Oh, to linger

1. To remain or stay on in a place longer than is usual or expected, as if from reluctance to leave
2. To dwell in contemplation, thought or enjoyment
3. To pass (time, life, etc) in a leisurely manner

There are several places where I like to linger. Anywhere with my nose stuck in a good book is one place. I can get caught up in a well-written book, especially if I can’t tell how it will end within the first ten pages. Another place I like to linger is outside, in a solitary place, when the wind is blowing just slightly, the temperature is about 70º and it is partly cloudy. Another place I love to linger is in my comfortable bed, with the covers all tousled about me, with my pillow in just the right position under my head.

Unfortunately, I do not get as much time in any of these places as I would like. I have to move about, running from one tedious task to another. I have to run off to work, run off to the store to do yet another errand to get something, run home to meet the kids to take them somewhere. It gets to the point where I am in the middle of a task thinking about the next time I’ll get a free moment to myself to linger somewhere I’m happy. I have made a date with myself to go to the Art Institute for about three weeks now.

Not to mention all the running, but I am also frantically looking for a job. My job ‘expires’ in a few months, and not only that, but I do not bring in enough money anyhow. I keep praying, waiting for God to point me in a direction, but I have yet to hear anything. All I can seem to sense is that He wants me to write, but I need to be paid for that too. I cannot linger in my current job situation for long.

So, you would wonder, is my spiritual life like this too? Yup, you bet. When I am with the Lord, I could stay there forever. When I am worshipping in church on Sunday, and we sing a song that takes me right to God’s altar, I love to linger. When I am praying, and I can sense God’s presence, I would love to linger there forever.

I am reading a book titled, I became a Christian, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt. Let me repeat an excerpt that I really appreciated.

“I need to look for flickers of God in unexpected places. The ancient Celtics believed in what they called ‘thin places.’ These are places where the natural and supernatural worlds come together at their narrowest, with only a thin veil between them. When you’re in a thin place you’re able to catch a glimpse of God, and it becomes easier to sense his presence.”

I had an opportunity to experience a ‘thin place’ this past weekend. My son and I went to church by ourselves; my daughter was out of town and my husband was sleeping (he worked all night). My son is seven, and he really likes to sing. Well, we began singing “Your Name.” Here are a few lines from the song:

Your Name
Your Name is a strong and mighty tower
Your Name is a shelter like no other
Your Name, let the nations sing it louder
'Cause nothing has the power to save
But Your Name

Every time we sang the words ‘your name,’ my son got louder. When we sang, ‘sing it louder,’ he did. We repeated this chorus three or four times, and each time it seemed my son was a bit louder. I snuck a peek around and people had smiles on their faces. After the song was over, I leaned over and said in a whisper, “Maybe you could sing a little softer.” He looked at me, and then asked, “Why, are you embarrassed?” The arrow pierced my heart immediately. I quickly said no, and then told him he could worship the Lord however he wanted to. The next song, he was right back at it. And all I could do was thank God for lending me a son who loved Jesus with all his heart and wanted to pour his love back to his Creator. That was indeed a thin place. I need more thin places in my life.

"We're in no hurry, God. We're content to linger in the path sign-posted with your decisions. Who you are and what you've done are all we'll ever want." Isaiah 26.8

If I do indeed have the Holy Spirit living inside of me, which I do, then I have the ability to tap into His strength. His strength can help me linger where I belong. I need to linger in moments like this Sunday with my son. I need to linger when I am writing these postings and I sense God nodding His head. I need to linger with God at every moment of every day.

There was a man of God named Frank Laubach. I could write another thousand words about him, but here is what I want to focus on now. Frank devoted his life to focusing on God. He devoted himself to looking for God and listening to God throughout each moment of every day. He wrote in his journal, “Can I bring the Lord back in my mind flow every few seconds so that God shall always be in my mind? I choose to make the rest of my life an experiment in answering this question.”

Frank knew what it meant to linger. Do I? Do you?