Windmills and Mindfulness

I caught sight of the profiles of several windmills on the horizon of the hills. Though there was no wind ruffling my hair, there was enough of the brow of the hills to be turning the windmills, producing energy for a greedy grid. 

Having spent a few hours hearing about Christian mindfulness, my senses were receptive to God. I thought of the Spirit, the ruach, or breath of God. As he inspires me, blowing on me, breathing in me and through me, so he creates energy, spiritual, physical and emotional. The breath of God. It’s incredible.

So grateful

I’ve heard it said that thankfulness is the Christian form of mindfulness. As I begin to count my blessings this morning, I feel myself slowing down. My perspective on life shifts. I muffle the shriek of the urgent as I contemplate the bounty of my life. 

I give thanks for my health. The blips I have are compassionately and skilfully handled by our amazing NHS, as I said in my last post. That blog gained a much bigger readership than normal which reveals the appreciation we share for the wonderful health service we enjoy here. 

I give thanks for my family. I am so grateful for a loving husband, always kind and caring, with a heart of compassion and a zeal to work against injustice of all kinds. I am grateful for four amazing ‘kids’ who live out their faith in various significant ways, each with his/her own stamp of personality on whatever they do. I rejoice in five beautiful grandchildren, one still on the way, one already with Jesus, and three lovely wee ones with joy bursting from each one of them. I am blessed to still have my dear Mother at the end of the phone, still knowing who I am and still up and healthy and living a full life. 

I give thanks for my church family. Amazing people of all ages and walks of life, coming together to do life together, passionate for Jesus and for being his hands and feet in our hurting community and world. So grateful.

I rejoice to see a bit of sun this morning, holding out the hope that tomorrow’s BBQ may not be under canvas or in the garage as we dodge bullets of rain from on high! But if we do dodge rain, we will laugh and enjoy each other just as much.

There is so much to be grateful for here in this beautiful country of Scotland, where peace reigns and we have plenty of food and water (!!). So grateful to live in the UK, even with all its growing pains and struggles. 

Praying that in all I do and say today I will be an ambassador for Jesus, bringing a bit of light into the dark places.

Autumn Crocus

Standing in my window on another glorious autumn morning, I noticed the few purple crocus struggling through the weedy undergrowth. These valiant wee flowers have survived sporadic lawn mowings, car or truck tire incursions, and general neglect. They haven’t proliferated and spread, but neither have they died. I had to rush out (brrr!) and take a picture of them.

I read in Philippians today that it is God who is at work in us to help us want to be the people he created us to be. Sometimes we are all hemmed in like those crocus on the drive, our roots nearly strangled by the aggressive competition. But we can still bloom and bring colour and beauty into the broken-down landscape we may inhabit.

We can only do this as we rely on God. He in us. Changing our minds, transforming our brains so that we become the best we can be. It doesn’t matter if we’re part of a carpet of crocus blooms offering a breathtaking wash of colour along a river bank, or one of a few stragglers hanging on in the verge of the road. If we allow God to help us be all we have in us to be, we will brighten the landscape, bring joy to others who may be struggling, and move closer to experiencing the shalom of God.

A lot is spoken of mindfulness these days, mostly extolling its benefits as its practice proliferates into the classrooms and boardrooms. Much more effective than focusing on myself, though, and on my breathing or my position in the chair or the sounds around me at that moment is focusing on God, the source of all possibilities, the one whose answer is always YES. 

The one who gave up his life for me.

As I sat silent and still in my window ledge, I waited to hear his voice, to sense his presence, and I did. Maybe today I can be a little more like one of those crocus blooms, bringing colour and beauty (as Christ shines through me) into any situations I may encounter.

Fill 'er up!

When I was growing up in California in the ‘50s, I remember my parents driving into gas stations, winding down the car window and saying to the attendant – who usually ran out to the car – ‘fill ‘er up’. 

The cheerful attendant would position the nozzle into the tank and get it filling and while it was humming away, he would open the hood (bonnet) and check the oil and water. Then he would wash the windshields (windscreens) front and back. 

If they asked, he would check the air in the tires (tyres).

Then Mom or Dad would hand over probably about $10 and drive off. 

Changed days. Of course I live in Scotland now, but it’s pretty much the same as California. Drive into the gas (petrol) station, maybe waiting a few minutes behind other cars lining (queuing) up, finally get to the pump and get out of the car (in Scotland, often in the rain and wind). Swipe your credit card – in CA punch in your zip code, in Scotland punch in your PIN number – choose the grade of fuel and begin pumping. If the windscreen is particularly dirty you might take the time to wash it with the squeegee and bubbly water on the forecourt. Never bother to check oil or water – you have to do that at home.

And air in the tires? Sure, if you want to check it yourself over there at the side of the station, but you need the correct coins. Air, in Scotland, comes at a price.

What I love about God is that I can slip into my prayer alcove, slump or lounge or sit up straight and ask him to simply, ‘fill ‘er up’. He just loves that, I think: for us to come to him with no prayer agenda, no particular requests, just to sit down and wait for him to speak to us – maybe through the Bible, maybe through our senses, imaginations, or a still small voice in our inner beings  - to refill our empty tanks, to clean the lenses of our vision, to fill us again with the breath of his Holy Spirit. 

Mindfulness has all the attention right now, being incorporated into school and work schedules, being touted by the rich and famous, but in fact, Christians have known about the benefits of individual time apart, in silence, waiting, for eons.

Don’t run on empty today. Ask the Lord to ‘fill ‘er up’.