Fall Back

sometimes we forget

in our lofty plans for art that moves

in our sketchy dreams of beauty

in our whiteboard plans for the coming season

sometimes we forget to find joy in the crisp, bending wind

to listen for the clattered rhythm of our waving branched fingers

to see purity in the blanketing frost foreshadowing a stable night

sometimes we forget to keep it simple

to trust in You

to fall back

away

from

our

own

fall

back

plans

and

lean

into

the

cradling

beauty of

Your wintry winds

and just . . . fall back.

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9

"I am always amazed that when I give God a fraction of an inch of willingness to follow, God gives me miles of goodness and grace. When we talk about guidance, we must remember that we are not the center of the universe. Ultimately our wants are not top priority. While God cares for us and provides for us, we are called to be part of God's kingdom, fulfilling the role he created us to fill. God is not part of our lives; we are a part of God's. But in being part of God's life, we will be richly blessed and well cared for." Valerie Hess, Spiritual Disciplines Devotional

"To wait open-endedly is an enormously radical attitude toward life. So is to trust that something will happen to us that is far beyond our imaginings. So, too, is giving up control over our future and letting God define our life, trusting that God moulds us according to God's love and not according to our fear. The spiritual life is a life in which we wait, actively present to the moment, trusting that new things will happen to us, new things that are far beyond our own imagination, fantasy, or prediction. That, indeed, is a very radical stance toward life in a world preoccupied with control." Henri Nouwen