The Glittering on the Lake

As the sun becomes lower in the sky in mid fall , I love to get up even earlier to walk so I can watch sunrise . Too , the largest lake I pass yields yet another beautiful phenomena , majestic glittering light as the early sun strikes down on the surface of this 35 acre lake . Walking through my favorite oak hammock overhang I approach the lake , turn the corner and the glittery sparkle is other worldly . The glitter seems to bounce back and forth as the sun hits and begins to cross the lake . About halfway around I love to stop and wait , wait for the sun to smack me right in the face . I watch the glittering bounce and play then it reaches me and I am engulfed in the warm radiant beams of the new day . The first time I experienced this event I stood motionless allowing the early sun to bathe me . I felt newborn , renewed by this awesome force God has created . I thought how long it had been since I had allowed myself to be bathed in the fresh light of a new day . I thought about how many times the sun had set and risen and the many times I just took it for granted . What if I had not forced myself to get up even earlier to observe the glittering on the lake and missed being cleansed by this light of nature ? We seem to accept darkness and sometimes we refuse to embrace the light . As I stood there I felt God's embrace through nature's light shooting through my very being making me feel refreshed and whole . All of my troubles became so trivial after I observed the glittery movement of the newday sun over the lake . After the sun crosses the lake the light is tremendous , bright , and remarkably clean . Everything around me seemed to be sharper and in better focus . We lose focus of this new light in our whirlwind world . We forget to embrace the light and take it for granted too often . The next time you feel like there is no light , no future get up early before sunrise . Wait and be patient . There it is , the glittering on the lake . Wait again and allow the sun to bathe you in a new cleansing light .

The Patience of the Birds

Besides watching fish near the overflowing banks of lakes and ponds it is always interesting to watch the wading birds near the banks while I walk this time of year . I always stop and take a moment or two and observe their habits as they wait for fish to come near . Obviously beautiful , it is the patience of these creatures which intrigues me . At first the birds seem to be whiling away the time looking , scaning the surface of the water , and doing the occassional preening . But , it is their patience working a certain part of the lake which makes for interesting watching . They will watch and move ever so slowly gently placing one foot in front of the other , stop , look some more , then freeze motionless for what seems an eternity . At the right moment their beak strikes and out of the water comes a speared fish . I thought about how impatient we humans are in our fast paced society . We race to the next red light getting mad if someone slows our progress to sit yet at another light . We become perturbed if someone is not fast enough in a checkout line as if this person had control over the situation . We are impatient with a myriad of things in our society . People , things , gadgets , we are totally impatient , wanting something to happen or someone to make a decision yesterday when we know it won't happen until the future . Why is this ? We are a demanding and spoiled society . We want it now whatever it is . Sometimes we don't even know what it is but we just want it now not later . How sad for us . I see this every day . People racing around like lab mice going from one side of the cage we have created for ourselves to the other , jumping on the treadmill we call life until we exhaust ourselves to the point where we feel the need to pump ourselves with prescription drugs to balance our bodies and minds . But , back to the birds . The patience they display is nothing short of amazing . I am sure humans at some point in the past displayed similar patience hunting , gathering , and later farming but somehow all this was lost in the crazyness of post modern society . Certainly post modernity does not encourage patience as a virtue so perhaps we can learn a thing or two from these beautiful wading birds . First , take the time to breathe and observe nature . Immitate the birds . Put your feet in the water from time to time . Scan your area of life's lake . Watch for subtle changes . Wait , yes I said wait for the reward whatever form it comes in . I've never seen one of these birds toss back a fish because it was too small or the wrong kind . We are so conditioned to expect only the biggest and best of everything from the cars we drive to the houses we live in to the massive offices we work out of . Recently however we have reaped what we have sown watching an overblown and bloated economic system brought to its knees . Have we learned anything ? I hope so . Now , go out and watch the birds and decide for yourself . Breathe and be patient , even birds do it .

