“……..You know, I must remember,
until my last breath goes out
to ask. To try, every time, one last time

that it’s just a door or a step
or a whole short life to get there.”…….
~ David Whyte

The past several days have been a whirlwind of trying to re-enter my real, every day life after being in another rhythm, the rhythm of travel. This living out of a suitcase has its merits. Things become very simple when you have only a few pieces of clothing and all your worldly possession fit into a small, compact container. Re-entry requires dealing with all the other stuff, literal and figurative, that are the on-the-ground, not-traveling life. I am fully aware that both states are pure gift.

Returning to the work I do in helping plan worship I have found that the scriptures we are exploring come from the book of Job. Never light reading! And I have also been privileged to be working on a day long event with poet, author and leadership consultant David Whyte which will happen next week. So, I have been reading his work again which led me to these few lines from his poem titled ‘September 2001’. The poem is an account of arriving in an airport hotel in what I imagine are the days after the September 11 attacks. He finds himself surrounded, as most airport hotels are, with concrete and parking lots for as far as the eye can see. He is searching for a place that is green, a place where he can get some respite from the travel and the asphalt. When he asks the hotel reception clerks about such a place they quickly say there is no such area near by. But another person overhears and breaks in to tell him of a preserve he can get to.

Reading this poem I was once again reminded of how the natural world, Creation, was a balm for me in the days of confusion, questions and fear that lingered over us all in September 2001. But what struck me most about the poem is his imploring to the reader to ask for what they need, to step out of the rhythm of life and to put themselves in the care of others. This was a gift that I found in my recent travel experiences.

So often I walk through the world just trying to figure things out on my own. I am determined to always appear as if I know what I am doing. Even in places that are unfamiliar I move ahead, often not looking side to side, as if I know the path or the hidden gems I most often walk by. I assume it is some quirk about not wanting to appear without confidence, wanting to believe myself knowledgable. But doing this often causes me to miss out on some amazing opportunities.

And so on this recent journey I had decided before hand that I was going to ask more questions, risk appearing like a tourist, place myself in all the vulnerability being in a foreign place can offer. What happened was amazing and led to real conversations with people who were so happy to share their lives, their ideas. It resulted in going to places that had not made it to the itinerary and the discovery of both beauty and the ordinary. Many led to the moments of heaven that are interlaced within each and every blessed day. When we are awake. When we ask the questions.

Are you looking for some moments laced with heaven? Perhaps they are just a question away.