Eden and I went on a walk in the woods recently. She loves to go “fairy hunting.” We look into flowers, behind bushes and trees. I don’t think either of us know what we would do if we ever found a fairy - but that’s besides the point. As we tried to locate Tinkerbelle’s home, we stopped and we looked. We listened and we touched. We picked seeds from dried pods, and watched a bird. We had no agenda or place to reach, it was a few moments of pure exploration for it’s own sake.
In that little letting go, I realized how quickly I can forget what quiet abiding is all about. Everything in adult life tends to yell: “hurry up!” Maybe it’s the literal driver behind you, or the silent accusation of a neglected pile of laundry. Todo lists never get shorter on their own you know. Regardless of where the voice may be coming from, we all feel that pressure to keep moving forward.
But where exactly is “forward” or the place we all want to reach? All of us can vaguely locate that place. We all know it has to be out there somewhere. Maybe it’s in the future after an achievement, or goal. Or maybe it is in the past when things were simpler. But as life keeps its steady pace, the pull to that place is always just out of reach. As if we just missed it or need to travel just a little farther ahead.
That place has had many names: utopia, nostalgia, the fountain of youth, Atlantis, El Dorado…
The real call inside of us
Call back to the garden
Call forward to the Mountain city of New Jerusalem
Pray your kingdom come
Abide in the kingdom now