Frogs and Cricketts

Along with our much needed deluge summer rains comes a nature's chorus of frogs and cricketts . As I walked my usual trails recently I was struck by what seems at first a mass of confusion and noise coming from nearby wetlands . The frogs and cricketts love the recent hard rains and respond in kind with a din of apparent haphazard reaction . I sometimes pause to listen and wonder if they are actually communicating with each other and perhaps us . Our human world sometimes feels so frenetic and disorganized . But , I remind myself we humans make it that way . Listen to the frogs and cricketts . What are they telling us ? The frogs croak and according to experts are really communicating with one another . Cricketts too , speak nature's tongue . Again , what could they possibly be telling us ? They could be saying , " listen , nature and Divine creation is in harmony but why are you humans refusing to heed nature's way ? " It's those pesky human constructs again . We have in many ways refused to listen . We close our ears , eyes , and hearts to nature's chorus by upsetting the balance the Divine has created . Fouling our oceans , bays , estuaries with pollutants , humans have turned away from the Divine plan . We have poisoned the air and our bodies allowing ourselves to be part of the problem instead of the sollution . The rythmn of the frog /crickett chorus always amazes me . Continuing on my seven mile walk I gradually leave the wetland area and the chorus becomes more faint with every step . However , the rythmn never skips , never stops . The syncopation keeps up till I am out of range . Making my turn on my way back the beat becomes audible again . Louder and louder it becomes until the symphony is at double forte . God communicates with us in so many ways if we would only listen and take a break from our electric pace . Take time , pause after a rain . Go outside and listen to the frogs and cricketts for they might be trying to tell you something you need to know . Hush your frenzied world , breathe , and open your ears so you might hear what nature's chorus is singing . Shhhh , the frogs and cricketts are speaking .

The Ukelele Walker

As I was on my return leg of my seven mile walk today I passed a young woman going in the opposite direction singing and playing a ukelele . I have seen some sights walking but never anyone walking , singing , and strumming away . I was curious so I said hello and asked her if she did this often . " Yes" , she said as she paused her singing and playing . She was a singer songwriter and she offered that her guitar was too big to walk with and she didn't really want to get it out in the humidity . The ukelele worked fine and the walking gave her a chance to practice her songs in nature . I was still curious so she played and sang a bit of a tune she was working on . How fantastic I thought . Not only was she walking but she was doing something else which obviously gave her pleasure , a true natural multitasking experience ! I conjured up other possibilities for multitasking walking , juggling , playing the harmonica , practicing sign language , rehearsing a part in a play , or perhaps a speech one is preparing for . It is a good thing to see people walking and doing other things at the same time . We as a society don't walk anymore much anywhere . We whine about the heat when it is hot , the cold when it is winter , and drive our cars relentsly toward oblivion . When we can't find a convienient parking space causing us to actually walk a block or two we complain again . A friend told me today Oprah ran a show just yesterday on what would happen if a family gave up all the modern items we take for granted . The kids had to walk to school , the TV was disconnected , cell phones and other electronic devices were put away , and fast as well as processed food was jetisoned . The result was amazing . The family actually started talking to one another . They shared in food preparation since meals had to be made from scratch , and everyone found reading fun and walking or biking was not such a bad mode of transportation after all . Devine nature is just waiting for you so get out your ukelele and walk .

Don't Let the Moss Collect on Your Shoes

Yesterday morning we had huge storms coming in which had formed a few miles out in The Gulf . The wind howled , the rain pounded , and the thunder cascaded like booming echos through time . Today as I began my walk I was rewarded by bright sunshine and the pleasures of rain cooled air . Too , the air had dried out so the usually oppressive humidity was gone . My well worn path had dried also but I noticed the hanging moss was still holding the previous day's moisture loosening tiny droplets that fell intermitantly on my head . My route has a couple of opportunities to divert into the woods . Two are old fire roads which meander through the palmetto scrub and oak hammocks . The other is a nature trail winding its way through the woods cutting back eventually to the main path . How fanciful I thought . Perhaps I should take one of the old fire roads and see where it leads . Entering the woods I came upon a divergence . Which path to take , I pondered ? Suddenly , my mind recollected Robert Frost's famous poem , Road Less Traveled .

Two Roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler , long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth

Then took the other just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that , the passing there
Had worn them really about the same

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh , I kept the first for another day !
Yet , knowing how way leads onto way
I doubted I should ever come back

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference .

