restless peace

On Tuesday (5.8.8) we were taken to North Head, which has a beautiful view over the bays to the city and beyond to the sea - Pacific Ocean on the left, city in front to the south and the North Shore to the right... the reason:.. find God, get something from Him.

This is what I got...


The wind blows
The water ripples and flows
A plane flies overhead
A speed boat drones some place I cannot see
I hear at least three varieties of birds
A car drives by
I listen as it nears, circles round, and finally parks somewhere near me
Chatter breaks the silence
I am distracted
A place inside me shatters
I grasp at It
But It falls through my fingers
I can hear construction somewhere nearby
The clang of metal against metal
The alarm bell on a wrist watch signals 10am... twice
A motorbike engine behind me
People walking
People ever-moving
I grasp at that peace that seems to be elluding me
Murmers in my ears try to hold me back
A currowong call
The hum of cicadas
Pen scratching on paper
The click of a camera
A page turns
A mobile phone is opened and quickly shut
Distant noises of engines, various means of transport
Car keys jingle
Voices call out
The birds twitter louder
The hammering continues
A sea plane overhead

Restlessness

It's all I can hear
Yet the peace is there

I see headlands
A city
An ocean
Where the city meets the sea
(I smile - a song plays in the back of my mind)
Where the bush meets surburbia
I see a dozen different plants
Then a scattering of cigarette butts
I see people searching for God
by writing
by drawing
by praying
by just sitting and taking in this Creation

A car cools down behind me
A bird flies in front of me
Someone sighs

Nothing is undisturbed -
There seems to be only restlessness

Creation is not peaceful - it is restless
Waiting and restless

I try to block out people speaking, motors running, the cityscape on the horizon
But cannot
Behind me is a carpark
In front of me is a city that cannot stop
Not even for a second
I see and hear tormented beauty
A restless peace
This is not intention
This is perversion
It is sunny
But the light only makes known the shadows
We cannot stop
We can slow down for an hour and try to find God
But it shouldn't be so hard
He's right there
in the wind that blows
in the sun bearing down
in the ripples of the waters
in the clouds of the sky
in the call of the birds
in the rocky cliffs and shrub-covered hills
even in the smog and haze
the skyscrapers
the engine motors
in each person's pen and pencil and page
in every person...

He is more than we can see or hear
Beyond our thoughts and comparisons
His peace is not just in silence
His comfort not in a single hour of the day
His presence is everywhere and always

Crickets hum
Birds twitter
Paper pages flip in the breeze
An engine drones
A person sighs

This is a world in waiting...

...restless peace