The early morning sun slid across the skyscrapers
pushing away the last remnants of night. Simon stood in the cold shadow of the
government building and took in his surroundings. The streets were beginning to
fill with vehicles and the area parking spaces were quickly filling. Office
workers hurried past him toward the revolving doors of the office building
juggling coffee, and satchels, ipads and cell phones.
The wonder of God's presence that Simon found so
stirring in the night, seemed to have dissipated with the morning fog, leaving
him miles from home, with sore feet. For awhile he'd almost forgotten about the
burden on his back, but now he could barely think of anything else. Simon limped
over to a cement bench and slowly lowered himself down. In the congestion of the
city he couldn't find the Presence of the night.
With a sigh, he reached behind him and pulled out a
book, The How and Whyfore of Christian Living. The worn fabric
cover warmed him like a visit from an old friend. He could recite
whole paragraphs by heart, and many bore the notation of his ink pen. They had
never failed to offer Christian counsel for marriage, parenting, finances,
perhaps now it would again point him in the right direction. Yet instead of the
pain of his burden easing it sank deeper into his bones. But after reading for
awhile he realized with a shock how dry the writing was. The words didn't feed
the ache in his soul, they didn't bring him closer to God, and he yearned
to know better the Presence that he'd seen in the night?
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