Keep Awake

This year my wife and I celebrate 25 years of marriage. To celebrate this big event, we wanted to go Iceland and see the Northern Lights on display. But time and budget didn’t allow us to get there. Instead, we settled to go out on twenty-five dates, roughly two per month.
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When we set this goal we had no idea the Northern Lights would be on full display throughout the top half of North America, including parts of California. We could see them, if, and it’s a pretty big if, we knew when they would appear. It’s hard to plan for something when you don’t know it’s going to happen. Which means, you’ve always got to be ready.

Similarly, to see God in the space between you have to be fully present. When our heart is heavy from some past pain or when our eyes are so focused on something that will happen in the future, we miss out on the here and now where God meets us.

if you look closely you can see the Big Dipper in the picture. Something I overlooked when I took it.

The night before I left Canada, I walked out into the field at my cousin’s farm to just be alone for a moment to take it all in. It seemed like all the stars of the universe came out to welcome me. Between their celestial flashes, something faint danced in the sky trying to get my attention. It was a pale blue, and a vibrant pinkish-purple. Before I could piece it together, the Northern sky lit up to say hello. I quickly captured a few pictures. And then it was gone.

Looking towards heaven, the International Space Station floated by as I stood in awe knowing God was with me, whispering a special secret between the two of us. How grateful was I to be present enough to receive it. Just as Anamesa is a space we share fellowship together, it’s also the space around us that we share with God. And so Jesus tells us to “Keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come” (Matthew 24:42).

Holy update 1: Trying not to be discouraged by the weather that was keeping my plane home from taking off, I noticed between the thunder and lightning, a beautiful rainbow...and a parked airplane that had SPIRIT scrolled on its tail. 

Holy update 2: Today, as a friend from our church and I were sharing our souls, I as telling her this story when all of a sudden three butterflies swirled and danced overheads. It was the divine dance of the Trinity awakening us in the most unexpected of places.