stop and smell the roses

Stop and smell the roses!

Stop and smell the roses!  On Saturday February 13, 2016, I began my morning in prayer as I usually do.  First, the Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office).  I downloaded the Divine Office “app” to my phone so instead of reading it, I use it as a meditation.  I plug my headphones in and close my eyes to listen as the prayers are read.  As I listened, Exodus 3:1-20 was read.  Verses 1-3 spoke to me:  Meanwhile Moses was tending the flock of his father in law Jethro, the priest of Midian.  Leading the flock across the desert, he came to Horeb, the mountain of God.  There an angel of the Lord appeared to him in fire, flaming out of a bush.  As he looked on, he was surprised to see that the bush, though on fire, was not consumed.  So Moses decided “I must go over to look at this remarkable sight and see why the bush is not burned.” This last sentence made my heart skip a beat.  A true “aha” moment because the remarkable sight Moses stopped to look at was God communicating with him – through that I realized that all the remarkable sights I have experienced in my life were God speaking to me.  Most recently, the hummingbird feeding out of the palm of my hand (Hummingbird), the cedar waxwings gathering material for a nest, the great horned owl perched atop a tree in my front yard, the vegetables growing in my garden, the sap of sugar maples pouring into buckets hanging off their trunks – all these things and more, which I’ve had the privilege of witnessing are God speaking to me.  I’ve had the privilege because as busy as I get I make time to just be and savor the beauty of God’s creation.   It certainly takes practice to put things on hold knowing that they’ll still be there tomorrow, but there will ALWAYS be something to do tomorrow.  Nothing is ever really finished!  So why not take time today to nourish the soul?!  This is not a luxury, it’s a necessity.  We can learn so much from the remarkable sights God uses to speak to us.  I, for one, have learned more about patience, persistence, perseverance, obedience and trust, just to name a few.  Moses’ words made me realize that whatever I perceive to be remarkable I must “go over to look at” because it’s God’s way of getting my attention.  It’s God’s way of telling me:  “Hey you, look over here, stop and smell the roses!”

As I continued with my prayer on Saturday, I moved on to another app pray as you go (hey, if you’re going to give in to the latest technology, you might as well use it for good!) – there I listened and meditated on the Gospel of Luke 4:1-13 which talks about Jesus being tempted in the wilderness.  The message of Exodus couldn’t be any clearer in this Gospel.  After reading the passage, the narrator of the app posed an interesting question: does it surprise you that Jesus was tempted in such a way?  Couldn’t he have carried out his mission in a more spectacular way?  He goes on to say:  Jesus seems to believe His father wants Him to work in quieter, more hidden ways.  Think of ways Jesus is working in your life – is He present there with noise and spectacle or is He working in more discreet ways, ways that may often be overlooked by the unobservant.

Two different readings with a similar message:  Jesus, in his constant humility, chooses to reveal Himself to us in subtle yet powerful ways.  Don’t miss out simply because you have “things to do.”  Whenever you come across something that grabs your attention, that moves you heart and soul, don’t ignore it, don’t overlook it – be observant and allow God to speak to you through the remarkable, as he did with Moses. There’s a message waiting, a lesson to be learned in that “remarkable sight.” Go over to look!  God bless you!