The Magic of 5:37 AM

As I stepped out on the green lawn at 5:37 AM there was absolute stillness. Then from across the lake came a rapid tapping of a wood pecker. Mixed with that, the daybreak was alive with other birds calling each other. The stillness that I thought was there – was not. Everybody was already up and working at what they do best – enjoying the wonderful day breaking in front of their beaks and paws.

We are a few miles from Huntsville in middle Ontario enjoying a time of refreshing. It is so good to be quiet… to not worry and to let go. My wife and I were invited to be a part of the a wonderful conference far, far away from the norm of our lives – where even in retirement we have been caught up in the weird of normal.

Normally I should be stretching at home to get going for another day. Now the only thing that has happened – I am trapped on the edge of stillness and loving the call of a crow from a tall tree down the shore. The seagull has already looked into our patio window to see if I am up and the gentle water is ever so lightly breaking the perfect mirror of 5:00 AM.

5:37 AM is gone and 6:08 AM just appeared. Time is moving steadily toward a warm day in paradise. But there is stillness in me and around me. My soul is resting.
The last time I was here – about four years ago I was worrying and fretting what would come next in my life. I doubted and struggled with some very difficult thoughts of the future. I was a Pastor of a “significant church”. I worried what I would preach about next Sunday – struggled with how we would deal with the lack of finances and worried what the next months would unroll at the church.

This time I have entered what I worried about – retirement. I am free. I am enjoying this more than I ever thought I would. This is an immense moment of freedom and joy. God has become God over everything. There is no more need to worry of be overly concerned about everyone except my family.

If this is what retirement is all about – I have just passed into the next stage of really enjoying it with no more of that past… Thank you God…

Now add to that we are sharing actively what is happening with Misty Hollow Carving and the work that I now enjoy so much. People are flocking to what we have to show and say. This is far better than anything I would have imagined… far, far, far better. In fact it almost seems unfair to have so much fun.

I am sorry – it is time to step outside again… and take a deep breath of freedom. It is 6:17 AM and time for a long walk….

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/