A Sea of Blessings

The time at the chapel, saying night prayers, was most satisfying.  Riding home through downtown Plymouth, I saw the many people sitting outdoors at the bars and restaurants.  I dialed some friends and asked if they’d like to join me there, but it was not to be.  And so, I went home.

I turned on the backyard deck light, took out the CD player, opened a bottle of my best wine, and as I stepped outside the door, the light went out.  This was meant to be a dark, yet comfortable night, in a sea of blessings.

As Michael Crawford began to sing Andrew Lloyd Webber songs of love, my heart went back to events of this weekend, which I had so recently prayed and meditated over at the chapel.  And God was here with me.  The friend who showed up unexpectedly for breakfast, the stranger in the park who seemed no stranger, the blessings on a friend who felt so unblessed, and the soft solo singing, of the prayer I had just finished praying --- all these events were felt as great blessings.  God seemed to be whispering everywhere this weekend, and letting me hear.

The wonderful wine warmed my insides, even as my outsides relished the dead quiet, silence, darkness of the night in my backyard.  I swung slowly back and forth on the deck swing as I listened to the music, looked up into the dark skies, and saw eternity. 

Only you have the power to move Me
And together we’d make the whole world
move in sympathy.
Only you have the power to move Me.

Brighter than the darkest night,
Only you have the power to move Me.

The light from the den cast soft shadows on the hanging plants on the deck, full of the last blooms of the summer, full of beauty.  Beyond the words of the music, not a sound or whisper of breeze was heard in the black of the night.  Just God and I, seeing the beauty of His creation, His blessings.  And relishing the time together.  I often visit Him in His house; tonight, He visited mine.

Love --- Love changes everything.

Love can make a summer fly
or a night seem like a lifetime
Yes love --- love changes everything
How I tremble at Your name.

Nothing in the world will ever be the same.

The glass of wine is empty.  The music has stopped.  I go inside and time marches on.  But the sea of blessings is still out there, whether I take the time to swim in it or not.  But even if for only an hour, I felt God’s hug that I so yearn for.