Thursday, October 16

By Karen Tousley Hutchinson of Loveland, Colorado, USA

I lift up my eyes to the hills—from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

—Psalm 121:1–2 NRSV

From where will my help come? God surrounds us and meets us through our senses. Psalm 72:6 says “May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass…” Who has smelled a rainy day after mowing the grass? What a gift to think of God that way—sending comfort through scent!

It is all encompassing. It surrounds us, and we cannot escape it. It fills our being, and so does God! What a wonderful thought. Even when I want to run away and hide, I am pulled back into God’s presence. I cannot escape.

I was struggling through a troubled year that I would rather have avoided. I did not want God’s presence in my life to be nearly as encompassing as it was. I saw it as a demand, rather than the gift it was. I kept trying to run away. People I loved died. There were surgeries and heart attacks. It seemed that overwhelming sorrows continually surrounded me.

I had only to lift my eyes to the hills and smell the mown grass after the rain. The scent kept pulling me back into God’s presence.

There are still times I want to run away from God’s love, but I have found there is no place to hide. Praise God for the comfort and the persistence of divine Presence.

Prayer for Peace Ever-present God, you seek us when we try to hide. You embrace us when we try to evade you. When we would flee, you are present. When we would escape, the fragrances of your Earth remind us of your presence. Help us realize when we are vulnerable to you, we are free.

Spiritual Practice: Fragrance Remember or find a way to experience directly a fragrance you enjoy (fresh flowers, candle, fresh bread, pine trees, sea air, spices). Ask God to help you see a situation for which you sense God’s call to bring harmony and healing. Pray that you might spread the peace of Christ as fragrantly and generously as the aroma you now experience.

Peace Covenant Today, God, I will keep my senses keen to experience your Presence in creation.