Thursday, November 8, 2012

I Found God Today

Sometimes in life we find what we least expect and those tiny bits of unexpectedness are sometimes the greatest of all gifts...

I had just woken up to the peaceful song of the birds and I was about to begin my routine day, when something stirred inside me; something was different. I had a odd feeling to kneel down before some guy that everyone talked about and thank him for such a beautiful morning. I felt like I needed his friendship even though I had no idea who he was. My mother used to speak of him and his distant yet overwhelming love. She used to speak so kindly of him and in the sweetest voice I had ever heard my mother speak. If she could love this mysterious man in such a deep way I felt as if I should finally, after years of living alone, extend my voice to this wonderful man and long for his response.

So I knelt down and thanked this stranger for all the good that he had put in my life and asked him to continue blessing me and my mother. I thanked him for the love that he showed my mother as she raised me alone after she fled from my drunk, abusing father. I thanked him for being the anchor of my mothers life because in result her sturdiness has taught me to be strong. I ended my prayer with the words "I love you." And I sat there in perfect, still silence...

I LOVE YOU?????

 The peace in my mind was then overrun by mere confusion. I just told a stranger that I loved him. I know nothing of this man yet my heart felt the urge to proclaim thanks and love to him.  How could this be? What kind of spirit could have overtaken me and made me feel so close to a figure that was so far away?.. No answers came to mind but only confusion.

I put off the happenings of this morning and I continued along with my routine and after I showered, I proceeded to make breakfast. It was an egg and toast kind of morning. With my breakfast in my lap, I motioned to flip on the television but as I began to reach for the remote, I noticed the peaceful essence about the house and I didn't want to disturb the calm. So instead of the remote I reached for the blinds to the window and I proceeded to watch the front yard with more of a gentle heart than normal. The flowers seemed brighter. The songs of the sweet bird's singing sounded sweeter than ever before. The sun had a brilliant radiance about it that words cannot suffice while trying to describe its beauty. Something was different about today.

I was leaving to work and I almost got into my car when something hit me. I looked at my watch and realized that I had 25 extra minutes this morning and I felt a urge to walk to work today. To give you a little background... I have lived in my house for the past five years and I live less than a mile away from work and I have NEVER walked. Why would this thought occur to me now after five years of driving? I had no idea but you know I had no idea why I bowed my head this morning to a stranger but it must mean something. Maybe I should walk to work today I thought...

So I listened to that tiny voice in my head with my suitcase in hand and I joyfully walked to work. Step by step, I noticed how captivating everything that the world had to offer truly was. The colors of fall were all around me and I was brought to tears and sobbing even. The cool breeze in the early morning of that day in November had topped it off. I couldn't take it anymore. I found myself on a bench in the park drowning in tears but I was completely happy. The happiest that I could have ever recalled. Why was I crying if I was so "happy"?

The tears continued to drip and the sniffling of my nose hadn't stopped.  Then, in that newly found sanctuary from the ordinary, routine world, I was impressed again to call out for that stranger that my Mother had so dearly beloved. I longed to thank him again for all he gave me.

By this point in the morning, change came easy to me and I was beginning to accept it well. So I, called out into the darkness of the unknown and I asked him if he was there. There was no direct response and honestly it threw me off guard but nonetheless I called again and I heard nothing but something stirred inside me; something was different. My ears did not hear and my eyes did not see but my heart DID feel. I felt of the love that my mother had described to me again and again growing up. She always told me that even we could not see or hear him, he was always there, right beside us, matching us step by step. I never thought anything of this stranger except that he loved my mom and my mom loved him. I had never known for myself but I, by then wanted to know. I wanted to know more about this feeling.

I called the lady I had planned to see, Ms. Margarete, a sweet women I may add, and I called off my appointment with her that morning. I needed to know more about these strange happenings today.
I needed to know the stranger as well as my mother did.

With tears still in my eyes I sat on that park bench on that cool morning crying out with a  tone of despair, begging for answers but none came. Nothing came at first but then I found myself mortified by a surprising hand on my shoulder.

The two men who stood behind me offered their help and promised a way to dry up the tears that I had wept. They spoke of genuine happiness and of a man that could fulfill that promise...

They said they wore His name on their name tags, above their hearts for a reason...





*This is an original writing of Riley Royer







I love this painting. Take a second and enjoy.