It is dusk. I am sitting in a one room cottage, at a table next to a large picture window that looks out to the forest. Birds play from tree to tree. There is a very sociable squirrel chattering. Wild flowers bedeckle the vibrant green hues of spring. Justin is sitting in an easy chair next to me finishing up a G.K. Chesterton novel. He is on his third book in twenty-four hours.
This is the third time that Justin and I have ventured to the Eco-Justice Center's Hermitage for a weekend away to rest and pray and explore.
Some of my favorite times here are the mornings sitting on the screened porch drinking a slow cup of coffee and reading the daily readings. This morning I was surprised with Ezekiel 37: 1-14.
He led me all around the valley, and I could see that there were very many bones and that they were very dry. He said to me, "Son of Man, can these bones come back to life?...Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Dry bones hear the word of the Lord. See! I will bring spirit into you, that you may come to life...From the four winds come, O spirit, and breathe into these slain that they may come to life." I prophesied as he told me, and the spirit came into them; they came alive and stood upright, a vast army...
I felt a bit renewed at that. It was the inspiration that my paintbrush needed. I spent the remainder of the morning getting reacquainted with my watercolors.
Then Justin and I went on a long walk in the Cliffside County Park. We have walked there 2 times before looking for the cliffs overlooking the lake to no avail. Today we were determined. What a wonderful time of exploring God'stCreation. And we found trails that led us to the lake front as well as a meandering stream that empties into Lake Michigan.
Thank God for this time.
You too can come to The Hermitage. You Should. Do IT!
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