On habits and the glory of God

Saturday, February 21, 2026

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On habits and the glory of God

If you remove from your midst oppression,

false accusation and malicious speech;

If you bestow your bread on the hungry

and satisfy the afflicted;

Then light shall rise for you in the darkness,

and the gloom shall become for you like midday.

Then the LORD will guide you always

and give you plenty even on the parched land.

He will renew your strength,

and you shall be like a watered garden,

like a spring whose water never fails.

The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake,

and the foundations from ages past you shall raise up.

“Repairer of the breach,” they shall call you,

“Restorer of ruined homesteads.”

At the beginning of each day my friend Bob’s Japanese wife gets up early for a dawn walk in the woods. For nearly thirty years their family has lived deep in an urban woodland in Durham, North Carolina, and they spend a lot of time outside. The day before I visited, she met a brown striped skunk, who said hello and did not spray her. She did not expect him to.

She loves her walks. She loves how God walks with her, right alongside.

This poem by Clarence Heller, who also loves to visit the woods, might have been written by her. At least I thought so when I read it.

I close my eyes to walk in the woods and instantly you are there…

comforting, encouraging, delighting,

fanning the flames of loving goodness,

reminding me that when you walk in the woods I am with you.

 

I relish the birds and sky, the earth and the trees,

the night and the stars,

and I hear your gentle voice singing a love song to dance with,

reminding me that when I sing you are smiling.

 

And the point of it all, the point of this life

is to love deep and pure

all that is

in, with and through you.

That is what it means to be the glory of God.

That is what it means to be authentic.

And all along, though it took me years to claim it,

we have always been soulmates.

On the morning I left Bob made coffee, eggs, spinach and sausage for us. When his wife  returned from her walk, she spun several slices of apple, avocado, ginger, spinach and ice into the best smoothie I’ve tasted in a long time. As she handed it to me she began to describe the ingredients … but there were so many. Finally she sighed and smiled. “It’s just healthy,” she said.

She follows the Japanese way of spending the end of her day in a hot bath. Their tub is deep, and the water is hot. “As hot as she can stand it,” Bob said.

A few days ago Clarence Heller posted another poem he called “Doctor’s Orders.”

Exercise regularly

Your sense of humor

To enlighten your heart,

Ease your burdens,

Welcome goodness

And ward away the crabs.

Perhaps then you will see that

When you look upon the face of Jesus,

He is already laughing.

What does it mean to be the glory of God?

Wake up and put on your coat. Walk into the woods at dawn, speak freely to a strange brown skunk, share a green smoothie and lie back in a very hot bath at the end of the day?

Sure, why not?

Have mercy on me, O Lord,

for to you I call all the day.

Gladden the soul of your servant,

for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

 ,(Isaiah 58, Psalm 86, Ezekiel 33, Luke 5)

(posted at www.davesandel.net)

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