Your Kitchen Island – God’s Altar
22/06/11 15:11
If you like to eat – who doesn’t? -- you probably spend a good portion of every day at your island or cupboard. That is where you prepare your meals and those of your family. Many of us even eat there. A couple of year’s ago I gave my kitchen a facelift by painting my countertops. The kitchen cupboard and island has been my home altar for decades.
It’s not the place where I do my daily bible reading or study but it has been a place where God has spoken clearly to me many times. Problems have been solved chopping onions. Inspirations have come kneading bread. Tears of repentance have been shed rolling pie dough. Comfort has washed over me rinsing lettuce. And the Holy Spirit has often nudged me to make a call, take a meal, go and visit, send an email – reach out and touch – as I have been busy with food preparation.
Most of us never get time – or create time – for solitude and we assume that we are blocking God from really speaking to us by not making that silent space. In order to hear from God we think we have to book a weekend retreat at a monastery. Years fly by while we wait to have that window of time (and money) to calendar this spiritual hiatus. But our full schedules are more of a barrier to us than to God. He will find us right where we are. It is often when our hands are busy -- chopping, rinsing, rolling, stirring -- that our minds and hearts are open for Him to speak.
Before tying on your apron – okay, I know it’s only us Grammies who wear aprons! – click off the radio or tv or ipod and listen for that still small voice while you dice the carrots. Talk to Him – it’s called prayer but it’s really just a conversation between friends. Ask Him to reveal one simple, immediate, possible step you can take in His direction. And when He does, say yes with your feet – pick up the phone, send the email, grab your car keys…but if you’re a grammie, don’t forget to turn off your stove before you go. And take off your apron!
Most of us never get time – or create time – for solitude and we assume that we are blocking God from really speaking to us by not making that silent space. In order to hear from God we think we have to book a weekend retreat at a monastery. Years fly by while we wait to have that window of time (and money) to calendar this spiritual hiatus. But our full schedules are more of a barrier to us than to God. He will find us right where we are. It is often when our hands are busy -- chopping, rinsing, rolling, stirring -- that our minds and hearts are open for Him to speak.
Before tying on your apron – okay, I know it’s only us Grammies who wear aprons! – click off the radio or tv or ipod and listen for that still small voice while you dice the carrots. Talk to Him – it’s called prayer but it’s really just a conversation between friends. Ask Him to reveal one simple, immediate, possible step you can take in His direction. And when He does, say yes with your feet – pick up the phone, send the email, grab your car keys…but if you’re a grammie, don’t forget to turn off your stove before you go. And take off your apron!
You're my place of quiet retreat:
I wait for your Word to renew me. Ps 119:114 MSG