This morning we had a deer family–mother and two youngsters–drinking at our birdbath. This little bit of water has become a stopping point on the daily trek for many of the deer because water here is so scarce. Frankly, I’m surprised we don’t see more deer than we do.
We have no schedule or routine by which we refill the birdbath; we do it when we notice it is low, or empty–and when the day has warmed enough that the hose is thawed. Which means there is no rhyme or reason for the deer to follow in predicting when there will be water for them to drink.
Today I wonder…does the seeming lack of rhyme or reason to the events in our lives, or to our sense of God’s presence within them, have more to do with God’s reasons and rhythms being beyond our comprehension? The deer cannot understand that a frozen hose, or the fact that it is Sunday, not Wednesday, will affect the birdbath’s refill schedule. If we do not see evidence of God’s presence where we have come to expect it…perhaps the reasons have nothing to do with us. Perhaps the necessary rhythm in our lives is to “just show up”–and trust that the spiritual fountain will never be dry for long….