A few months ago I attended a men’s retreat through my church. Here is what I wrote one morning:
I’m sitting by myself gazing at the calm, peaceful, serene waters affronting part of the family compound. The grounds are beautiful and the birds – in this early morning – are chirping away, as if claiming their freedom in God’s wonderful world.
Why are we here, in this life as we experience a grain of time within the vastness of eternity? Our minister says it’s because God does not want to be alone. I agree, but I think there’s much, much more. We are here to survive, strive and thrive – individually and eventually as Heaven on Earth.
Places like this remind us of God’s gift to us through nature and all its marvelous facets. But we can hide inside our self and while there is much that can be improved; there is also that mind, body and “little piece of God” that allows us to be kind to ourselves and others.
What is it about scenes such as this – grassy grounds, mature trees and placid waters – that cause us to pause, to reflect, and to wonder? It’s just the awe of it, surrounded by living creations of God while at the same time reflecting on the water as it echoes in its own reflection.
We are not alone. God is in us, around us, on a moment by moment basis – eternally. Faith helps us to live, nurture our values and develop beliefs that serve as the foundation.
Spiritual leaders are important on this journey toward Heaven on Earth. They can – first, encourage us to say and do the right things, demonstrate good behavior; second, nurture our values, the positive ones while diminishing our negative ones; third, encourage beliefs that support first, behavior, and then empowering values.
Wisdom is the key to Heaven on Earth. And the good news is that it can be taught – and it should be, in schools, spiritual entities, government, the media, and families (of course), all human entities. Perhaps I’m escalating, but we gain our wisdom partly by our interactions with others. But we also gain it by our own experiences – such as this moment with the riveting and penetrating ingenuity of God’s works.
I feel God’s presence here. We are studying in the current Sunday school class Living Waters. The statistics on water are quite sobering – how little of our planet’s water is pollution and salt-free, liquid and accessible.
