Small Creatures

Early this morning I sat on the porch and read from Exodus and Job and Luke and I Corinthians. I read about Pharaoh's hard heart, Job lamenting how his steps were once "washed with butter", Jesus coming for sinners and not the righteous, and how Paul told the Corinthians to "act like men."  (I'm going through this devotion book and Bible reading plan.)  The sky was just beginning to fade, shedding its blackness, thinning from that thick color of night to the lighter gray-blue of morning. In a moment of stillness, it struck me how all the little bugs were singing away, chirping and trilling with what seemed like joy to me.

Writing in my prayer journal I asked God to help me put aside the busyness of the coming day and all the things banging around in my head that I wanted to ask His help with....  good things, serious things... things I wanted to put at His feet as I know I should.... But, instead I asked Him to give me the spirit and heart to just praise Him as the crickets and myriad of other small creatures do at the start of a fresh day. I asked that He show me the miracle of His hand turning the Earth one more time to receive the light and warmth of the sun, one more day for me to walk on this patch of dirt with the people I love.

And, so, in gratitude and quietness, I stopped, leaned my head back, closed my eyes and put my hands in my lap. I focused on the creatures singing to their Creator and tried to be like them, simply praising the Lord....

Praise the LORD from the earth,

you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,

lightning and hail, snow and clouds,

stormy winds that do his bidding,

you mountains and all hills,

fruit trees and all cedars,

wild animals and all cattle,

small creatures and flying birds....

(from Psalm 148)

It's so hard these days for me to be still without feeling like I "have" to do something from the list of things to be done - surely not all of these things are chores or work-related.... many are things I want to do for my own pleasure.... Still - I am always doing or going and very rarely just being. Perhaps the thing is I don't need to "just be"..... Maybe I need to "just be praising"?