Have you ever looked, really looked at just one tree? Seen the pattern of its bark & felt its texture? Noticed how branches connect to strong limbs, the tangle of roots in the undergrowth, and how leaves unfurl from tapering twigs? Have you felt the shiny new growth in spring, and noted the detail of its design, marvelled at its autumn glory, or been entranced by its outline against a winter sky? Have you seen the sun-light dappling the ground beneath, or causing a thousand raindrops to glisten like precious gems? Or taken time to observe the creatures which call it home?

To really observe a tree or anything else, we have to stop and take notice, take time out from our headlong rush, & give our full attention. Romans 1:20 says the Lord’s eternal power & divine nature are revealed in what has been made, and that the whole earth is filled with His glory. But so often we give our natural environment a mere cursory glance as we speed about our business, and don’t take the time to read the ‘book’ of creation. And so miss an opportunity to encounter the Creator.

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
but only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.
(Elizabeth Barrett Browning)
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One of the ways we can train ourselves to see is by ‘adopting’ a tree and observing it through the year, perhaps keeping a creative record* of some sort, such as photographs, poetry, drawings or psalms of praise; and then asking the Lord to speak to us through His creation. Maybe we’ll start to see earth really is crammed with heaven!

How does this relate to stress or the pursuit of rest? Following a tree, or any other natural object, in this way, makes us slow down periodically, put aside our anxieties & concerns, shift our focus away from ourselves, and allow peace to penetrate our souls. In addition it offers an encounter with the living God – the best stress-buster out there!
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There is something about a beautiful garden which appeals at a really deep level. I think it’s probably the call of Eden – the deep subliminal memory of the very first garden, planted not by people but by God, and given to Adam & Eve to enjoy, protect & develop. A garden is one of those places which perhaps cries ‘home’ to our hearts.

Eden was not only Adam & Eve’s place of work, rest and provision, it was also the place where they met with the Lord. Genesis paints a lovely image of the Lord’s presence in His garden:

So perhaps another part of the appeal of a beautiful garden is a subconscious expectation that here is a place where we might find God. It was a garden that Jesus retired to, to meet with His Father before His crucifixion, and it was in a garden that Mary Magdalene encountered the risen Christ. Time out in a special garden can quiet our clamorous souls, replenish our strength and enable us to hear the quiet voice of the Master.

The Quiet Garden Movement was developed in response to this belief, and has gardens worldwide providing outdoor space intentionally set aside for prayer, silence and refreshment.
Find out more: http://quietgarden.org/

We are also blessed in the UK with an abundance of RHS gardens, city parks and country-house estates open to the public...... So spring bulbs are blooming, and the trees are beginning to bud: let’s take time out for refreshment in a garden, and go with the expectation of encountering the Lord there.

Let's respond to the call of Eden...

One of the ways to engage with the natural world is by paying attention to the passing seasons. Connecting to the earth’s rhythms is one of the ways we reduce stress & foster peace in the soul.

In ancient Britain, February brought the 'Season of Stirring', which aptly describes the current period when new life is just beginning to emerge.  When the sun shines, it feels as though Spring is really on its way, and the world puts on gladness like a garment. But when days are cold, grey, and motionless, and it appears that winter still has us in its grip,  it is easy to succomb to the gloom and general negativity which invades the community.

Getting in tune with the Season of Stirring really helps ‘End of Winter’ blues. Actively looking for signs of stirring in creation, then rejoicing in what we notice, helps ward off low spirits.

The key, as always, is in taking time to notice. We live helter-skelter lives in the western world, and the days can pass in a blur. But if we are serious about reducing stress levels, we have to take steps to slow down. A deliberate attempt to engage with the natural world is one of the ways we can do this. And this month it’s all about celebrating the small things, the diminutive evidences that spring is on its way – the indicators that go unnoticed unless we take time to look.

Some of the ways we can engage with this season are by…….

• Appreciating the lengthening days: Take walks in late afternoon.
• Looking for signs of emergent spring in the trees & undergrowth.
• Celebrating spring bulbs: find a snowdrop display near you*.
• Bringing flowering bulbs into the house.
• Watching out for evidence of stirring in the animal world.
• Looking out for events at local nature reserves or national parks.

Let’s take some time to celebrate the small things this month!

Mindfulness is a hot topic right now, with magazines, books, tv programmes and conferences, all telling us the benefit of living in the present. Although there is an undoubted value in such a focus, the Bible tells it a little differently– it’s not just about what you do – it’s about who you’re with.

Pursuing the presence of God is the most important thing we can do. We were designed to live in His Presence – designed to have Him as our number one focus - and it is the short cut to rest.

In the context of His Presence, everything we do becomes an act of worship, an offering to Him.

Paul writes:

There is no division for Christians between spiritual and secular. Jesus came to redeem the commonplace and make it holy, to enable us to participate in the glory – it’s where we were meant to live. And the Name of Jesus releases His Kingdom power in our actions.

In the context of His Presence, our seasonal checklists become things of beauty, and our faith-filled activities touch eternity.

So as Christmas approaches, let’s combat stress by making our preparations an opportunity for sacramental living: let’s take regular pauses, where we still the demands of the soul &  seek His presence (see previous posts); and then let’s offer up each activity as an act of worship, asking Him to bless and release His power & grace through them.

What if each day’s ‘journey’ was also punctuated with the building of ‘altars’? What if we got into a pattern of opening and closing each activity, or group of activities, with worship? What if we invited the Lord into the detail of our lives?

A 17th century monk said it well:

He went on to write:

Now I think that’s a goal which could transform this year……

The problem with this perspective is that it writes off today and postpones living to a future date. Although it is good to dream, and also to make plans - with God - for the future, the danger comes when that dreaming becomes escapism – our bolt-hole from a mundane or difficult present. Learning to embrace now with faith and enthusiasm is key in our pursuit of maturity.

