and in our hearts.
For me, I can miss the shadows of God all around me when I become hyper focused on everything except his presence. When I am focused on him, I see his presence in the young girl sneaking up to fill our blessing box at church with hygiene items because she has extra. I see him in the elderly man stopping to help a young marine with a smoking engine on the side of the road. I hear him in the words of a loving heart bringing peace to division. I hear him in the voice of a friend offering encouragement to someone suffering. I feel his presence in the summer breeze. I feel his presence when I hear the wind chimes hanging in my fig tree begin to dance. I trust that he is with me always.
This week, as you do his work within your congregations, really focus on him. Listen for the voices of love. Look for his hands and feet at work. Celebrate that overwhelming feeling of familiarity when you feel the presence of your heavenly father. You might not be able to wag your tail like Livvy girl can, but you can certainly have a moment celebrating that he is with you always if you are willing to experience his love and have eyes that recognize the beautiful shadows he is casting all around us.
“Do you see what this means – all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running – and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed – that exhilarating finish in and with God – he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!“ Hebrews 12:1-3 MSG