Why we watch the mountain

While visiting with Dan and Betty one of the constant daylight amazements is the Sandia Crest. Here is a sample of why we like to watch the mountain.

Weather makes the mountain disappear!

 

 

 

 

Today there is more snow on the mountain than a few days ago. The blue sky photo that follows is the same few minutes, just looking a different direction! I am hoping for some sun directly on the TOP of the mountain before sunset.

 

Above the high winds are kicking up the sandy soil!

 

 

Maybe so sun cooperation today :-(

 

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He Bids Us Come Higher

Sunday Morning I wrote:

It would be hard for me to walk up the sloped foothills that rise from the mesa,
yet You bid me come higher.
The mountains rise and tower over those foothills
So high that this morning they have their own weather system going.
You call me forth with You
saying to trust for You will carry me if need be.

Come, my Lord, Adonai, Rabbi, Savior

Show me Your high places and

Lead me on.

Then Sunday late afternoon the photo below. The foothills I wrote about are the little rises at the bottom with scrubby green trees.

Folow where He leads you!

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Grandma Snapp

When I was a child we could sometimes get my Grandma Snapp to play our piano using the hymns she almost knew by heart. She would object to playing saying that her hands were not what they used to be and it was hard to stretch for the chords. When she would relent, precious memories were formed! To this day some of those hymns roll through my soul from time to time. Mom had taught us how to harmonize and we would stand behind Grandma and sing the lyrics and she went along.

The Old Rugged Cross was one of those hymns that she played. To me it looked as if she were crashing the chords out, but it sounded glorious. I had to view many, many You Tube videos to find this gem. The website is HiFiHymnBook. Wait through the pipe organ intro and the hymn is played on piano. I hope you enjoy it. If you do not know the words, I posted them below, too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_kIHmSQuWI

Old Rugged Cross

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
	the emblem of suffering and shame;
	and I love that old cross where the dearest and best
	for a world of lost sinners was slain.
Refrain:
	So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,
	till my trophies at last I lay down;
	I will cling to the old rugged cross,
	and exchange it some day for a crown.
2.	O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
	has a wondrous attraction for me;
	for the dear Lamb of God left his glory above
	to bear it to dark Calvary.
	(Refrain)
3.	In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
	a wondrous beauty I see,
	for 'twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
	to pardon and sanctify me.
	(Refrain)
4.	To that old rugged cross I will ever be true,
	its shame and reproach gladly bear;
	then he'll call me some day to my home far away,
	where his glory forever I'll share.

 

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Am I a Barrel Racer?

Last night I got to go to the rodeo with friends who actually could explain to me the challenges and rules of each event. This morning while contemplating what to put in the blog it seemed as if this question formed itself, "Am I a barrel racer?" Those who know me well will laugh, aware of my irrational fear of horses.

 

Now Wikipedia defines the rules as: The timer begins when horse and rider cross the start line, and ends when the barrel pattern has been successfully executed and horse and rider cross the finish line. The rider's time depends on several factors, most commonly the horse's physical and mental condition, the rider's horsemanship abilities, and the type of ground or footing (the quality, depth, content, etc. of the sand or dirt in the arena).

 

As I watched these young ladies gallop their horses as fast as possible out of the arena I ignorantly wondered what the hurry was. I was amazed how they could bring their animal to a halt before crashing into the pens and walls just off the field of play. It was fun to watch, but now I see they were being timed back through the gate they came out of.

 

Now how would this apply to my life? We all have barrel courses set up through any given day. The chores and duties of life, the way we conduct ourselves through those activities.

 

In places of Corrales the speed limit is 15 miles per hour and 20 miles per hour and these are not even school zones! It makes me aware of how much hurry colors my life in Batavia. Betty and I were talking about how low can one set the cruise control on the newer cars? I remembered that a few years ago I read about "hurry sickness," defined as a malaise in which a person feels chronically short of time, and so tends to perform every task faster and to get flustered when encountering any kind of delay."

 

There is also the tendency of Type A personalities to rush through things. "The person with type A personality traits often feels an urgent need to complete a task. This type of time sensitive urgency is relative to impatience. In turn, those around the type A personality traits may confuse the time-urgent sensitivity as bad manners or boorish behavior. The concern for the type A personality is that they are [may be] unable to control the time sensitive urges. There is a need to move quicker and achieve maximum amounts of activity in a minimum amount of time. This can be very frustrating to the type A personality. The extreme type A may feel controlled by time and urgency and are often unable to overcome the need to continue at a faster pace."

