He split rocks in the wilderness.

He split rocks in the wilderness
And gave them abundant water to drink like the ocean depths.

Yet He commanded the skies above
    and opened the doors of heaven,

 and He rained down on them manna to eat

    and gave them the grain of heaven. Psalm 78

Enough.

Enough echoed throughout my thoughts yesterday: on the steep before-breakfast walk-a-round with momma, on the straight forward drive across dry plains to Bisbee, and here again this morning, at the The Rooming House watching yet one more sunrise climb up the surrounding slopes, just before I head up Cross Hill with the workaway volunteer, Amy.

Actually, what I heard was the Spanish or Italian translation, ¡Basta! with a much stronger exclamation: to implore someone to stop their train of thought or dialogue. I'm not hearing anymore of this! I'm not listening anymore! That's enough. Stop!

Another example of when you may use the word basta is when someone is filling your plate and there is enough food on it. One thing about traveling with Rachel is that we pretty much eat tasty food nonstop. Especially chocolate. A sweet reminder of what filled up and overflowing really feels like.

And the LORD God Almighty is very, very weary of His beloved Israelite children in Psalm 78. Of their moping and mumbling instead of rejoicing in the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, instead of telling of His great might and power and the wonderful works that He has done; forgetting His incredible works And His miraculous wonders that He had shown them. And in their hearts they put God to the test By asking for food according to their selfish appetite.

Therefore, when the Lord heard, He was full of wrath;
A fire was kindled against them,
And His anger mounted up,
Because they did not believe in God; they did not rely on Him, they did not adhere to Him,
And they did not trust in His salvation, His power to save.

Enough.

Basta.

Dear, dear child Christy.

Cannot you not understand?

Enough.

Basta.

Lay down your lists and expectations, your longings for leeks, and open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

Listen, O my people, to my teaching;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth and be willing to learn.

I am the plate of deliciousness.

I am Enough.

I AM.

Warm and clean is pretty good this early in the morning.

Satisfy us by your loving-kindness in the morning so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life. Psalm 90:14

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Colossians 3:1–2

Sitting here in McDonald’s. McDonald’s desperately trying to be ironic and cool. But really, it is McDonald’s. But I am content, watching each of the folks slipping in to get something warm for the belly.  Folks from the backroads of life, making it through another day. Probably this isn’t anyone’s first choice, but it is enough. The happiest folks here are this sweet couple who might have slept in the alley behind the dumpster last night. Just saying. A few dried weeds still cling to her blue sweatshirt as she gently leads her crippled friend to the booth behind me.

Enough. Give us this day our daily bread. Last night I curled off to sleep with yet another chapter of Through Middle Eastern Eyes, and was reminded once again of what is true. A small coffee and a sausage biscuit, $2.14. Enough.

May I be satisfied with your loving-kindness and rejoice all the days of my life.

Basta, once again.

Let my mouth be full of Your praise and Your glory all the day long. Psalm 71:8

So I am so done. Analyzing. Remembering. Murmuring. Fretting.

Let my mouth be full of Your praise.  And Your glory. And nuthin’ else, all day long.

basta

You crave for something and don’t get it, you are jealous and envious of what others have got and you don’t possess it yourselves. Consequently in your exasperated frustration you struggle and fight with one another. You don’t get what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And when you do ask he doesn’t give it to you, for you ask in quite the wrong spirit—you only want to satisfy your own desires.

You are like unfaithful wives, flirting with the glamour of this world, and never realizing that to be the world’s lover means becoming the enemy of God! Anyone who deliberately chooses to love the world is thereby making himself God’s enemy. Do you think what the scriptures have to say about this is a mere formality? James 4:2-6

I read a guest opinion in the New York Times this morning with this lead sentence: IN my last year on Wall Street my bonus was $3.6 million — and I was angry because it wasn’t big enough. 

And the guy goes on to detail what this love of the world looks like tastes like and feels like. The nagging envy that woke him every morning.  I am uncertain what a deliberate choice looks like; most of us are more like lobsters in pots, slowly simmering away in our own juices until it is too late.

The unfaithful wives metaphor holds true…it is all about flirting. Batting eyelashes at the glitter but trying to stay just this side of the pretend line in the dust. But Christ explains that the lust of the eye is just as incriminating as the actual romp. We all live it in this image-driven society. The sidelong glance that shifts into fondling caresses that bubble up into green-sludge jealousy.

And where it all leads, at least in my life is ingratitude. It is all pornography, lies airbrushed into my mind, Lies that squeeze and twist all hopes of enough. It is never beautiful enough. Tasty enough. Clever enough. Exotic enough. Especially Him. 

Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child with his mother, Like a weaned child is my soul within me.