Dwelling in the Shelter of the Most High (The Love of God) Psalm 91

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High

    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty

I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,

    my God, in whom I trust.”

Surely he will save you

    from the fowler’s snare

    and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his feathers,

    and under his wings you will find refuge;

    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

You will not fear the terror of night,

    nor the arrow that flies by day, 

nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,

    nor the plague that destroys at midday.

A thousand may fall at your side,

    ten thousand at your right hand,

    but it will not come near you. 

You will only observe with your eyes

    and see the punishment of the wicked. 

If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”

    and you make the Most High your dwelling, 

no harm will overtake you,

    no disaster will come near your tent. 

For he will command his angels concerning you

    to guard you in all your ways; 

they will lift you up in their hands,

    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. 

You will tread on the lion and the cobra;

    you will trample the great lion and the serpent. 

“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;

    I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. 

He will call on me, and I will answer him;

    I will be with him in trouble,

    I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life I will satisfy him

    and show him my salvation.”

This week I prayed on Psalm 91.  I was afraid for someone who I believed had been caught in the fowler’s snare.  Many theologians interpret this passage as Satan capturing souls through deception so we will sin.  But I believe the insidious purpose of the snare is to instill fear or to preoccupy us so that our minds and souls are caged and cannot experience the “joy of flight” and happiness as we are meant to, resulting in our inability to fulfill God’s purpose for us.   But by dwelling in the Lord, who is love, we are protected and can observe behavior and act independently without fear.  By doing so, our soul soars in flight towards heaven no longer caged escaping the snare of the fowler.

"Heaven Has Different Signs to Me"

Heaven Has Different Signs to Me – A Poem by Emily Dickinson

"Heaven" has different Signs—to me—

Sometimes, I think that Noon

Is but a symbol of the Place—

And when again, at Dawn,

A mighty look runs round the World

And settles in the Hills—

An Awe if it should be like that

Upon the Ignorance steals—

The Orchard, when the Sun is on—

The Triumph of the Birds

When they together Victory make—

Some Carnivals of Clouds—

The Rapture of a finished Day—

Returning to the West—

All these—remind us of the place

That Men call "paradise"—

Itself be fairer—we suppose—

But how Ourself, shall be

Adorned, for a Superior Grace—

Not yet, our eyes can see—

Pillow Dreams

 “You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”

― Dr. Seuss – Author

Last week Lisa, a friend of mine, walked into a hospital gift shop with me.  She made a beeline directly to a set of four pillows titled "Its a Wonderful Life", "You are My Sunshine", "Home is where the Heart Is", and there is "No Place Like Home."  She picked up the "It's a Wonderful Life" pillow and hugged it close to her chest for what seemed like an eternity.  She didn't want to let go.  Finally, she put it back on the shelf and said "maybe I will come back for it later."  Her husband is an engineer who is not crazy about decorating with pillows.  The next day she was still talking about how much she loved that pillow.  Lisa is in her second marriage and I can clearly see how much her new husband adores her and her three children when they are together.  Even though she didn't "possess" the pillow, she felt her life with her new husband was wonderful.  Lisa has a special light of love and kindness about her.

A pillow symbolizes dreams and I loved the messages on pillows in the gift shop too.  All the words held a special meaning for me when I saw them and it is what I longed to experience last week in person.   My dream is to write about symbolism and synchronicity as reflected in God's grace at work in the world and to have a family.   Like Lisa, I can't let go of my dreams and I know these pillows are God's grace at work in the world even when my dreams are put back on the shelf.

The Level In the Garden

“A position on a real or imaginary scale of amount, quantity, extent, or quality.”

- Encyclopedia.com definition of level

In a very special garden I visited unexpectedly, I found a "level" attached to a board.  In the springtime the garden is full of beautiful pink peonies and I wondered why anyone would level such a beautiful garden.  I also noticed that the trumpet vine that had not bloomed in a long time had been cleared from the arbor.  Two years ago my friend and I talked about planting a garden in this spot, and I wondered if he was beginning to replant the garden.  I remember originally thinking the garden was too small for me.  But when I visited I was overcome by a sense of beauty and the peace of the property.  Although it was a hot day, the air felt cool as I sat in a swing under huge beautiful trees on farm property settled over a hundred years ago.

"Level" means many things depending on the context.  In engineering it means to measure true horizontal or relative heights.  In mathematics it means where a function takes on a given constant value.   In linguistics it means descriptions of abilities to communicate in a language.  In game playing it is a measurement of character development. It also means to level the playing field to give someone a fighting chance.  In computers it refers to algorithms used to determine positions.   Often level refers to a physical accomplishment or skill.

I had envisioned this special Garden as a symbol of the metaphysical manifested as God's love.  But God's Garden is not a level in a game.  Too many people, including me, often think of life as a game where we strategize based on levels.  This is what gets us in trouble.  We can look at situations in more than one perspective based on symbols, but there is only one truth.  

We need to look to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit as documented in God's Word as the source of light and direction.  Not a man made strategy, which is never eternal.  As I move forward with my life, the level on this board in my special Garden will always remind me of this lesson.