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This a monthly letter for those longing to slow down, seek still moments and behold God's presence with them in the everyday.

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Writings of a Beholder 🌿

a weekly letter for those longing to slow down, seek still moments, and behold God’s presence with them in the everyday.

Celia A. Miller

Oct 07, 2022

Weekly writings of a beholder 🌿

Skies of Hope

Well, it finally happened.

After three years of evading it, Covid finally came for me.

To say this week has been exhausting would be an understatement, and I had no idea how life-zapping this illness could be. Thankfully, my symptoms have been relatively mild; a fever for a few days, headache, fatigue, and the occasional body ache.

But it’s the fatigue and headache that have grated on my nerves the most, that I just can’t seem to shake even on day 5.

I’m not one that usually fares well when knocked out of her routine, but I was just sick enough not to care this time. My morning quiet time rhythm pretty much looked like me sitting on the couch with my tea and staring at the sky, most mornings not even having the mental capacity to say a prayer.

I sat, rested, and let the beauty of the sunrise hold me rather than me holding my Bible, a pen, or my journal.

Before testing positive for Covid this week, I’d been slowly reading my way through Isaiah 40. And as I stared at the sky too tired to reach for anything else, its lovely hues of peach and cerulean blue brought to mind verses 25-26,

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“To whom will you compare me?
    Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
    Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
    and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
    not one of them is missing." (NIV)

Father Richard Rohr once said that to behold the beauty of something is to be held by that beauty.

Maybe staring at the beauty of a sunrise when you feel too weak to utter a sound is really just a sacred form of prayer; one that doesn’t require words because it reaches past the dimensions of right now and lands in the midst of eternity.

Because it lands right in the heart and hands of our Heavenly Father.

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"Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.
 He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.
 Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
 but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint."

(Isaiah 40:28-31, NIV)

His understanding, no one can fathom.

So when you find yourself too tired to stand, sit with the Spirit, my friend. Drink a cup of tea with Him and watch the sunrise together. Invite Him into this very moment, as you are, not pretending to be someone you’re not or someone you think you should be.

If you’re tired, show up tired.

If you feel hopeless, show up hopeless.

If you feel alive and excited, show up that way, too.

Gaze on the beauty of the Lord, call on Him in your weariness, and He promises you the gift of His glory-filled Hope.

Maybe staring at the sky, standing in awe of a sunrise, is really an invitation to experience God’s rest.

Maybe staring at the sky is its own kind of reaching out for Hope.

xo,

celia

A breath prayer for your weekend

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breathe in:

I put my Hope, Lord. 

breathe out:

In You, today.

*if you’d like to learn more about the practice of breath prayer, check out this blog post I wrote titled, How to Use Breath Prayer.

Resources & fun things to pick up

Last week on the blog, I shared about a season of waiting that I experienced earlier this summer, and how I leaned into God through the closing of one door and the opening of another. Perhaps you’ll find encouragement in my story if you find yourself in a season of waiting and uncertainty: Altars & Open Doors: Learning to Behold God in the Waiting 🚪

One other thing I’ve explored this week as I haven’t felt very well is listening to Scripture. This morning, I sat with my tea, looked at the sky, and listened to this bonus podcast episode from Kari Bartkus at Love Does That where she reads three different Scriptures over you with her out loud voice.

Grab some helpful, beholding resources over on my Etsy shop, The Beholding Co. Available right now are some breath prayer cards, a spiral-bound journal, and a Lectio Divina Bible bookmark.

Grab a copy of my Bible study, You Are Beloved: a 21-day study on how to root your identity in the love of God, over on Amazon.

An invitation to pause & reflect

A regular practice of reflection helps us recognize what’s going on beneath the surface of our souls so that we can name it in the Lord’s presence. Because as we learn to name what we feel, what we need, and what we long for, we’re also learning to discern the Spirit’s sweet, gentle voice within our hearts and lives.

Take a few moments today or this weekend to journal or contemplate with the Holy Spirit the following question:

Pause and behold something beautiful today and invite the Holy Spirit into that moment. What might He have to say through it?