So , I did place my feet on the path less traveled by . The morning sun had not penetrated the woods yet and the taller grasses on my less trodden path licked and wetted my legs as I strode farther into the woods . The sights were alluring and the smells seminal . Why hadn't I trod this path before ? I knew it was there . I had not taken the time or forethought to choose this path . In a large sense I had been traveling a less worn path by beginning my walking journey almost three years ago . But , I must have been ready to try a divergent path The Devine had provided me . I had to choose though . We have many paths placed before us by God , some worn by ages of footprints , others not chosen for whatever reason , grown over with the weeds of time . Why do we not choose these overgrown paths ? Fear and the fact it is easy to walk the paths of the ages . We know where these paths go . We are insured of a start and a finish . We do this in our work , our relationships , and our everyday lives . It is why our chosen vocations become tedium , our relationships predictably fragile , and our lives monotonous . God did not put us here to waller in predictable misery . He placed us here to rejoice in His Divine creation and choose paths less worn . If we refuse to move we refuse to choose . Do not let the moss collect on your shoes .

The Fish at the Edge of the Lake

Walking past the four lakes on my seven mile walk this time of year is constantly bringing surprising sights . As the summer rains fill the lakes to overflowing they teem with all sorts of birds and fish . One of the smaller lakes is particuarly fasinating . As the lake rises to the edge of the grass , the bass come right up to the where the water meets the grass . I always pause for a few moments to observe the show . The small bass will come up to the edge and turn their fishy bodies almost sideways and stick their snouts out of the water to catch the insects which hover on the water's surface near the grass bank . Satisfying their hunger they opt for deeper and safer water . It amazes me to watch these fish we consider to be low on the intelligence scale figure a way to almost slither up the bank risking getting stuck to obtain breakfast . How curious I have always thought . A far cry from we humans . We tend to stay in our air conditioned environments whether house , car or grocery store . We complain how difficult life has become allowing negative thoughts and vibes to control our every waking moment . " Life is so stressful " , someone recently remarked to me . Why ? I wondered . We have all the modern amenities , electronics , gadgets , convieniences and conveyances . When our cell phone can't find service we are irritated and talk to it as if it were someone who has been rude to us . When our laptop crashes we curse and threaten to throw it out with Monday's trash . We race in our cars to the next red light and get angry if someone slows our progress so we can simply sit there and fumble with our hand held devices . But what of the fish ? Are they stressed out ? No , they seem to enjoy turning and squirming to obtain a meal only to go back to deeper and safer water . What if the bass stayed in deeper water and refused to venture forth to the shallows ? Surely they would starve . We too are starving not in a physical sense but in a spiritual way . We are caught up in our own little worlds refusing to strike out and explore our spiritual selves . We are indeed starving spiritually . We may even attend church or synagogue yet we have not fed ourselves spiritually . Perhaps we need to venture forth to the edge and be willing to turn our spiritual selves this way and that so we too might be able to feed ourselves before we go back to safer and deeper water . I have noticed some people get nervous even talking about spirituality . Fear of the unknown is a very powerful force in our lives . Fear mongering is a disease in our society . Just watch the news and you will be convinced you are the next target of the latest fear story . Watch the news , then breathe and go and watch the fish at the edge of the lake .

