“Daydreaming again, Cunningham?” A frequent chant during my childhood, when I would become immersed in a book or activity which really brought me to another place. When I was a child, I had a tremendous love for fishing. We lived near the river Avon, which winds its way from the hills of the Cotswolds through market towns and cities and eventually to the sea in the city of Bristol.

Many days would be spent at the riverbank of the Avon, trying my best to catch the fish of the day. For many, the idea of sitting on the riverbank for hours on end could not sound like a more boring experience. However, being there with nature, reading the character of the river, considering what the fish might be eating at a given time of the year, looking for those special places where the “big one” hangs out, were all a part of an action-oriented contemplative experience. On the very best of days, I was at one with the fish.

The same thing often happens when we are reading. We become affected by the co-creative process which brings us to another time, place, even personality. It is hardly surprising that we are often disappointed when we finally get to see “our book” in movie form. The visualization, the smells, the characters all take on another form, one informed by the director.

These same processes and effects are at play when we involve God in our interior conversations. Sometimes it can be as simple as remaining silent, while at other times it may be scripture speaking to us differently.

This week let us notice our “noticing” of these times in our week, however short they may be. For it is often in these moments where God is moving inside us, sometimes without any perception from ourselves.

It may be a book, a movie, some prayer time, but let us give a huge thank you for this extra “sanctuary” time in our lives.

Delicious

Sitting, hidden here in the gardens,

I remain immersed in the novel’s dialog,

Soaking up the rain in 17th-century Scottish highlands,

On a summer day.

Meanwhile, my body relaxes in the mid-afternoon, SOCAL shade.

Proving once again, the deliciousness of time travel.