Another trap is to focus on the future with a fearful mind; to worry about future events - whether they will take place tomorrow or next year. Anxiety steals our rest today, and has an enormously negative  effect on our physical and emotional health. Although many of us feel we cannot help worrying, it actually stems from unbelief, a lack of trust in the goodness of God. And we can do something about that – faith is essentially a choice rather than an emotion. And the truth is, we can’t hold faith for today, and unbelief for tomorrow at the same time. To get the most out of the present, we have to be at peace with the future.

Any thoughts?

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For some the answer to unresolved issues of the past is to fill the present with more activity, a faster pace and more noise. Silence in these situations is threatening because unwelcome thoughts leach into the quietness. The only problem with running from the past is that we can never run far or fast enough - eventually it always surfaces......

To really celebrate the present we have to still these voices of yesterday, and resolve to live free from their domination. To do this we need to let the past go; being forgiven for our mistakes and failures and forgiving  those who have hurt or mistreated us; receive healing for pain we have suffered, and renew our minds so that we look at today with the eyes of faith.

Let’s not delay any longer, let's take steps now to get free from the control of the past.

As always the answer is in Jesus. He died so we could live free – let’s remind ourselves of all He did for us on the Cross, and make sure we’re living in the good of it all. Let's make sure that we get all He paid for!

Check out the resources below to help you silence the voices of your past:

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Sometimes our days are overcrowded – with things we must do, or feel we ought to do. It’s hard then to live in the present, because we are overshadowed by the stress of our ‘list’. We can’t take time to really be present in each activity because we are hounded by all the things we haven’t done.
Sound familiar? Maybe it’s time to look again at our ‘To Do’ lists…....

John Wesley wrote:

A day lived in calmness of spirit - now that’s something to aspire to! We see this mind-set personified in Jesus, who never seemed hurried or agitated, and made it clear that He only did what He saw His Father doing [John 5:30, 8:28].

Biblical wisdom is essentially a ‘plan that works’, a plan that has an anointing for success. And we are invited to ask the Lord for the wisdom we need [James 1:5]. An anointed plan – is this the answer for our stress filled days? His plan may mean scratching some things from our list - this is where trust comes in – the trust that He has our interests at heart and knows exactly what we need.

Interestingly, the Hebrew day started at nightfall, meaning that the day started with rest. The hours of sleep therefore became preparation for the coming work hours, rather than for the collapse of exhaustion afterwards. How about starting your day in the same way, asking for the Lord’s plan for the morrow and His equipping with everything you will need while you sleep?

If we learn to walk in His plan, with His resources, we will come to know the truth of Ecclesiastes:

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We are called to live intentionally in the present, to celebrate and make the most of now, to reject the temptation to think that life will start sometime in the future ……when I get a new job……. when I get married….. when we move…… when we have children …….. when they leave home…..when we retire, and so on.

To celebrate the present, though, made up as it often is with the mundane stuff of life, we have to see past the dull routine to the purposes of God.

He has stated quite clearly that there is a ‘time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens….and that He has made everything beautiful in its time.’

Finding the beauty in each moment is the challenge. And for that we need to adjust our perspective.

Our Heavenly Father has a multitude of ‘good works’ prepared for us; works that are specific to us, to our particular gifts and abilities; works that will delight and bless us, works that will bring His Kingdom to a needy world. And many of these works are to be done not through great crusades or special ministries, but at the supermarket or the school gates, cooking the evening meal, or filing papers.

Not only does He want to fill each moment with His presence (see last post), He wants us to partner with Him in bringing eternity into the present. Heaven is the realm of eternity, and it is our commission to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth.

Whatever we do, whether it is walking the dog, or chauffeuring clients, we do it as ambassadors of another kingdom. And we have the opportunity to leak some of that kingdom into our work-places, families and communities.

Mother Theresa said that one of the guiding principles of her life was to do small things with great love. Similarly, Wendy Backlund recommends doing small things with great faith.

This is the way the kingdom comes…. This is the way we endow every moment with divine purpose…..

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……though He is not far from any one of us.
For in Him we live and move and have our being.
[Acts 17:27,28]

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.
[ Isaiah 6:3]

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast.
[Psalm 139:9,10]
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And not only is the earth filled with His presence every moment of every day, for believers there are the added promises:
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​There has been a lot of emphasis in recent years on the manifest presence of God – the experiential presence – and many people have been blessed with wonderful encounters with the Lord. However, some have focused on the sensations rather than the truth of His presence, and have felt bereft when away from an anointed meeting, or disappointed in an experience that has not matched their neighbours’.

C.S. Lewis has some words of wisdom on this:

Of course the presence of God is not the same as the sense of the presence of God. The latter may be due to imagination; the former may be attended with no “sensible consolation.” The Father was not really absent from the Son when He said “Why hast thou forsaken me?” You see God Himself, as man, submitted to man’s sense of being abandoned. …… The act which engenders a child ought to be, and usually is attended by pleasure. But it is not the pleasure that produces the child. Where there is pleasure there may be sterility: where there is no pleasure the act may be fertile. And in the spiritual marriage of God and the soul it is the same. It is the actual presence, not the sensation of the presence, of the Holy Ghost which begets Christ in us. The sense of the presence is a super-added gift for which we give thanks when it comes, and that’s all about it.
[The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume III]

The Evil One loves us to believe that we are somehow separated from the Lord, that we are somehow inferior Christians. The truth is that nothing separates us from His love [Romans 8:35-39], and we live grace-filled lives.
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​Take time at intervals today to focus on the truth of the Lord’s presence. Stop and thank Him that His presence is filling that particular moment, that particular place, and you as an individual.

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