While learning these things I was challenged to go the speed limit or 5 mph under the limit on the freeways. It was hard for me. I do often unconsciously approach life with a barrel racing mindset. Do the job, round the barrels in the correct order, race back to the finish line and crash through the gateway on a horse who is galloping as fast as it can. Then "off to the next event!" Wow! The problem illustrated once again with a fresh perspective.

Cultivating holy silence and centering in Christ have been good ways for me to modify my behavior. Coming to New Mexico for extended rest and time for contemplation has untold benefits. Tomorrow I will try to summarize what L. Brent Bill wrote in Holy Silence about learning to sense my own need for silence.

 

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Tamaya Resort

Thursday afternoon we took a lovely walk through the cottonwood trees, along the Rio Grande River, the area called the 'Bosque.' What a gorgeous day in New Mexico! The water was higher than the last time Dan and Betty strolled here. The sky was lovely, the coloring along the ground subtle. The fallen cottonwood leaves captured the light in a way that I thought the camera might ruin. I did not even try to take a photo of that. We did not find cranes, but Canada Geese jumped out of the water, lined up on the bank like soldiers, and then took flight as if to show the girl from Ohio their great formation in case she had never see them!

Below is our view from the patio where we ate our lunch. There was a slight breeze which kept the sun from making us too hot, and reminded us that, yes, this is still January.

Reading Holy Silence yesterday morning the author quoted Tayeko Yamanouchi as saying:

 

As I silence myself I become more sensitive to the sounds around me, and I do not block them out. The songs of birds, the rustle of the wind, children in the playground, the roar of an airplane overhead are all taken into my worship ... I think of myself like the tree planted by the "rivers of water" in Psalm 1, sucking up God's gift of life and being restored.

The walk together was refreshing. It is lovely to be in the company of friends who do not require constant conversation. We observed the light in the trees fallen and still growing, the rolling waterway, the earth.

 

During our lunch the laborers were working on the roof next door and their compressor putted and snorted throughout our lunch. But even that distraction could not distract from the grandeur and great silence of the Sandia mountains.

 

Another New Mexico memory formed, complete with a great bar-b-que lunch from the "Bosque-Q' at the resort.

 

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Sun Rise in Corrales, New Mexico

Beige blinds transformed
into lemon curd
as blazing sun rises over
watermelon mountain.
Paint us, too, with Your light,
Father, arise in our hearts.

No, I cannot look into Your face, my Father,
any more than I can stare right at the
sun rising over Sandia Crest.
Yet, just as the mist graces the unlit portion of the mountain
I can stand in Your midst
by sheltering my eyes in the silencing of my soul.

Wash me with Your light, my Lord.
Come, Holy Spirit, ignite my soul.
Embrace me, Father, and lead me further
into Your Kingdom.

I once wrote that we can be as still
as New Mexico rock formations.
Psalm 91:4 declares "He will cover you with His feathers,
and under His wings you will find refuge;
His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart."
And, even so, this portrait in the rock calls me

to rest under His wings 

(see the bird wings over the woman)

and be still.

 

The wings of the Holy Spirit at La Ventana Arch in New Mexico.

(The face on the rock reminds me so much of the facial features of my mother! One day I will scan her photo with this one.)

 

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Drawn to the Fountain of Life

Words of wisdom from Oswald Chambers. Wish I could have met and and known the man in person!

The most important rule for us is to concentrate on keeping our lives open to God. Let everything else including work, clothes, and food be set aside. The busyness of things obscures our concentration on God. We must maintain a position of beholding Him, keeping our lives completely spiritual through and through. Let other things come and go as they will; let other people criticize us as they will; but never allow anything to obscure the life that “is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). Never let a hurried lifestyle disturb the relationship of abiding in Him. This is an easy thing to allow, but we must guard against it. The most difficult lesson of the Christian life is learning how to continue “beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord . . . .”

So how might we do this in a day to day rhythm? Each time you sip a beverage, focus on Him, Use your life circumstances to journey towards Him. Make "keeping your life open to God" the first and strongest priority. There is an old hymn that goes "Open my eyes that I may see glimpses of truth thou hast for me; place in my hands the wonderful key that shall unclasp and set me free. Silently now I wait for thee, ready my God, they will to see. Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit divine!

My prayer today is that you and I might open our lives to God in a deeper, truer way, that His name might be glorified in and through us.

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