dawnwind

"There are times when something comes into our lives which is charged with love in such a way that it seems to open the Eternal to us for a moment, or at least some of the Eternal Things, and the greatest of these is love.
It may be a small and intimate touch upon us or our affairs, light as the touch of the dawnwind on the leaves of the tree, something not to be captured and told to another in words. But we know that it is our Lord. And then perhaps the room where we are, with its furniture and books and flowers, seems less 'present' than His Presence, and the heart is drawn into that sweetness of which the old hymn sings: The love of Jesus, what it is / None but His loved ones know.
Or it is the dear human love about us that bathes us as in summer seas and rests us through and through. Can we ever cease to wonder at the love of our companions? And then suddenly we recognize our Lord in them. It is His love that they lavish upon us. O Love of God made manifest in Thy lovers, we worship Thee.
Or (not often, perhaps, for dimness seems to be more wholesome for us here, but sometimes, because our Lord is merciful) it is given to us to look up through the blue air and see the love of God. And yet, after all, how little we see! 'That ye may be able to comprehend what is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge'--the words are too great for us. What do we comprehend, what do we know? Confounded and abased, we enter into the Rock and hid us in the dust before the glory of the Majesty of love---the love whose symbol is the cross.
And the question pierces then: What do I know of Calvary love?"
- Amy Carmichael, excerpt from the book If

Here I found an early morning refreshment. Twelve hours of driving, three hours of sleep, and a storm in the mind. Only the Lord can awake us with such strong peace. I love His encouragement, "Daniel, I, yes I, am your great reward." I love Him. There are many questions that we can ask of God, but few that we are serious enough to wait for. Lord, make us a serious people. A people serious enough to pursue your presence when it means walking a path alone, serious enough to tenderly love even when we don't exactly know how and it only seems silly or hard, and to hope when Jordan's shore and the promises of peace seems so far from our tipsy little boat. May our decision--the people we spend time with, the words that we speak, the purity of our heart, the life of our thoughts, direction of our eyes, and the way we treat others--bring pleasure to Your heart, O God. I am convinced that the Bride of Christ needs to stop thinking that our actions do not effect our relationship with God. They do! We so often wonder at our dispassionate heart when we have not had the courage to despise all else and run towards the infinitely true and valuable love of God. Pray, pray with me, for hearts of passion and purity. O that the two would be united with an aim for the experiencing of God's greatness in all things!