Sometimes the most difficult.

So easy, to step from my bed to my study in the morning.

So easy, to step from my porch to the fields.

The pathways seem so clear and straight. So easy to think I can go it alone.

❖

If I walk away without you, Lord, where will I find you in those times of need?

Let me stay near to you even in easy times, Lord.

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can I depend upon you even when I feel self sufficient?

Reading:

“We are never so lost that our angels cannot find the way to us.” — Jeffrey R. Holland

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“It is not the path which is difficult, but the difficulty which is the path.” — Søren Kierkegaard

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“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” — Proverbs 3:5–6 (KJV)

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To where nothing touches.

When troubled, Lord, let me step away.

In the crush of market square, overcome by all that is around me.

In the worry of an anxious dawn, fearful of what noon may bring.

In the churning resentment of evening, as I play and replay a moment that wounded me.

Let me step away into a quiet place, behind a door, alone with you, to whisper and be listen and be heard in return. Let me step away, draw nigh unto you, while you draw nigh unto me.

Let me step away.

❖

What market? What morning? What churn?

Here, away with you, all that touches me is balm.

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can I pause, and step away?

Reading:

“In stillness the world is restored.” — Lao Tzu

❖

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” — Anne Lamott

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“Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.” — James 4:8 (KJV)

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Fears of the unreal.

Last night roaming the fields at dusk, shadow after shadow loomed at me. I jumped at each, startled and fearful. These false enemies, creating such a vulnerable feeling.

❖

This morning, walking these same fields, my eyes are clear and my back straight. The shadows are small. What were monsters are simply stacks of hay.

Lord, grant me clear vision as I face the shadows of the day. What I fear may be mirage.

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can my vision be clear?

Reading:

“Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is.” — German Proverb

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“Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now.” — The Talmud (Avot de-Rabbi Natan 31)

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“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.” — Psalm 23:4 (KJV)

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None but you.

Will the planted trees bear fruit? Will I have the wherewithal to clean the shed?

Some parts of the day appear out of my control, others completely within my grasp. Yet in truth I am a mist — here, then gone. If I hope to do this or that thing, how can I say it will come to pass?

❖

Lord, let me look to no other supply but you. Even in the face of calamity, you have always provided.

How could it not be so even now, at peace!

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can I trust fully the supply will come?

Reading:

“All the trees are losing their leaves, and not one of them is worried.” — Donald Miller

❖

“Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark.” — Rabindranath Tagore

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“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” — James 4:14 (KJV)

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