Isn’t it bizarre how one minute we laugh and the next we cry. Thus was the case Friday. My wife and I shared our morning cup of coffee together and laughed and reminisced about how cute our two grandsons acted on their recent visit.
A little later I was working away on some projects and our housekeeper came running into my office and told me that I’d better go check on my wife because something was seriously wrong and she was crying.
I ran into her office and sure enough she was on the phone and indeed sobbing away. She was talking with someone whom we deeply love who had just been diagnosed with a serious form of cancer. Teresa was so upset that she could no longer talk and with tears streaming down her face just handed the phone to me.
Through the sobs coming from the other end I was finally able to discern that cancer had been identified and more tests would need to be conducted this week in order to determine if it has spread. The doctors are cautiously optimistic that it can be controlled with chemo and radiation, but will know more after more tests. (Please join me in praying that the cancer will be treated and defeated.)
We’ve had some bad weather lately, but it’s cleared off the last couple of days and the sunny, cool, and crisp fall mornings have made our little piece of the world here at Honey Lake Plantation into a mini-heaven. Ducks have returned to Honey Lake and can be seen swimming in groups, stopping every now and then to bob down under the water and back up again, up and down, up and down, shuddering off the water each time they emerge, (ironically reminding me of my lab shaking off water as he comes ashore after a retrieve).
The scene is accentuated by two male bald eagles that have been hanging out for the last couple of days silhouetted against the bluebird sky ready to silently descend upon an unsuspecting fish warming itself a little too near the surface. Great blue herons and white ibis have the same cuisine on their minds, but they prefer to stand in the water motionless until a minnow swims within range of their efficient beaks and darting heads.
It seems the crisp fall weather has spurred all of the wildlife that lives around Honey Lake into action. I walk outside and dozens of butterflies will be fluttering about in the butterfly garden in our front yard. Fox and gray squirrels are scampering on the lawn and in the trees, and on most days one can spot wild turkeys, woodpeckers, the resident covey of quail, Sam the gopher tortoise, doves and/or deer enjoying their day as they forage for a meal.
We had some ladies conducting their GFWC meeting here at the resort over the weekend and on Saturday they held a devotional in our church and were kind enough to ask me to speak. I was given a program and was looking through it prior to speaking. The following two poems were inscribed therein and I thought they were very timely (as in one of those God things).
The Peace of Wild Things
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water,
and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light.
for a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
Wendell Berry
The other poem was written by the President of the Ladies club exclusively for Honey Lake.
Peace Falls Over The Earth
I find peace in the land.
His light shines on the pine trees, the live oaks, and psalms.
I find rest in the rustling wind as I dwell in His arms.
His strength is shared by rolling hills and fertile meadows.
His Spirit flows across the lake carried by gentle breeze.
Fish swim and birds soar as I look toward the morning sky.
My awareness of His love is heightened by the aroma off the woods and flowers.
God has blessed me with the joy of seeing, being, and feeling a part of His beautiful earth.
I find peace in the land.
Charlene Bevis Reese
Hmmm… I’m not the only one who sees, hears, and feels God in this lovely place.
I share these two poems today and ask that we especially remember the stirring passage:I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. Stop, rest, and meditate about that one for a moment. Selah.
The Bible states that eye has not seen, nor has ear ever heard the wonderful things God has prepared for His children that we will enjoy with Him throughout eternity. Too often I find myself focusing on this sin ravaged world and not enough on our wonderful Savior. I believe that Honey Lake Plantation is but one of God’s gentle reminders that after all is said and done HE is still in control and a better day awaits those of us who have put our faith in our loving Father.
An excellent illustration of this can be found in the Holy Bible, It states that, “For the joy set before Him, Jesus endured the cross”. Jesus had just prayed so intensely that he actually sweated blood as he lay face down in the Garden of Gethsemane calling upon God to help Him. He was preparing Himself for the painful torture and cruel death that He knew that He would soon willingly endure on the cross. His goal was to take upon Himself the punishment for the sins of the entire world in order that we might be reconciled with God.
Jesus Christ looked far out into the future beyond His personal suffering and agony. He knew that because of His sacrifice, death would be defeated, and those of us who would choose to follow Him would have the opportunity to enjoy everlasting life with Him in paradise.
We were on His mind that day as He highly anticipated the new beginning that He would create. He felt joy, because His children would soon be bathed, cleansed, and purified in His loving glory, healed and made perfect by His blood sacrifice and stripes. And He knew that after it was finished, we could be allowed to enter into His rest and enjoy His gentle peace in paradise for eternity. There His loving grace would erase all tears, sadness, sickness, misery and death and sin would never again stand between His children and Him.
Without question Jesus knew that He would suffer horribly that day, but He didn’t focus on Himself; instead he looked to those whom He loved and to a better day. Even in His darkest hour His absolute love provided Him with sheer joy and incomprehensible peace.
His example should be a valuable lesson to us all. When discouraged or frightened we can rest in the peace of wild things and the land, rightfully assured that a better day awaits those who love Jesus.
James 1:12
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.