Song in the Night

Restless and unable to sleep,
my heart so aware of needs,
I began praying over
the things weighing on me.

Finally I arose, got a drink,
and slipped outside
to pray in the dark warmth
of the summer night.

With the gentle rhythm of the glider
my insides began calming,
when suddenly I was startled
by the silence-breaking song of a bird.

Joy and gratitude welled up inside
as I listened to this little creature
warbling and chirping and singing
his cheerful, multifarious birdsong.

How like God to come and sing
and be my cheering companion;
to remind me of his sweet presence
in the quiet of my lonely night watch.

"The Lord will send his faithful love by day;
his song will be with me in the night -
a prayer to the God of my life."
(Psalm 42:8)

God Within

"God is within. And where he dwells, there is a holy place....a hushed and holy Presence, too sacred to be destroyed, too wonderful not to be visited continually.

There is something awful, that is, awe-inspiring, down at the depths of our own soul. In hushed silence attend to it. It is a whisper of God himself, particularizing himself for you and in you, and speaking to the world through you."

(The Sanctuary of the Soul by Thomas Kelly, p. 38)