There are many parts of Nancy Ortberg’s book that I have heard directly from Grandmother Pa’Ris’Ha. So, reading Nancy Ortberg’s book “Looking for God” I would like to share some of her stories. She shares how she had a problem with morning quiet time. The first 30 minutes of each morning that she was to be silent in meditation with God and later share any insights gained during this time. And if she missed this daily quiet time, she was filled with guilt for having done so. There came a point in her life where it was truly impossible for her to find that 30 minutes each morning of quiet time with God. In fact, never was there a more oxymoronic phrase to her than quiet time. In those days she had to fight to go to the bathroom by herself, and when she did make it there alone, one or both kids were always on the other side of the door, pounding and calling to her.
“Mommy,
can we come in?”
“No.”
“Mommy, when are you coming out?”
“In a minute.”
“Mommy, is a minute up yet?”
She had never known what it was like to wake up tired, treating ear infections
and teething. Her nights became staccato notes of sleep. When she did wake up,
the kids were either crying to be fed or unrolling toilet paper from the
bathroom down the hall and wrapping the cat.
Days and weeks would go by before she had any quiet time to “talk to God.” When she did open the Bible to read, she either lost her train of thought or fell asleep! She began to panic. In this early stage of motherhood, she desperately needed God but was unable to connect how she thought she should. She began to figure she would plan to either meet God again in about six years when all the kids would be in school or find other ways to connect with God but she did not know any other ways. But God did.
She was feeling about 12 months pregnant and her other two children were growing fussier as the day went on. She was exhausted. So, she gathered the children in the car and headed towards the park, a perfect place for them to run off steam before dinner. As they played, she sat down on a park bench and watched them. God’s plan was to show her a window.
Her children dug in the sand, skipped around trying to catch the ducks and the warmth of the sun soothed them all as it silhouetted their redheaded profiles. She sat watching, relaxed and suddenly it dawned on her with great impact how very deeply she loved her children, in an unexpected visceral response. She felt her heart bursting with love for them, so much so that she fought back tears and her throat tightened with such overwhelming deep emotions and love for her children.
Simultaneously, God chose this moment to send a tsunami that absolutely blindsided her. She heard God whisper to her “And that’s just the tip of the iceberg as to how much I love you.” God had used this moment when she was open to overwhelm and break through that coating with what her heart needed and that it was just a peek, nowhere near the fullness of God’s love.
Ephesians 3:18 Paul said he prayed that they might have the power to understand just how wide, how long, how high, and how deep God’s love is.
The encounter she had on that park bench went beyond any experience she had ever had during a quiet time. God began to show her there were so many ways to deepen her relationship with God, to know and experience God and the park bench counted as much as the quest time did.
She climbed out of her boxed view and widened her perspective of experiencing God whom she began to realize was present all throughout her day; she only needed to pay attention. So, she began to have quiet times all over the place! Grandmother Pa’Ris’Ha has often asked “where is God Not?”
She makes the analogy of referring the Les Misérables’s when Jean Valjean, near death, sings to his adopted daughter, Cosette, “to love another person is to see the face of God.” This struck such a deep chord within her, that she wondered why that phrase had never been in the Bible. Only to have her husband come to her one day, opening the Bible to Genesis 33:10 and read to her the words of Jacob, reunited with Esau after such a long time: “For to see your face is like seeing the face of God.” From that time, whenever I looked into the face of a dear friend, that became my quiet time, as looking into the face of God.
She also began to appreciate things more in her life; for example, a good meal that she did not have to cook. Steve Evans, a noted Christian philosopher, says that perhaps the best proof for the existence of God is banana cream pie and she thought he was onto something. She deeply reflected on the good nature of God and what it means to “taste and see that the Lord is good.” Psalm 34.8.
