"Come To Me"

My computer is next to a window, so that as I type and think and pray each day I am always aware of the sounds outside. I say pray, because when the sounds are captivating--the song birds which come back every spring to nest in my neighbor's yard--I am drawn to prayer.

I used to be suspicious of prayer which is so clearly rooted in the wonder of God's creation. Perhaps because that kind of prayer seemingly doesn't go far enough, as far as the garden in which Jesus prayed before he was sent to a cross. We were warned in Divinity School about the limitations of a faith which never leaves the confines of nature.

Nowadays I feel free to drop everything and send a prayer of thanks to the God of all creation who gives us birds and flowers and beautiful Spring days, maybe because I better understand that this God is the triune God. Triune from the beginning , through the end of time, alpha and omega. And so it was the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who was in the garden of Eden, and the garden at Gethsemane. A prayer to the God of all creation is at the same time a prayer to Christ.

The sounds outside my window are not always lovely. We hear street sounds, especially in the evening and at night when tires roar and grind and sirens wail. We hear the loudspeaker from the nearby high school athletic field, which sends us, whether we are interested or not, play- by- play reports of each game. The neighbor's dogs, let out every night, and the sounds of dumpsters being emptied merge with the basketball hitting the backboard in the school yard in a repetitive cadence.

And God is there too. Of course. But I confess that prayer is not as readily prompted by these sounds. Other less worthy thoughts, yes, especially if we are all trying to sleep.

But therein is the grace of nature, or at least part of its grace. It does lead us to prayer, when all else fails. And does God care how we come to him, what path we have taken, as long as we come? Mercy answers, no. We may come as we are, in whatever frame of mind, however distant from the cares around us. Come. God alone knows how many other times we will come carrying worries and sins. Just come.

Nowadays, I take any prompting to prayer as a gift, birds as equally as sorrows. And may God be praised for his mercy which says "I am the Lord of your heart, I the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. I am waiting for you. Come to me."