god is

I have acknowledged on previous occasions that I struggle to restore my spiritual life to a place where it doesn't feel threadbare. My inclination to pray is a mere whisper, the result of deep disappointment with God. My head believes. It's my heart that just can't muster up the wherewithal to engage.

I don't, however, give up. I make internal commitments to instill a new discipline that will grow and bloom into a life of its own. I have asked God for his help. I continue to sputter and flounder and flap in the proverbial wind. I wait.

And then some Simple Little Thing will come along that kindles the flame of my spirit and I feel connected again. The latest Simple Little Thing came in the form of an ad for a calendar: 12 Things God Wants You to Remember. Each month features a short phrase of encouragement, and as I read those phrases it was as though I was filling with light.

God is for you.
God loves you.
God will guide you.
God will not fail you.
God will be with you.
God will provide for you.
God will bless you.
God will give you rest.
God will strengthen you.
God will answer you.
God will uphold you.
God will keep you.

Simple statements. Life-giving words. Hope from which to draw nourishment.

There's a phrase that Ken uses to describe his prayers for others when they are facing a difficult or significant moment, event, or phase in their lives. He assures the one for whom he cares that he will "bathe you in prayer." It's a great phrase, but better still, he is a man of deep and committed prayer, and he follows through. It helps to live with someone who prays as he does. By osmosis I feel buoyed and at least tangentially connected to the divine.

Today as my soul rests in the joy of snow-covered everything, I feel bathed in the awareness that simple statements and the gladness of the soul reveal God's presence in my heart. There is hope, and there is help, because God is.