Finding God, Simply

A friend of mine is well-read and informed in the areas and aspects of healthy foods and nutrition.

Because of her desire to maintain her own good health, and to do her best to help her family to be healthy; she has spent much time and effort reading, studying, comparing, and learning what foods/meals are best and what we'd be better off without.

The interesting thing is, she keeps telling me that no matter how you try to vary your foods, it always comes back to the fact that the most healthy foods are the ones closest to nature; meaning, closest to their original form in nature; as God created them.

This would mean that it is better for us to eat berries, nuts, fruits, plants, and meats, rather than pastas, canned goods, or any of the hundreds of pre-packaged items that many people use today because they are quick, convenient, and easy to make.

I'm convinced that what my friend tells me is true. I've even read articles that compare various fruits and nuts and beans to the different areas of a woman's body and then describes how each of those foods tend to nurture those specific body parts/functions. Interesting!

As I began to ponder this more, I realized that I believe the same can be said about "finding God" or "feeling His presence" in our daily lives. The closer we get to the "natural" form of things, the easier it is to "hear His voice" and "feel Him" there. Don't you agree?

Think of the following things:

* traffic sounds
* a busy office space
* crowded streets
* a bustling department store or restaurant
* loud music, television, video games
* telephones ringing
* tall buildings, close together, for miles and miles

Now these:

* a gentle wind, making rustling noises in the leaves of the trees
* a sunrise or sunset
* a babbling brook
* waves crashing upon the shore
* birds of prey soaring in the air
* fields of flowers
* rich, brown, moist soil
* candles, lighted and giving a warm, soft glow
* a vast expanse of beach
* mountains
* early morning bird-song
* crickets chirping in the evening
* silence

I don't know about you, but the second list immediately evokes feelings of peacefulness, calm, beauty, and God, for me; while the first makes me feel a bit tense, cluttered, stuffy, and needing a breath of fresh air.

I think this might be why the Scriptures tell us to "be still" and "know that He is God".

God has showered His blessings and His holy presence upon the earth so that we will not feel lonely or forsaken in our journey toward heaven. His creations pour forth His voice, His love, His goodness, His magnificence, and His steadfast and quiet "being" among us.

If we are always rushing, always adding more things, more events, more business, more "whatever", without making time and space and putting forth effort to see and hear and experience some of the things in the second list, we will miss out on the opportunity to be spiritually healthy; just as those who clog their bodies with pre-packaged foods, loaded and crowded with preservatives and carcinogens, will be physically unhealthy.

God is natural. God loves simplicity. God loves quiet. God loves us and wants us to be spiritually healthy, just as my friend wants her family to be physically healthy. And, like her, the Lord has spent a lot of time and effort providing us with all of the things we need to rest, relax, and feed our souls; and to be close to Him, always, as we work out our Salvation on this earth.

It's up to us to make the time to get away from the busy-ness, the crowds and clutter and cacophony of the modern world, and find a way to touch base with the "natural"; for the closer we get to that, the easier it is to find Him.