Encounters

4/15/09 Another Celebrity Encounter
Larry and I trekked to SMU campus yesterday looking for some WiFi and to take a little walk. Then we saw the all too familiar black Suburbans angled at the corner with the swivel necks standing nearby in their black suits and sunglasses mumbling into their phones. Seeing “Welcome Home Laura and George” signs, I retrieved my ever present camera---we only got the shadow of “W” but as one of the SMU students told me, “word on the street is that Condoleezza Rice was still inside.” And then, there she was and what an admirable, gracious woman, indeed. Regardless of the swarm of security from secret service to campus cops, she took time to greet the students, have her picture made with many and smile for me as she said, “Go Mustangs.” I know she meant SMU but it reminded me of my dear Houston High mustangs. (BTW, my picture was better than the one that appeared in today’s SMU Daily Mustang) The Ridleys joked with us about all of the Liles' celebrity encounters. Reflecting later, I decided that Dallas had been the best place for my most precious encounter, the Lord Himself. A close encounter like no other. Somehow in the quiet, non- demanding atmosphere of recuperation, His nearness seems so real and so constant.

Oh, I know that He is always with me and never will He leave me or forsake me, but here in the midst of a seemingly dark time, I have been able to “taste and see that the Lord is good.” Again, I know that He is good but to know it afresh everyday takes time and the Lord has given me this time. I have heard people say that God had to put them on their back in order to get them to look up. For me, it hasn’t been quite that way---I’ve always looked to the Lord for so much in my life. This time I didn’t have to look---my focus was there and so was He. I just had to go deeper and that takes time----so, He has given me time. What I have done with the time has been my choice but time has been available. Large amounts of time. In the past, such “vast” amounts of time have been rare in the life of this working woman.

It’s called a medical leave—a springtime furlough/holiday from the normal work routine I’ve known for over 40 years as an educator. But rather than being a spiritual holiday it’s been more of a spiritual renewal. Today’s “My Utmost for His Highest’ entry said, “You no more need a holiday from spiritual concentration than your heart needs a holiday from beating.….you cannot have a spiritual holiday and remain spiritual. God wants you to be entirely His, and this means that you have to keep yourself fit. (spiritually) It takes a tremendous amount of time. Some of us expect to “clear the numberless ascensions” in about two minutes.” In our culture we expect a sense of His presence and answered prayer in a nanosecond.

Time I have---He has given me this time and I have given “this time” back to Him. The more time I’ve had in His presence, the more I have wanted. What about your time? What are you doing with it? Are you giving it all to Him or carving out only the leftovers? What about my time when I get back to Memphis and to the responsibilities of work? I’m going to have to once again trust Him for the answer. I have tasted of the heavenly gifts; I have tasted the good Word of God. Now that I’ve known what it’s been like to feast at the “banquet table of time” with Him, I don’t want just leftovers and neither does He. Close encounters are food for my soul.