Been lazy all day, sitting on the porch swing watching the birds and reading a book. Saw the neighbor hawk fly by clutching a little creature in his talons. Didn’t look big enough to make much of a meal. All the songbirds left the feeders in hurry when he came by, guess they didn’t know he’d already grabbed his breakfast. Filled up lots of the feeders with sunflower seeds this morning. The squirrels are leaving the feeders alone but haven’t eaten all their critter food up. Probably been on the feeders when I wasn’t watching.

Today was pretty and blue and sunny. I watched the clouds form and meld together then break apart and become new again. I’ve run across some quotes that need some pondering today. Jacquel Small said, “We are not human beings trying to be spiritual. We are spiritual beings trying to be human.” I’ve been studying on that one for a while. Maybe we all search for what makes ourselves come alive, what makes us function on the planet Earth. We need to connect our lives with God to grow spiritually. I think a spiritual person brings their happiness with them and understands that life is not always an easy path to trod. Maybe they just go with the flow knowing God is with them and guiding them. They realize storms are on the horizon but just look for the promise of God’s sunshine in the midst of the thunderstorms. I guess we are all spiritual beings created by God. This quote I’m still pondering on.

The sunset was so pretty tonight. I could see the sun as it filtered through the leaves of an old magnolia tree across the street. The sun’s rays were visible in a kaleidoscope of rainbow colors radiating out from her bright yellow ball. I could see the rays shooting from the sun, the colors like a prism’s shadow. As the sun dropped on the horizon a wildfire of oranges and reds and yellows blazed up from Mother Nature’s paint brushes. The fire burned bright and hot as Father Sky escorted the sun down the horizon slowly extinguishing the flames with the coolness of the twilight’s breath. As darkness fell, the lingering clouds were colored in pastel pale shades of pinks and blues and oranges, briefly beautiful before dissipating. A luminous full moon danced with the twinkling stars as the pageants of night began.

I look at the sunset as art produced by Mother Nature and Father Sky but I know God controls their paint brushes and their pastels. “Art has something to do with the achievement of stillness in the midst of chaos. A stillness which characterizes prayer, too, and the eye of the storm…an arrest of attention in the midst of distraction,” George Plimpton. I love this quote and think of the stillness of sunset and the quiet of the day’s gloaming, the period after sunset and before the darkness of night. The wondrous colors of the day’s ending brushed across the sky and the horizon bring me peace and a calm that assures me God is nearby.

I think that quote can be applied to how we pray, too. Some of us pray a daily prayer when the world is turning our way, a prayer for thanksgiving for our blessings. Some of us only pray when a storm is on the horizon, in the midst of chaos, crying out for help. Some of us have a daily conversation with God when we wake. Prayer helps us develop a relationship with God. When you pray God listens and he answers your prayers. In Matthew 6:8 God says, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

Prayer is not just asking for God’s blessings, its about communicating with him and building a relationship of faith. Prayers give us peace and can work miracles.

“Prayer is the song of the heart. It reaches the ear of God even if it is mingled with the cry and tumult of a thousand men.” — Kahlil Gibran