Comment from Ken: Hope the figure in the picture included in our walk is visible to you! Always look forward to your comments.

Scripture: Exodus 3: 1 – 6
1Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 3Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”
4So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
5Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” 6Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

Again, it is no day for a walk outside. As a matter of fact, I have not gone outside today for our driveway and walk are covered with ice. It may be spring here in New England by the calendar, but certainly not by the weather. Here in Hopkinton at three o’clock in the afternoon, it is 28 degrees. According to the weather predictions, Concord, New Hampshire will break a record for the coldest the high temperature has been since it was recorded. Brrrr!

April fifteenth was my mother’s birthday. She was born in the year 1907. This date can never pass me by without my expressing gratefulness to God for my mother. I know I am a lot like her both for good and bad. My mom was very sentimental and could be hurt very easily – well that can be me. My mother could have a very sharp tongue; it was said to be an attribute or curse of the Hill family. I know I can have a sharp tongue, and I work to keep it under control for I know it can be hurtful to others. My mother was always sympathetic toward those less fortunate – I like to believe I am like that as well. My mother loved you, her children, with all her being – as a dad; I hope most of my children feel that way about me as well. My mother was one you could openly confide in and know that she would hold your secret and care about its outcome. Even though my mother has been gone for thirty-eight years, I still miss her and wish I could just tell her how my life is going today. I believe she would be happy to know that I am content and feel that I have had a meaningful life with hopes for the morrow. There are many times when I will stop and silently speak to my mother asking for her advice and listening ear. If you have lost your mom, do you still speak to her and feel her presence? Don’t you have times when you would like to be able to share thoughts with your mother again?

I wish to share a picture with you today that I took with my phone this last week. When I was home and Dale was at work, our dog Molly began to bark and bark. As I was in another room, I was not sure why she was barking for she had come into the house just a short time before. As she kept up her barking, I went into our dining room, and Molly was staring out of the window at a ridge behind our home. Looking intently up at the top of the hill, she just kept barking and barking. I looked to see what she was barking at and could see nothing –nothing at first, and then I looked again. Here is the picture I then took of the hill behind our home. Do you see her? Can you find her in the picture? I know the picture is small but look at it carefully. And I am not talking about Molly. Look carefully and you will see a rather large doe amidst the trees.

I was amazed after I took the picture that a creature could be so camouflaged out in the wild. Now I know why I often do not see a deer in the woods when I am not looking carefully enough.

It is wonderful to live in New Hampshire again. At my father’s farm in Barrington, New Hampshire, I became alive to the world of nature, of the work of a farm. I learned from Farmer Fred how to mow a field, how to pitch hay, how to rake hay and bale it. At the farm, you saw the beauty of God’s world all around you. The snow stayed whiter in the country than it did in the city. The fields came alive with spring flowers when the time was right. Pollywogs swam in shrinking puddles, and the barn swallows returned to the barn. The rain would sweep across the fields and drive you into the shelter of the barn. In the country, you began to look carefully around you and to witness the secrets of nature, the beauty of a lily and the flight of a bird. To see the miracles of nature, you had to look very, very carefully, and she would reveal her secrets such as when a deer looks down at a home and then lies contentedly upon a hilltop. I think God is like that! Sometimes He is waiting for us to see Him. But we, His children, have to stop our busyness and contemplate what God has for us to do.

Moses saw a burning bush that did not become consumed by fire. When He stopped to see that phenomena, he found behind the fire was an upset God who needed someone to rescue His beloved people. The boy Samuel heard God speak to him in the darkness of night. Joseph heard God telling him to not forsake Mary his espoused wife. Unquestionably in my mind, God was nearby those He loved and wanted to serve Him in order to change the world to be more like it was created to be. In order to see if God is watching and seeking their hearts and lives, those who would serve the purposes of God must look carefully at their lives and at the happenings around them. Look carefully – look carefully. See the deer in my picture? Look carefully; look carefully. Is that God of ours beckoning you into His presence and service?

This pastor believes God has a purpose for every one of us, but we must look carefully and watchfully at our lives and circumstances for God is there so very near to us – if we but open our eyes and hearts.

Prayer – O loving God, disclose yourself to us that we might do Your will. Help us to see You in our everyday lives, beckoning us to our higher calling in Your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

Until our next walk.

“And now may the Lord watch between me and thee while we are absent one from the other.”