MARTHA’S MEWS

Vol 1, No. 9

2 Aug 2003

IN THE STILLNESS

Amazing how much you miss something when you can’t have it!  I was out of the sea for 8 days due to the horrendous cut I inflicted on my right hand.  For those of you who don’t know about it, I jammed my hand down inside a glass pitcher to clean it – pitcher broke – sliced my forefinger knuckle to the bone – I saw WHITE!  Of course, I should have had stitches – ain’t hindsight great! – but I was alone, bleeding – and I did the best I could.  Now I have a deep “J” shaped scar on the knuckle – a Jesus tattoo!

Anyway, back to my mews!  Yesterday, the sea was churning and angry -really sandy and icky.  I floated around, glad to be back in, but except for one lone starfish, I found the sea rather empty and disappointing.  When I woke up this morning, I actually entertained a very quickly dismissed thought that maybe I just wouldn’t even go!

When I drove up to “my” beach, I noticed a sea of glass – not a single ripple in the water!  As I approached the water’s edge, I couldn’t help thinking how very different this day was from yesterday – I could see just as if I were looking thru a freshly washed window.  And when I dove into the water, something magical and mystical happened.

As soon as I was “in”, I started singing  …

In the secret, in the quiet place, in the stillness You are there.

In the stillness, in the quiet hour I wait, only for You,

Cause I want to know You more.

I want to know You.  I want to hear Your voice.

I want to know You more.

I want to touch You.  I want to see Your face.

I want to know You more.

It was SO beautiful – I had an overwhelming sense of the Lord’s presence – even though there were few fishies or little crabs scurrying around.  I kept my eyes peeled because I just had a feeling there was a treasure coming.

I swam all over the place, watching and waiting and basking in the Presence all around me.  And then, I saw him.  Sitting in the sand, like a sphinx in the desert, was a massive fish.  His head was shaped like the tip of a snubbed bullet.  He had gorgeous markings on his back – like hieroglyphics.  My first thought was that he looked a bit like a white tiger (cause I’m rather partial to them), but the more I watched him, the more I decided it was a beautiful black “script” on his back.  He was a very very pale green color; the water was 20 feet deep or so and I just could not judge how big he was.  From 20 feet up, I put my foot down in the water and the fish was the same size – I’m guessing 3 feet or so in length (NOT MY FOOT – the fish!).  I could not see a thing near this beauty – not a fish, not a starfish, not a crab, not even a little tumbleweed.  He was alone on the sand, a still sentinel for something or someone.

I hovered there for what seemed an eternity, just watching.  All at once, he stirred, whipped around into another direction and returned to sitting.  I’ll have to admit that my heart did a flip-flop when the fish moved so suddenly.  Didn’t want him to decide he liked American food and come up for a quick bite!

I’ll never know why – there wasn’t another person in the water at this time (out in the deep, I mean).  Nobody to ask.  Nobody to show.  Just a special little love gift from my Daddy.  A beautiful fishy sphinx in the August morning water – and to think, I just almost missed it!

Keep your eyes open – our Father has little surprises like this for all His kids – but you have to be looking!  And even more, sometimes you have to be STILL!