Man Bun
“Have a seat,” he said. John wanted to show me his photos from his weekend camping trip to Yosemite, so he pulled up a chair for me at the desktop computer (vs. iPhone, vs. iPad, vs. laptop) so that I’d have a big view. He gets excited about this stuff; I was actually surprised he didn’t hook up his laptop like he normally does to our big screen TV for more of a Dolby HD IMAX experience. Anyway, specifically, he wanted me to see the difference in the amount of water falling from Nevada Falls compared to a trip of ours together a few years ago, so he kept switching back and forth between folders on the computer. Yes, I nodded, the water in the summer of 2011 GUSHED, IT WAS A ROARING CASCADE. Rivaling Niagara. This year? A mere trickle. A spit.
Life feels a little like that. Some seasons gush, some seasons are an eye-dropper. Operative word: feels.
As John switched back to the 2011 photos, I noticed some shots I’d taken of a hiker. No waterfalls. Just a man in a man-bun sitting on a rock. The rock was so perfect it was like God pulled it up for him and said, “Have a seat.” Take a look.
At the time I took it—and as I sat at the computer last night looking at it–I remembered the reverence he had on his face when he turned his head, scanning the view. I noticed his hiking boots were off as though he were on holy ground. Most of all, it was the stillness that caught my attention. It was that stillness that quieted me then, and last night. For a few moments, anyway.
I’m impressed by stillness; I struggle with stillness. I think of the Psalm about being still…and knowing, despite what things feel like. And I think of the words in Philippians about learning that secret of “being still,” or being content, and that it’s not totally up to me—if I take my boots off, if I scan the view I can see The One who makes stillness—and all things—possible.
***
“Be still and know that I am God,” –Psalm 46:10
“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. —Phil 4:12-13
