We had the opportunity to visit Allerton Park (just outside of Monticello, IL) recently with family. This is a park that was donated to the University of Illinois back in 1946 as “an educational and research center, as a forest and wild-life and plant-life reserve, as an example of landscape architecture, and as a public park.” Allerton Park is a 1500-acre park welcoming more than 100,000 guests a year. There are numerous trails, gardens, formal gardens, gazebos, statues, and Fu Dog statues (strange little unique purple dinosaurs that look nothing like Barney). In short, a great place to visit.
It is a Public park - of course there are caches throughout the historic estate. So when my sister suggested we go, we were in. We were not able to see the entire park in one day. However, we visited one trail and quite a few formal gardens.
At one end of the formal gardens we visited there was an arena – a large concrete walled grassy area with small statues scattered around the outside. What made this spot so cool was that you could sit on the stairs at one end of the arena, someone else at the other and hold a conversation without yelling. Although there is about 75 yards separating the two ends, the acoustics of the arena made it seem like they were only a few feet away. Of course it did not work quite as well when several conversations were taking place, cell phones were ringing, and the kids were running around and yelling…
Recently, I have been reading in Deuteronomy (Thanks Evan) and found the following: “Then the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form.” Why? Because they stood at the foot of a mountain and listened. Saul, on his way to Damascus, heard the voice of Jesus and immediately was converted. Why? Because he listened (his companions merely heard a sound).
How often do we have so much going on in our lives that we miss the voice of our Creator? Sometimes it seems He is so far away. But if we are quiet, listen and change our pace… maybe, just maybe He will speak to us in our own personal arena - as if he is only a few feet away.
It is a Public park - of course there are caches throughout the historic estate. So when my sister suggested we go, we were in. We were not able to see the entire park in one day. However, we visited one trail and quite a few formal gardens.
At one end of the formal gardens we visited there was an arena – a large concrete walled grassy area with small statues scattered around the outside. What made this spot so cool was that you could sit on the stairs at one end of the arena, someone else at the other and hold a conversation without yelling. Although there is about 75 yards separating the two ends, the acoustics of the arena made it seem like they were only a few feet away. Of course it did not work quite as well when several conversations were taking place, cell phones were ringing, and the kids were running around and yelling…
Recently, I have been reading in Deuteronomy (Thanks Evan) and found the following: “Then the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form.” Why? Because they stood at the foot of a mountain and listened. Saul, on his way to Damascus, heard the voice of Jesus and immediately was converted. Why? Because he listened (his companions merely heard a sound).
How often do we have so much going on in our lives that we miss the voice of our Creator? Sometimes it seems He is so far away. But if we are quiet, listen and change our pace… maybe, just maybe He will speak to us in our own personal arena - as if he is only a few feet away.
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1 comment:
My favorite post so far---perhaps because I needed to read it today. I have been guilty of sitting at one end of the stadium and screaming to God on the other end, when (in fact) all I needed to do was speak softly and then----listen. Thanks for this today--you are ONE of the best brothers I have.
M
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