A Weekend to Remember

This last weekend, I was blessed with the opportunity…rather, the privilege of spending 4 days & nights at the “Interpreter’s House” alone. For over a year, I have hoped, planned & tried to get out, away by myself to the Ellijay cabins. Who wouldn’t want to enjoy the 34 acres we rent, or the 500+ wooded acres that surround them for a writing, prayer & hiking retreat? However,as often happens with most of us, the urgent kept crowding & narrowing the important.
Wow!!! What a wonderful, life-renewing time…without clocks or calendars. What a feast without food, what happiness & pleasure with no technology. I regularly lost…or yielded 3-5 hours at a time to rapturous & repetitious worship …difficult puzzles… intimate & inspiring devotions, scripture confession…prayer hikes, animal/insect watching…listening, laughing, crying…reflective writing, contemplative journaling, reading “great” books,...& encountering the Living God!
I found myself thanking God for this time & place, for my godly wife, amazing children, Christian parents, my brothers & their families…the God of Spirit & Word…the fears & failures of the recent past, & even the acute pain of a severely burnt finger & numerous thorn cuts from hiking. I found pleasure in the extreme cold (11 degrees), the kitchen wall mice, coffee (which I believe was in the Garden of Eden before the fall), water, gathering firewood & being constantly awakened with resulting insomnia from the deer & possums near the front porch. Oh…I loved sleeping in (that’s 9:30am for those wondering), cherished a bowl of hot soup…a glass of wine, communion…& the Cross & Spirit of Christ. I marveled at a spider web, a piece of cheese toast, Jehovah-Rapha’s healing presence…& tears of sorrow & joy. I was captivated by the treasure of plain-old stuff (cabin décor), earth, wind, fire & sunsets!!! God’s creation is amazing…especially mountains, trees, rocks, streams & waterfalls.
Then, I was startled by a text message announcing the birth of my new nephew, “Jackson Justice Buhler,”…that brought a flood of memories of when my kids were born, little, insatiably playful & adventurous. Life is a gift, there’s joy in the journey, & the supreme adventure is being born…& being born-again!
We put too much emphasis on the pursuit of happiness rather than on happiness itself. Everything we truly need to make us happy lies within our grasp…it’s “at hand.” Chesterton said, “The key to happiness & the key to wonder is humility. Humility means being small enough to see the greatness of something & to feel unworthy of it, & privileged to be able to enjoy it…Ironically, both the skeptic & the believer think the Gospel & God are too good to be true. But the skeptic scorns it, & the believer falls on his knees.”
It’s been said that the true test of happiness is gratitude…From my knees, with all my heart & soul, I say “Thank you Lord!...I praise you for how you meet me…meet us in the sacred spaces & special places of our lives –guiding, healing, alerting, revealing, inspiring, convicting…& providing insight, comfort & understanding. Thank you for the glorious Gospel, a great life journey & the love of a Living God that are too good to be true!”