NEW FUN,OLD LESSONS

It is a few days after Christmas and I’m trying a new sport, cross-country skiing. I feel uptight, and I am struggling to remember all the instruction I received the day before. I want to do this sport just right and right now!

My teacher is not around to judge me, and the few skiers who pass by me could probably care less how I’m doing. As long as I don’t fall (and it is a quite hard for me to get back up), does it matter that my form and technique are not so great? This longer beginner trail opens into a field area.

It is gently snowing now. I am concentrating on my feet, but hear gurgling water. The trail is crossing a small brook. The brook is partially frozen and those parts are snow covered, but the open spots allow me to see and hear the swiftly moving water. After a quick glance, I go back to concentrating on my feet again.

Then something makes me stop. Hey! I’m on vacation. I have no time pressures. I’m in a beautiful winter wonderland and hardly noticing. Why do I feel the need to be in a hurry and so much a perfectionist? Just my nature, I suppose. But there is no necessity for it right now, so I stay still, trying to absorb the environment – absorb it enough so that I can recall it fully later. That’s when I notice the quiet. Except for the water, there is no other noise. No birdcalls or cars passing by. Just an incredible quiet.

“Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10a). “He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes” (Psalm 147:16). That’s why I’m out here! Learning another way to find God in His creation. When I start off again, I’m more relaxed. I take quite awhile to finish the trail, but that’s OK. I paid much more attention to my surroundings, taking time to enjoy the beauty of the snow-covered trees, fields and the gurgling brooks. AND I only fell twice!

— Barbara Carter

Courtesy of The Church of the Good Shepherd United Methodist