This past weekend I was in Banff as part of a worship team at the BUWC assembly. It's hard not to be excited about Banff. Leading up to the conference, I was feeling drained emotionally and was dealing with some big spiritually-charged life questions. I knew that I needed solitude, and I needed beauty. These past months have been a journey of discovering the growth that happens with the presence of God, the small changes that come unexpectedly without effort when the Spirit shows up. I needed the Spirit to show up. Here are my unexpected blessings:- The wonderful display of weather - bright sunny days and bright snow-capped mountains, the sweet smell of rain and the soft sound of droplets on my clear umbrella, the peace that comes with snowflakes that fall, fluffy and unique, in a steady blanket of white, fog that mystifies and veils and settles among the trees.
- A perfect match to my ocean experience in St Vincent. I remember the first time seeing the vast ocean and while singing The Love of God, realizing that God's love was powerful beyond measure. And since, really seeing the mountains, the unmistakable size and perfection of them. The quiet strength that called rock to rise from the earth, towering above the rest of the world, yet the whisper that causes them to melt like wax before the Lord.
- Sitting in a meadow, surrounded by mountains, in perfect stillness. I am continually struck by the life and perfection of the created world without interruption. I wondered at its praise of God, in stillness being fully alive. And the extravagance of God to lavish his creativity on something that may go forever unnoticed. And yet his excitement at sharing it with us. Bursts of color. Blue-purple rock, turquoise water, rich bronze algae that explodes into water like ink.
- A long trek. Endless time. Following behind the footsteps of another, afraid to look up at another hill. I wondered what it meant to follow closely in the footsteps of Jesus- trusting that he is going in the right direction, and remembering not to lift my head and take on more than I can handle.
- A wonderful, wonderful session on good news for the sinned against. The kind of wonderful that makes my heart pound at the truth that is being spoken. How does good news need to be different for those who are hurting, for those who have been sinned against? Out of this time my mind burst with hope and ideas for redeeming and restoring those who are broken.
- An addition to my growing understanding of the beauty and need for community. I've been pondering community, not as a chance benefit or side-effect of following God, but as a deeply valuable and inherent part of God's design for us, of God's own nature. Community in a way that makes God tangible and reflects parts of his character that wouldn't otherwise be visible. A community that has God's word on its lips, one that is a witness to God's goodness for and to each other. And now, a community that intervenes for a God who hates injustice. People who represent a God who is omniscient and omnipotent - and demonstrate God's character in a real way for those who are searching to believe that God knows all injustice, despises it, and promises to rescue.
- A beautiful, soul-wrenching version of Great is Thy Faithfulness by Steve Bell. The silent word that God is indeed faithful...while we're busy looking the other way, he keeps on making leaves. And God is faithful in life, not as a promise of smooth sailing, but a promise of underlying strength and a flowing of goodness through all life.
All I have needed, Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.
