Stop, Listen
There are not enough posts in my blog for the “fall” tag to show up, so here’s another Fall poem:
O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn’s being,
Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead
Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing,
Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red,
Pestilence-stricken multitudes: O thou,
Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed
The winged seeds, where they lie cold and low,
Each like a corpse within its grave, until
Thine azure sister of the Spring shall blow
Her clarion o’er the dreaming earth, and fill
(Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air)
With living hues and odours plain and hill:
Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere;
Destroyer and preserver; hear, oh hear!
That’s only the first part of the poem! It’s called “Ode to the West Wind”, and it’s by Percy Bysshe Shelley, in 1820!
Speaking of tags and categories…
You know that a favourite subject of mine is “worship”, and we happened to be talking about that at our small group the other day. Some people find it harder to do than others, but I feel that we need reminding that it’s not all about emotion. I think it’s more about distraction!
You can read the Bible for hours and hours, and still never worship. You can fill your time with hard work “for God”, but still never worship. Let me explain.
I’m sure everyone has had times when they read, and have to go back and re-read because they weren’t paying attention-I’ve done it even when reading out loud to someone else! And it happens with more things than reading of course. Lately, I’ve taken to reminding myself to concentrate on enjoying something (like our daily 20 minutes in the hot tub for example), rather than being so distracted that you hardly know you’ve done it!
I think worship simply means being intentional about noticing God’s hand in the world around you, in the small moments of the day. So intentional that you can’t help but respond in prayer, even if it’s just a sentence or two (but try for often, and try it for a kick-start to other kinds of prayer). I can’t even listen to worship music unless I’m able to pay attention to the words, that’s just my habit. And of course, there is a TON of scripture that can spur you to worship!
Praying scripture is something that I’ve “taken up with” lately… and there are lots of resources to help with that.