This Quiet Time

Dear God:

Hey, it’s me.  Terry.  I’m sorry I have spoken with You in a long while – at least not in the written form.  Please forgive me for that.  I recognize who you are and who I am and how we are connected.  It all has to do with creation.  You’re the Creator, I am your creation.  But I’ve missed writing to you, because when I do it helps me to put these thoughts that swirl around in my mind in perspective.  I need that. I have missed that.

But here I am now – sitting alone with you on my deck watching the sun sink below the horizon.  Oh, how I love to see you in nature – in the sunrise, in the sunset, in the phases of the moon, in the alignment of Mars, Saturn and Jupiter.  I saw you last evening and early this morning in the weather and that was sometimes frightening, but mostly it was awesome.  You are awesome God – I am in awe when I take the time to sit and reflect on you.

And I want to do that more God.  I want to sit and reflect on you and speak to you.  But mostly I want to be still and listen to you.  You have made me in a certain way God.  While you have created me to be a good listener, you’ve also created me to be moving most of the time.  Sitting still is not something that comes naturally to me, because when I do, I fall asleep.  You’re chuckling at me, now aren’t you?  It’s Ok, everybody else does too and that is OK by me.

God, you know what I am thankful for right now don’t you?  I am thankful for this quiet time with you.  And I have not come to you to talk about this virus, but allow me to say the virus is part of the reason I have this quiet time available right now.  My wife is not working right now and she is getting to spend extra time with her mother and sister.  That’s a blessing to her.  She is with them right now so here on my deck it’s just you and me and my dog Cooper.  Just the three of us.  So, while the virus if wreaking havoc on our health and our economy, it’s also giving us the benefit of quiet time either with family or with you.  So, thank you for this quiet time.

And God I am thankful for my family.  For my wife, for my children, for those they love, for my mother in law and sister in law.  I am thankful for my brothers and sisters.  I thank you for them in my life right now and what they mean to me.  You have blessed me with the best family in this whole wide world because they love me and each other and we can share a good laugh and even a good cry together.  I love them God.

And then there’s my friends God.  You know how much I need them right now and you have blessed me abundantly with them.  Friends I can text, friends I can call, friends I can run with, friends I can ruck with, friends I can workout with.  With the chaos that is around me it’s my close friends who get me through.  Sometimes it’s a word of encouragement, sometimes it’s a goofy picture, sometimes it’s simply a bit of time for us to spend together.  Sometimes it’s sharing a song or being in nature with them.  I love them God.  I need them God.  Thank you!

But mostly, the reason I am writing to you now is to tell you that I love you, God.  I realize you know that, but I have a need to tell you.  It’s times like this while sitting still and watching the sunset, watching Venus appear brightly, feeling Cooper’s cold nose on my leg, getting a text from a friend – it’s these times that I know how very much you love me God.  Love is all we need God.  I should go write a song, huh?  So, there you go – I love you God.

Now I will close this epistle.  Even though there’s so much more that I could say, I’ve said enough.  Now is the time for me to be still – and listen.  Speak to me God.

Your Creation,

Terry