God woos us into the wilderness...

This picture of the view off our back deck captures my heart, soul, mind and spirit these days...

The late Mary Oliver put it like this:

The dream of my life

Is to lie down by a slow river

And stare at the light in the trees —

To learn something by being nothing

A little while but the rich

Lens of attention.

I am so easily distracted - caught up in fleeting feelings of frustration or anxiety, tempted by titillation or just the self-serving demands for loyalty that politicians and clerics demand over and over again - and then I see this. Or I eat a peach from a local orchard. Or fresh native sweet corn. Or hold my grandchildren. Or see my grown children as they embrace their old man after a long absence. Or walk with my dog in the woods. Or hold my dear heart after a long day in the garden... and perspective returns. Nancy and Marv Hiles put it like this in All the Days of My Life and I believe they are right:

We are overdosed on data and underfed on the mysterious. Our brains inflate while our souls wither. Constant interference by interpreting and explaining can distance us from life itself. God woos us into the wildness of unknowing where we are tempted by deeper senses.