Breath of Heaven

I am convinced one of our created problems we have as a society is we don't know how to breathe . We are constantly bombarded by the junk we put in our bodies , stresses of living , notice I didn't say life , the pollutants we take in to our lungs whether chemicals and particulate matter or second hand smoke . Yet , we don't know how to breathe . Breathing is simply a gift of the Divine given to us to clear our minds and bodies of unwanted junk . How do we rid our lungs of unwanted junk ? Easy . Breathe . You can do Divine breathing standing up , lying down , or walking . Start by breathing deeply but do so sucking in your stomach , fill your lungs slowly and then purse your lips and let it out allowing your stomach to relax out as you exhale . Repeat this process ten times and do it several times a day . Start with a morning breathing session and end the day with the same . It also helps to concentrate on a fixed object or use an Om which can be a hum or really any utterance or none at all . Clear your mind by placing your thoughts in what I like to call the "out basket" . Affirm them , then , as you exhale allow those thoughts to escape into the air visualizing them floating away into space . Remember God breathed life into us and gave us this wonderful gift of breath . I like to call it the breath of Heaven . On a recent walk the early morning was giving way to storms coming in from The Gulf . I was about to take my usual route around a large lake I love . Approaching the lake I pass through an over hanging oak hammock which creates a tunnel . As I made my way through this oak tunnel I could see the rain was pounding the lake surface hitting the surface with a force great enough to make it look as though the drops were shooting backwards to the air above . Remarkably , although I was a mere 50 yards or so from the lake it was not even raining in the oak tunnel yet . I continued and exited the oak overhang and entered the rain passing into it as if it were a curtain . Right before I entered the rain wall I stopped and began to breathe . Deep were my breaths , pulling in The Divine rain cooled air . I placed myself in a trance like state , stepped forward and entered the rain wall . By the time I walked to the other side of the lake , about three quarters of a mile the rain had stopped . I looked back . Rain was still falling over the lake and what a sight it was .

Day by Day , Seek the Devine

Dr . Wayne Dyer has said often in his books and lectures , " always aspire to the devine " . I don't necessarily follow Dr . Dyer 's works but what he says here is worth noting . Our society is so fast paced it has become cliche to even mention it . We have so effectively shut off anything having to do with the Devine we have become numb to it . It is as if we have some sort of shut off valve for the Devine , yet , everything around us , in us , and about us is Devine . To stop aspiring to the Devine is truly a modern tragedy . This is why walking and breathing is so important for us if we are going to reconnect or turn on that Devine valve we have shut off . Even what we put in our bodies is part of the Devine , then why do we put such junk in ourselves . Heart disease , high blood pressure , and diabetes is on the rise because we refuse to seek the Devine in the foods we eat . As you walk and breathe , look at nature , take it in , breathe again , you are part of this nature . Our place in nature is , well , natural . But again , we take ourselves out of the Devine by not walking , sweating , breathing or eating right . The other morning I rose earlier than usual . I wanted to see the etheral mists hovering over the lakes I walk past . As I rounded a corner , I was struck by the sight of early morning light casting beams through the trees . I stopped , then continued until I came to the first beam of filtered light . I paused for a few moments and let the beam engulf me . I could feel the radiance as the light surrounded me . I was truly one with God . You think God was trying to tell me something ? I certainly felt his hand on my shoulder . I walked on and got halfway past the big lake on my walk . I paused again and gazed out onto one of the most surreal sights of my life . The mist appeared as if it were coming out of the woods , coming across my path , and slowly moving its way to the other side of the lake . I walked on and as I entered the mist my walking motion pushed the mist away like a curtain . How appropriate . We pull the curtain on God and the Devine everyday . We must conciously seek to keep whatever keeps us from God away from our human desire to be with Him because we are of Him . I walked on through the mist and finally on the north side of the lake , I looked back and saw the mist had engulfed most of the lake . One of my most memorable walks . But if I had not started walking two years ago I would not have heard God speaking to me that day . You must begin yourself . Seek the Devine , walk , breathe , and eat what your body wants and needs not what the latest commercial says you should .

