Little things?

Three tiny nudges today, within a few minutes of each other, which I hope to remember:

"Without a vision, the people perish." A verse from Proverbs 29 (v18) which refers to the keeping of the laws, where God blesses everyone who obeys the law and society prospers.

And, perhaps, also individually: "If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves;But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed."

And so, not wanting to lack vision, I pray for one.

Meanwhile, God reminds me of one of the ways in which to gain His vision.

Through a seminar on suffering and the experience of John Donne when he was locked in isolation while suffering from the plague, I am reminded of the need to dig deep into myself, letting God reveal insights into who I am.

Nearly five hundred years later, a young girl confesses that she avoids isolation, avoids the desert place, avoids being alone with God for fear of plunging into the depths of her own soul.

And 24-7 prayer reminds me of how wonderful it IS to be in prayer, to be in God's presence, to trust that he will reveal truth to me in and from the depth of my soul.

I am, after all, created in God's own image. Created to be in relationship, in conversation of speaking and listening; created to be whole.

Created and blessed to share His vision.
And so, not wanting to lack vision, I pray for one. Alone with God and the depths of my soul.

A Puritan prayer from The Valley of Vision

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,
Thou has brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold
Thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,
deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter
Thy stars shine;
Let me find Thy light in my darkness,
Thy life in my death,
Thy joy in my sorrow,
Thy grace in my sin,
Thy riches in my poverty
Thy glory in my valley.

from The Valley of Vision