“The beauty of evergreen forests, waterfalls, green meadows, and being close to a wild elk herd was incredibly therapeutic and worshipful – a wow time of wonder that thrilled my soul.” –Charlett Smith, Fruit of the Vine

Query: Do you have enough quiet in your life to listen for and notice God’s presence with you?

We lay down our seeds in the dark.

Spring has been exceptionally cold

this year. Reluctant daffodils

have done little to convince me.

But we do the work of the faithful

farmer, rising in the predawn hours.

It is a chosen hiddenness, a subtle

stretching over time, ear bent to listen

to the ground, ready for instruction.

Slow, rhythmic movements are best.

Sometimes we simply show up,

holding borrowed pain, applying tears

or not. With a gentle but demanding attention

to detail, we prepare the soil.

We plant. We wait.

–Nancy Thomas, from “Secret Sowers” in Close to the Ground