Tuesday, August 21, 2007

A God Moment

I had the chance to stand up for my buddy Stephen at his wedding in Rosemary, AB a couple weekends ago. I wasn't looking forward to the drive out, a solo mission; but knew at the same time that it would be good for me. It was. I'm going to keep this short. While I was driving, I remember coming up out of a little valley and cresting on a hill. I can't describe everything that was going on; I suspect to fully appreciate the plains you have to grow up farming them or something. Still, I lived in Saskatchewan for a few years, and every time I drive the prairies a nostalgic love courses through me. Driving from Calgary to Saskatchewan meant meeting friends; driving the other way meant going home...Either way, the drive is good. Anyways, I was coming up out of this valley, and there was a flock of birds flying about 100 meters in front of my car in the sky. The sky itself was a great blue, touched with the type of clouds that look like God didn't have a ton of paint left on the brush...my favorite. There were wheat fields on either side as far as I could see and not another car in sight. I was coming towards a train bridge which a train was crossing over...I couldn't see the end of the train in either direction. I haven't been overwhelmed by a moment like that in so long I forgot what it felt like. You know those quintessential moments where it feels like you are the only one on earth, and God is just letting you see Him for who He really is? Creator, Lover, our Glorious...Majesty. I hope that's what heaven is like.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Breathing In


I ripped out a kitchen in an old area of town today. Behind the cabinets the walls were rotted and full of filthy black mold. When I went to detatch the sink from the plumbing the most putrid smell came from the pipes I've smelled in a long time, and I'm a guy who lives on my own. I should have done that last, but i decided to do it first, and consequently had to rip out the rest of the kitchen while enduring this awful emanation. When I was done, I walked upstairs into the fresh air, and took a deep breath. It was a deep, meaningful breath. It felt good, I loved the air and the way it didn't meet me with anything but its pure self.

I've done alot of thinking these last few weeks. Alot of crying, praying, singing and crying. Thoughts like the one I had today don't mask pain for me or anybody. There is some comfort, however in the true realizations that the spirit touches us with when we most need them. I was reminded today that after the last breath that a lover of Jesus takes on earth comes the first breath of the purest kind...the breath of the most meaningful kind. The breath where we meet the living God face to face and his presence reaches deep into our being, into the very capillaries which translate breath into blood and sustain us...We breath God, He becomes our breath...We live.

Miss you Bro.