What a joy it was for her to realize that from the first moment she awoke in the morning to when she closed her eyes at night, we have been given a variety of ways to connect with God. Grandmother Pa’Ris’Ha has shared with us with each new day “I am again reborn to the Great Earth Mother…” For instance, in traveling on vacation, they came upon a magnificent scenic view at Yosemite. People intuitively were whispering as if it were sacred ground. Everyone was in awe as they witnessed what can happen with a wave of God’s hand, like a stroke of a paint brush. The magnificence of creation and the breathtaking beauty of God, whose spirit is within each of us. All this to her was a quiet time and it counts.
So, I would like to ask you, when have you looked into the eyes and face of God? I remember looking at a newborn baby and exclaimed, I’m looking at the face of God. Another time, I was a volunteer with severely disabled adults and children. They had no control of their throat muscles so I was holding them in my lap as I poured the liquid food down their throat bit by bit. Our eyes connected and mine filled with tears as my heart burst open. I knew I was looking into the eyes of God. I encourage you to look into the mirror at your reflection and view yourself looking into the eyes of God, within each of us. I have adopted in my life the powerful statement of Grandmother Pa’Ris’Ha teachings which say, ‘Of myself I am a No Thing Of my God I am All things.”
Nancy continues in her book that her friend had given birth to a little girl. As she gazed at her, she was overwhelmed by this gift. With tears in her eyes and a heart overflowing, her response was simple gratitude. It was a prayer whispered to God from a full heart that had just been filled even more. She couldn’t believe there was room for more and she was filled with appreciation.
Nancy contends the power of gratitude is both breathtaking and centering. She compares it to the lines of nuclear power, making our lives richer and freer … a direct link to the goodness of God, an unending source of hope and power and faith. Grandmother Pa’Ris’Ha has demonstrated for us over and over that through broadcasting appreciation there is an energy that grows. God is in the everyday ordinary as well as extraordinary magnificence of everyday life. As she watched a magnificent sunset at Malibu beach with a group of people, she says they all stood there quietly, as if they had purchased a ticket to a show and were watching this grand display. She wanted to shout, “You are watching God! You are attendees of one of God’s many shows that give clues to God’s goodness. This sacred world.”
She shares a similar sensation when she and her family joined a group of others to view the Mavericks, the biggest waves in the world that hit 30 to 50 feet and the dream of many experienced surfers. They watched with a sort of reverence. They mostly whispered, although no one told them to. It was as if, for that moment, they were on holy ground. Because they were.
Gratitude is a powerful force. She relates it to a power that occurs when someone who is facing deep difficulties expresses an authentic and profound gratitude. She had been a nurse and was attending a 14-year-old girl who had her leg amputated just below the knee. The girl lifted her amputated leg up above the bubbling water for her to see and said, “Look at how much I have left!” She explained that since the doctors were able to amputate below the knee it was much easier to fit a prosthesis and she wondered how long it would take to heal so she could get started with that.
This made her realize our gratitude and appreciation are ways in which we worship God. Hebrews 12:28 says “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and so worship God.”
Jesus acknowledged that gratitude was a way to praise God. In Luke 17:11-19, Jesus cured 10 lepers and 9 went on their way and only 1 of the ten came and threw himself at the feet of Jesus to give thanks before going on his way. Jesus commended his reaction and Luke made sure this was written down so we don’t forget to be grateful.
She shares another time when she was in an airplane at night. The sky was dark and the captain’s voice announced to look out the window to see the Northern Lights. She describes it as thick bands of neon green lights dancing and rippling through the dark sky, like gossamer ribbons strung from the top of the universe, swaying back and forth for their entertainment. Absolutely magnificent. Everyone looked on in amazement with hushed tones. She recognized a laughing, whimsical God, a creative and interactive God who, in creating this wonderful world, decided that when solar particles interact with the earth’s magnetic field, they might as well give us a show. So, wherever we are throughout the days of our lives, we will see things that cause our hearts to well with gratitude if we allow it. We can see God everywhere. All we must do, she says, is to connect the dots. Grandmother Pa’Ris’Ha included in her morning prayer, May my eyes rest upon 1,000 beautiful things and may my hands touch 100sacred objects.”
-PC