The Spiritual

The term spiritual life's journey is often used to describe a person's spiritual life growth . Certainly each one of us is on a spiritual journey . One important lesson I learned very quickly as I began the ministry was to accept where people were in their spiritual journey not where I wanted or expected them to be . Each of us can learn a great lesson from this . We are all at different and various points of the journey . Liken it to a trip one takes by car . Some of us are going down the highway just cruising along , others might be at a rest stop or filling up our spiritual tank , or perhaps we are broken down by life's highway . We are all at a different place . We may very well get to what we thought to be our destination but it turns out to be somewhere else we never expected . The truth is we never stop growing . How exciting a spiritual journey can be . Sometimes we forget about our journey altogether and how sad that can be . God speaks to us in infinite ways if only we will listen . My own journey has been all of these things . I have cruised along , been at rest stops , filling the tank , and a few times I have been broken down by the highway . The life God has given us is perfect . Humans though have a way of placing constructs on top of God's creation and we tend to call these by numerous names . Stress , hurt , anger , excuse mongering , blaming are just a few . We today tend to concentrate on what we think others have done to us when , in reality we have allowed these things to happen to us . Reality states it does not really matter . What does matter is how we react to these human constructs with the abilities God has given us . My seven mile walk with God didn't begin as a seven mile walk . I started slowly never thinking or realizing what I was embarking on . I thought I would begin an exercise regime to try to get back in shape and feel better . I did begin to get in better shape but something was happening when I walked . My mind would concentrate on my own constructs and cloud my communion with God . These constructs I allowed myself to be overcome by should be very familiar to most of us . I found walking began to stress me . Why , I wondered ? I would think about a failed marriage and the anger it gave me even after many years . I thought about ways people had wronged or been mean to me or had taken advantage of me . I would even think about why people who passed me were driving so wildly ignoring stop signs and speed limits ! I began to ask myself , what do these things I like to call human constructs have even remotely to do with my walk and excercise ? The answer , of course , is they didn't . I began to see I was concentrating on things past , present and future I had absolutely no control over . In short , these constructs were interfering with my spiritual journey . I was broken down by the road . Yes , I could have done things differently but what happened happened . To place human constructs on top of God's creation became destructive to me . About the same time this was happening I was also progressing with my walk getting up to about what I thought was five miles . One day I decided to add about a mile and thought I was walking six . Borrowing a pedometer I was amazed I was actually walking seven . Then it hit me . One of my favorite stories in the New Testament is the road to Emmaus story . After He was crucified and raised Christ appeared to the Disciples and many others . One event from Luke 24 : 13-15 recounts the story of two disciples walking from Jerusalem to a village called Emmaus about seven miles distance . As they walked they talked of the events which had transpired and suddenly there was another walking with them . Of course they didn't realize it was The Lord for their eyes were closed to reality meaning their hearts had become hardened to what they thought was the end of everything they had known the last three years . Jesus spoke to them , then , he was gone . He spoke to me too when I realized I was really walking seven miles and I began to cry uncontrolably . God was speaking to me if only I would listen . Yes , I had gotten myself in physical shape but I had neglected my spiritual self . I had wasted too much time worrying and thinking about things and people I had no hope of controling . " I believe in destiny , Mrs . Palfrey says in the wonderful novel and film Mrs . Palfrey Goes to the Claremont , but , she goes on , it is up to us to make the right decision ." God places people and events before us but we must make those decisions which He allows us to make to bring us closer in communion with Him .

The Beginning

As I begin this new blog , I have seen many recent changes in my life and the lives of others around me . However , there has been one constant in my life now for about two and a half years . The constant has been my 3-4 times a week walk through open fields and Florida oak hammocks , past lakes filled with fish and curious wildlife . I began like I said about two and a half years ago . I had become sedentary and needed an outlet to try to get back in shape . I started slowly at first and found quickly I lacked the proper footwear . So , researching walking shoes I opted for New Balance walkers which gave me not only stability but the cushion support needed for long walking . Today I am on my fifth pair having worn out previous pairs around 500-600 miles each ! My caution to anyone deciding to walk for distance is to get the right footwear and start slowly . My first barrier was the two mile mark and overcoming muscle fatigue brought on by my previous lack of movement . I also continued and expanded a basic stretching routine before and after each walk . Time is an often used as an excuse not to exercise but I overcame this item quickly . My seven mile walk which also includes some intense resistant training on a horizontal bar takes about two hours to complete . I learned patience straight away understanding each barrier I surmounted would take time . In all , it has taken me a little over two years to reach my present level . Hydration is another important step . I drank lots of water anyway but in the SW Florida heat and humidity one will instantly sweat it out . One of my goals was to rid my body of poisons we build up from poor diet and even the slightest alchohol intake . Guys , if you drink beer , sorry you will have to greatly curtail or quit the beverage altogether . Not only does beer clear the body of needed substances like magnisium it , as well as other alchoholic beverages will actually force the body to retain water , a definite no-no . I never smoked but if you do quit . You want your lungs to expand and believe me the feeling is wonderful . This was my physical preparation . The next step was spiritual .