14 Benches
WHERE: Littleton, CO - Massey Draw Regional Trail - Park at the entrance of Wadsworth and David Dr., you will see the trail to your right heading down the hill
WHEN: On a cool morning
BLESSED SPOT: 14 benches along your walk
Practice the art of sitting quietly and smiling – The Cline Family
Went on a lovely little walk through a neighborhood near my house. It was a cool morning and there was an especially peaceful air – maybe that’s just the early morning feeling of everything still waking up. It feels a little ethereal and drifty. There’s a different kind of hush in the morning and earthy smells weigh heavier in the air. It was a path of only about 1 mile but in that 1 mile I noticed there were 14 benches, scattered seemingly haphazardly here and there. It wasn’t that there was an exceptional view at each or an obvious reason why they were placed where they were. Once I paid attention, it was as if they each just whispered – ‘come rest and sit for a while.’ Why be in such a hurry on your walk? Sit and reflect and take note of the grass and trees and clouds and your own thoughts. There they were again, and again and again, around this corner and that. So I sat at all the benches (I didn’t touch them J though). It felt like this path was asking it’s walkers to slow down… look here’s another opportunity … oh and around the corner is another one. You dismissed that last invite, well here’s another opportunity. Come sit and rest without a timeline, deadline or a reason, actually.
It takes practice to be ok with that I’ve found. In our busy, time bound world, it doesn’t come naturally at all! Even on a walk, we allow ourselves a certain amount of ‘time’ … and then move on to the next task or demand. It almost feels like we are ‘held captive’ or incarcerated by time sometimes. I know that’s a harsh word but it definitely makes you feel something doesn’t it? And think twice right? Imprisoned. Hmmm…. Yuck that doesn’t feel good. But there’s an unwritten momentum in the world we live in and we stay swept along in that river …most of time… but we can choose to bolt out of the fray of the masses and just stop – stop and rest.
I don’t know for you, but for me this COVID crisis has definitely slowed my roll and given me no choice but to change course. Stripping away options of ‘doing’ things AND all the planning involved in ‘doing’ those things – eating out, shopping for this, entertainment, shopping for that, movies, window shopping for nothing in particular (I like to shop obviously). I now fill my time differently. I’m making more dinners, making more calls, spending more time outside, more time at home, more time with family, more time reading and more time just thinking.
Do you remember as a child having no sense of time as you played the summer days away. A mom or dad or babysitter was the only voice that would break through with the next step in your day. It still didn’t register really that there was ‘time’ throughout the day – whether you played for 2 hours or 4 hours, you just played until something or someone stopped you. Hunger maybe or an agenda item you were told to abide by – ‘it’s time to go to the grocery store’ or it’s ‘time for lunch.’
The Gift of Meditation
I read “Eat Pray Love” years ago – loved it because I love entering other people’s stories and experiencing another culture and experience, meeting the people they meet and imagining the things they eat in places all over the world where I’ve never been. And then to intertwine another’s belief or religion is always a curiosity to me and very intriguing. I was actually very convicted with the amount of time she spent meditating and training herself to meditate. I thought, I have the literal word of the Alpha and Omega in my hands – words that are living and active and full of power that Hebrews says can separate soul and spirit and pierce you to the literal marrow of your bones (Hebrews 4:12)
And yet….. I don’t meditate it on it like she meditated on meaningless nonsensical phrases.
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4;12
I’ve decided that I am going to walk that walk again and sit on every bench and each time meditate, think on, chew on, repeat and ruminate on two verses that I’ve memorized and see what that experience is like. Will those verses bloom like they never have before? Will a word or phrase sink deeply into my heart with a message or meaning for me ‘at this moment in time of my life’? Is there a direct message from God that he longs to tell me but I just haven’t taken the time to really read and take to heart the letter he wrote me? How will this affect the droning of my thoughts? Will I see the beauty around me differently? Will I move through the rest of my day to a slightly different melody of voices at the fringes of my mind? Maybe I will be convicted about something I am doing or not doing or maybe it will come to light how much my thoughts are consuming me with angst or anger or a mean spirit towards someone… eek. The New Living Translations says it “exposes the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (NLT)
I am also going to ‘try’ not to put a time limit around this walk – the key word being ‘try’ – that in itself will be difficult to reign my thoughts in not to think… “I should go”.
Jesus gets it. I don’t think we typically think of Jesus when he was on earth as ‘busy’. But, he was actually very busy too and had to tear himself and his disciples away from the crowds at times – just like us. In Mark 6:31 “… Jesus said to them ‘Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.’ For there were so many people coming and going they didn’t even have time to eat.
Let the Word of Christ Dwell in you Richly - Colossians 3:16
I love to peel back the layers of verses. To ponder, why that choice of word? Why that turn of phrase? Why was that added in when it doesn’t seem necessary? Why did he say that so many times? These are all great questions if you choose to walk and meditate on a couple verses at each bench. Often I will say a verse with emphasis first on the beginning of the verse, then on one word, then on another.
Colossians 3:16 says “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly….” Peel back the layers of this verse with care. Even the very first word – ‘Let’… you have to allow it, it’s a choice you make – there’s a lot of implications in that tiny word. Think about the meaning of ‘let’ in these phrases. “LET” me help you. “LET” that sink in. To “let” something is to decide to allow it in.
Pull apart the word ‘dwell’ …. A dwelling is usually a place where someone lives; it’s a home. Let his words “LIVE” within you; be at home and as familiar as your front door. Why is your home so familiar? Because you are there all the time – he wants his words to be murmuring within you all the time and on the tip of your tongue. A constant ever flowing background river of meditation that float in and out of your thoughts all day long.
How do you let something dwell in you ‘RICHLY’… hmmm… that is definitely a loaded word with an explosion of meanings and uses in the Bible if you take the time to explore them.
14 Benches next time…..
I’ll let you know how my next ‘meditative’ walk goes – without time limits. Maybe I’ll write the ‘Art of Resting Experiment’ in my next blog.
This spot has been prayed for
That a peace that surpasses all understanding would pervade you as you take this walk
You would discover a message just for you, just at this time - as you meditate on a verse at each bench
That you would discover afresh a glimpse of a childlike ‘loss of time’ as you walk
Things you can do:
Take a verse and practice meditating on it! Take a moment to unpack specific words or phrases - why are they there? What does that word really mean when I think about it.
Write that verse on a sticky note and put it in your car and on your bathroom mirror to remind you to ‘meditate’ on his word continuously .
Peel apart Colossians 3:16 even further - What does it look like to have the word of Christ, not just dwell in you - but dwell in your RICHLY?
Look up other verses have ‘rich’, ‘richly’ or ‘treasures’ in them. What is the context of that verse? When God or Jesus uses it what are they referencing? Here’s a start: Proverbs 2:1-5; Ephesians 1:18; Ephesians 2:4; Ephesians 3:8; Proverbs 13:7; Romans 11:33-36
