“Well, what do I do if I’m not answering emails or working
or watching TV,” she asked. “No screens after 8 pm” is her new resolution. It
reminds me of camping. The sun goes down and your options become limited in one
sense and yet in another a new world of possibility opens itself that you don’t
experience on a regular basis- star-gazing and bonfires, singing and smores to
name a few. Taking advantage of the lack of plans and limited traveling ability
due to nightfall, one can appreciate a diamond-studded sky. The stars are
always there but because you’ve come out of your familiar location and the city
lights are a far dim, now can see with greater clarity.
The great spiritual writers often speak of the desert – the
physical and spiritual seasons of a seeming abyss, which stretch one’s trust in
the provisions and Providence of God. Like the first time one goes camping or
turns off the screen there is the obvious question that springs forth: “what do
I do?” Over time and with a good guide, one comes to see and know the beauty of
the seeming limitations of the wilderness, especially at night, is a mere cloak
as it is really a gateway to the planetarium filled with starts of wonder.
Let us find joy in the stillness of the desert.
Verso l’alto,
KGRC
I want to feel, sunlight on my face
I see that dust cloud disappear without a trace
I want to take shelter from the poison rain
Where the streets have no name
I know that I don’t walk these streets alone
Your city lights are guiding me home
Through the fields and deserts they came
Messiah was worth every mile
Star of wonder, star of light
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to thy perfect light
