Is This How It Is?

On these hot, sticky summer days, only a short window of time opens between the blast of hot air that hits you when you go outside and the coming dark that brings the hoard of insects that swarm and buzz. You know the ones that make you go dancing across the yard flailing at your head with both hands and swatting at the backs of your uncovered legs.

But oh, the sweetness of that time just before sunset when the air lifts a bit and the breeze kicks up. You can almost imagine the comfort outside that you felt on those spring days before the furnace was lit.

Today Steve and a friend were going out to play nine holes of golf and I went along for the ride. To begin with, if you want to walk for exercise in this weather, you need to start by at least 7:30 AM; and if you need to know why I wasn’t on the street at that time, look for some of my older posts that explain my morning mentality. No, don’t bother. I can sum it up in two words – grouchy and incoherent.

Therefore at 7:00 tonight when Steve and his friend were meeting, I still had not exercised. So I took my book, a big bottle of water, and hit the cart paths on foot while they golfed. As I walked, I immersed myself in the breezes, the shade and the sheer beauty of my surroundings. I wanted so badly to praise God, but my Psalms memory is scant. I went over and over the few verses I do know and I mouthed song lyrics silently. The men were trying to golf after all.

After I had walked far enough to deserve some time on wheels, I settled in to ride the cart and read. I was taken by the fact that the air felt cool and the colors were so vivid. May I just take a moment and insert a good word for Eudora Welty? She's a southern author from Mississippi and her descriptions pick you up and set you down in whatever cotton field or big white country house she's inhabiting. I was deep in her book and I'm sure she's why I was so aware of my surroundings.

I needed to make a quick stop and we were behind our friend’s house. He suggested I go in and let his dog out to ride with us all.

As I came out of the house with the dog, our friend called and the dog went running across the course to meet him. The grass was an intense color of green and they looked so happy to see each other. And I couldn’t help but think of those stories I’ve heard of people who dream about seeing their loved ones in heaven running with their pets.

And as I watched the two men walking off the green talking and laughing, I was so aware of the presence of God that I began to cry. I was absorbed in this beautiful place with good people who were so completely enjoying the day. And, best of all, God was there in a palpable sense.

Heaven is not so very far away. We can get a sense of it when we just allow God to walk with us in the cool of the day.