Stop to smell them...

I know this is sort of cliche but, I don't care.

Today I was really stricken by flowers. Yes, flowers. Maybe it had to do with the fact that "Utmost" this morning was about them:

" Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin”— they simply are! Think of the sea, the air, the sun, the stars, and the moon— all of these simply are as well— yet what a ministry and service they render on our behalf! So often we impair God’s designed influence, which He desires to exhibit through us, because of our own conscious efforts to be consistent and

useful. "

Based on Matthew 6:25-30 :

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his lifeOr single cubit to his height

" color="initial" style="cursor: pointer; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline- text-decoration: none; ">a?

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? "

It really is a beautiful little bit in Matthew. Jesus is talking to the masses telling them to stop worrying... To stop trying to earn something or predict their lives or be in control... To look at the flowers, how beautifully they are dressed- God loves us so much more than PLANTS and therefore, why do we worry? Such a sweet reminder. "

Anyhow, I was in Whole Foods snagging a few things and I

meandered over to the flowers like a moth to a flame... I was put in a state of TOTAL awe. I guess we should be in awe of things like this but they become normal.

What a tragic reality. THIS is normal to us:

There's so much that's extraordinary about them... The endless colors, shapes, sizes, designs and patterns..The way they grow against the gravity heavenward... the fact that they smell so sweet and fill the air with fragrance.

Ahh, may we not allow the remarkable to become mundane. May we have eyes to see and ears to hear all the beauty, the UNNECESSARY beauty that engulfs us. We will be swallowed whole by it if we allow ourselves to be.

Day two of silence has been grand... I think I might try to do this for the rest of the week until the evenings ( I have certain unavoidable engagements). Maybe I'll try just talking when its necessary- WHAT A THOUGHT!! I blab so much just to fill space... I've enjoyed having that space back. I've enjoyed remembering what silence feels like and HAVING to feel it without splattering meaningless words all over the blank canvas of quiet.

I suggest experimenting with silence exercises. Its challenging! I'm trying to think of ways to incorporate this into my routine.

I always think of Maya Angelou.

When she was growing up her mother's boyfriend raped her. She finally told someone and he ended up getting executed. From that she learned that her words were SO powerful, that they could bring life or death... so she took a massive ( I believe years and years) vow of silence to try to learn the value of words. She was completely mute from the time she was 7 to about 13 years old. When she broke her silence her words dripped off of her tongue like honey, full of intentionality.

I want that. I am such a chatty loud human being, but I long to be one of those sage-like people who choose their words carefully... Maybe the only way to do that is a discipline of silence. Hm.

That's all for today. Grace and peace.

-Carly

Ps: Next time you are outdoors, take a minute to (literally) notice the flowers. Let them amaze you.