1000 Fields of Roses

Here’s a word I’ve been using lately….

Navigate
–  sail or travel over (a stretch of water or terrain), esp. carefully or with difficulty
– guide (a vessel or vehicle) over a specified route or terrain
– make one’s way with difficulty over (a route or terrain)
ORIGIN late 16th cent. from Latin navigat- ‘sailed,’ from the verb navigare, from navis ‘ship’ + agere ‘drive.’

– sail across/over, sail, travel/journey/voyage across/over, cross, traverse, negotiate, pass.

It’s been on my mind a lot, especially while I’m praying…. I could stretch it to mean myself as a ship, sailing through my life…. I’ve just been using it to mean travelling, or negotiating…
Lately it feels almost like walking on a knife edge…. following the narrow path that God has laid out for me… being careful not stray into the things that may be good in themselves, but just not for me, right now. The word “navigate” has always conjured a picture for me of negotiating a path, with obstacles and dangers on either side. I know that I have a safe Guide 😀

The other part of my musing has been about other people’s journeys…. obviously, we are all given our own path, and the one we’re on may not make much sense to others. And we’re all on different stages of the journey anyway…
I have very deep beliefs about some things. I believe certain things to be true – immutable. Others may disagree. While that should not be a problem to me (if I truly believe something, I should not be threatened by someone else disagreeing 😀 )  I can still embrace others without losing myself… Being respectful of someone does not mean that I have to agree with them.

So, this afternoon, while musing, yet again, I remembered this bit from a book.. to me, it’s a great description of the Christian life. There’s a specific bit that brought up “navigation” to me (I’ll italicise it) but it’s all good (and pretty much sums up what I was trying to say above. But better…) In the book, it comes after a character has been accused of “ungodly liberalism” – this is her reply –

“There is nothing liberal about coming down the road that another human being is travelling, to meet them and bring them to safety. If that is liberal, then God is a liberal. There is nothing liberal about helping people to smash the false gods and images of religion or worldliness that have let them down and given them nothing over the years. If doing that is liberal, then God is a liberal. There is nothing liberal about using divine gifts of creativity and flexibility and ingenuity to open doors of understanding and delight in those who desperately need to know that compassion and care really are waiting for them in the arms of the Father. If that is liberal then the God who created this world is a liberal. There is nothing liberal about treading the narrowest path imaginable yourself, but throwing your arms as wide as they’ll go to greet and enfold as many others as possible. If that is liberal, then all the most godly men and women I’ve ever known are liberals. There is nothing liberal… about staying at the back of the expedition to tie shoelaces, and to encourage the fat ones and the slow ones and the ones whose feet hurt, rather than pushing triumphantly to the front of the line so that you can be the first to the ultimate destination. If doing that is liberal, then Jesus was the greatest liberal of them all.” – The Sacred Diary Of Adrian Plass Christian Speaker Aged 45 3/4 – Adrian Plass

The rest of the book is worth reading, as well…
Just my 2 cents… carry on…. 😀

This is the post I meant to write today! 😀

Yesterday we went shopping, and outside the shop, past the checkouts, there was a stand of flowers. There were bunches of bright yellow/orange narcissi (the shop called them jonquils), so I breathed in their wonderful scent. They made me smile….
When I first went to England, and I started to get regular pay, I would go down to the precinct on a Friday (when I got paid) to stock up on flowers…. it was Spring, when my favourite flowers bloomed. We were on a tight budget, but I could get bunches of daffodils and narcissi for a couple of pounds, and they brightened up the flat for days. Sometimes, if I was feeling flush 😀 I could get some irises, or, more rarely, tulips or freesia. Sometimes, in the early Spring, there would even be snowdrops. The fragrance of the narcissi brought back that time, with all its excitement and newness…

What else has made me smile the last couple of days?

Coffee! (Yeah!)

Time to chill out on the verandah.. drinking coffee 😀

My dearly loved family…

Being able to search through the Psalms with a couple of lovely friends, and talk about God!

Knowing I have other wonderful friends, dotted about the globe (you know who you are!)

Knowing that, despite everything, I am extravagantly and abundantly blessed!

There are so many more things throughout my days, the fleeting moments that make me catch my breath in wonder, or the recognition of miracles already there, but often unnoticed…

….but – how about you? What made you smile today? 😀