Holy Shopping Moments

     By grace I am happy, relaxed, fulfilled & strong in Christ.   This gift, given during a shopping prayer.
     Shopping with my wife, we parted ways and I was strolling, looking, waiting, and wandering.  Having lapped the store, I lapsed into a conversation with God, as much from boredom as from holy intention.  In this place, in this moment, I noticed these four gifts of happiness, relaxation, fulfillment and strength in my life.
My observation began morphing into a breath prayer spoken to the rhythm of my feet.  The process sounds simple and quick.  In practice, it was clumsy, distracted and quirky.  The serendipity, I arrived in a state of peace with the prayer sentence opening this blog entry.
     Equipped and refocused, words shifted toward images, in my impromptu encounter, set to the routine beat of my gate.  I began to imagine scriptures with each word and their visual counterparts.
     "Happy" lept to ancient wisdom that reminds that "from the rising of the sun, to it's setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised."  Viscerally & visually the warmth of noonday sun lifting my spirit, as it has many times swimming, hiking, working, or moving from office to car and beyond, emerged in my mind's eye.
     "Relaxed" flowed into "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and not your own understanding," as I pictured the sun setting over lake & landscape.
     "Fulfilled" evoked God's promise to Abraham, that his descendants would be more numerous than the stars.
      And "Strength" brought memories of my father quoting the Psalmist "I lift my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord." as we approached the beauty of sunrises over vacation encountered mountains.
     Full of peace and images I finished my shopping feeling blessed.  Reunited with my wife and finished our adventure together.  Arriving home I set out to draw.  My art a faint reflection of the gift I continue to carry.  Prayer in the midst of life is like that for me.  Surprising.  Life-giving.  Challenging--I'm still living into the gift, praying the prayer, and sharing the peace.
     What gifts have you received, prayers prayed, and journeys begun?  Happy & Holy Shopping! ;-)