And dozens of pools in all directions.

“See, I will create
    new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
    nor will they come to mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever
    in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
    and its people a joy.
I will rejoice over Jerusalem
    and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
    will be heard in it no more. Isaiah 65:17-19

But the Lord answered: ‘Martha, Martha,’ he said, ‘you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part, it is not to be taken from her.’ Luke 10:42

To return to God means to return to God with all that I am and all that I have. God’s love is a jealous love. God wants not just a part of me, but all of me. Only when I surrender myself completely to God’s parental love can I expect to be free from endless distractions, ready to hear the voice of love, and able to recognize m own unique call.

It is going to be a very long road. Every time I pray, I feel the struggle. It is the struggle of letting God be the God of my whole being. It is the struggle to trust that true freedom lies hidden in total surrender to God’s love. Henri Nouwen, The Road to Daybreak

For the joy set before me, I follow in the way of the cross: Not my will, but Your will be done. And Jesus showed us what it means to live with The Big Picture clearly in mind, singlemindedness, undistracted by all of the little no-see-um gnats swirling around our faces. And in our thoughts. And like Peter, I need to wash my feet every day, wash off my dustiness that clings to my flesh. To sit at His feet and be reminded of His sweet love. And.

And nothing else. To choose one thing. Because nothing else matters. It will not be remembered nor will come to mind.

In Lewis’ Magician’s Nephew there is this leafy world between the world. A silent place of bright and warm green daylight. And dozens of pools in all directions. Other worlds full of the unknown and unexpected. And this screened in back porch in Norwich, Vermont is my silent place. My sitting at His feet and listening to Him speak place.

But Mary’s love was not a passive cozy love. There is more than one way to sit at His feet. This is the same Mary who took a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume, and poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped His feet with her hair. It is a costly whole-hearted love. Listening is doing. Obeying. Jesus stepped into the swirling, madding crowd after His pre-dawn prayers of refreshment with the Father. It is a love of power and courage. A rolling up one’s sleeves love because a mighty battle is taking place and I do not want to be distracted from my call, the works for which I was created, and for which He came. The abundant life of beauty and strength, reflective of Our Father.

And Danny Silk has a declaration to speak, which is helpful for folks like me that have trouble articulating what is going on in their hearts:

I know the Spirit of power and love is at work in me.

I can love at all times through Christ who strengthens me.

I am courageous with my love.

My goal is connection, not distance.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done. On earth as it is in heaven.