When You Just Want to Escape
when you just want to escape
A story of the desert, white-winged doves, and when you want to escape... From my archives. (And read to the end to see some beautiful additions by members in our Bible Journaling Through Psalms group.)
The songbirds at the backyard feeders were skittish. Nervous. Grabbing one seed and flying away. A male verdin, whose tiny face looked like he had dipped in a mustard pot, wouldn't pose for pictures. A female house finch, a drab counterpart to her colorful ruby-red-chested mate, refused to linger until the next course.
One seed and done.
"Better enjoy your breakfast before the white-winged dove arrives," I warned my flighty friends. No sooner were the words out of my mouth, when an eleven-inch bird flew over our citrus tree like a boss and settled into the flat bird feeder next to the cinder-block fence. The small songbirds scattered at his commanding presence.
Fluffing his white-edged wings, the male surveyed his domain, keeping his blue-rimmed eyes alert for danger.
He had returned to my feeder, after wintering further south. He returned for the yearly blooming of the saguaro cactus, performing his important role of pollinating and scattering the seeds of these seventy-five-foot desert giants, a critical component to the cacti’s survival.
The psalmist writes in Psalm 55:6-8 NIV, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. I would flee far away and stay in the desert; I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm."
Obviously, King David did not write those words while sweltering in the 120-degree-summer-heat of the Sonoran Desert. He penned his plea during the balmier temps of other seasons, but I understand his prayer, for I have done my pleading. My longing to fly away. My desire to be anywhere but here, as I search for rest and shelter. Oh, that I had wings of a dove! Take me away!
Take me away from a pandemic and questions on if it is safe to re-open. Take me away from social media angst. Take me away from uncertainty about the future. Take me away from the lingering stress of quarantine.
Oh, that I had wings of a dove.
While no cacti grow in my yard, the white-wing enjoyed his rest stop at the desert oasis at my feeder until Mollie, my rust-colored rescue dog, had enough of his contentment and chased him away with a wag and a bark. The bird didn’t fly far, landing on the edge of our roof as he waited to return to his small retreat.
Watching him, I couldn’t help but wonder if I could discover rest in my own circumstances, in my own situation, in my own backyard? Was it possible?
You too?
What do you do when you want to escape?
Psalm 55 concludes with these words in verse 22, "Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you. He will never let the righteous be shaken."
Sustain is such a comforting word, like an ice-cold glass of lemonade on parched lips after too much time under the desert sun. According to dictionary.com, sustain means “to strengthen or support physically or mentally.”
Help. Assist. Encourage. Support. Buoy up. Carry. Cheer up. Hearten.
Sustain is not a word about packing your suitcase and heading to Hawaii. Or Bermuda. Or even Nebraska. Sustain is about finding the help you need. Right here. Right now. Sustain is discovered while settling in. While casting your cares on the Lord.
quote about sustain
So yes, be like a white-winged dove.
But instead of wishing to fly away, find that oasis of sustaining grace in your own backyard. At your own feeder. Let God reveal how your role is crucial to the survival of others as you scatter your own seeds.
And be at rest.*
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Bible Journaling Through Psalms
Back in March, I issued an invitation to see if anyone wanted to join me in Bible Journaling Through Psalms. Much to my surprise, more than 200 people jumped into the Facebook group where we read and post each day about a psalm, offer each other accountability, and come away encouraged. The talent and insight displayed by this incredible group of people has been a high point for me during this time of quarantine. Also, this new discipline has given me a place to slow down my brain, and spend time focusing on hearing what God is showing me in the psalms through my friend Jesus.
I asked the group to send me their journal entries for Psalm 55 and have included their depictions below. (I applaud their bravery in sharing their art with the world!!!) If you would like to join us as we continue in psalms throughout the remainder of the summer, please go to our Facebook group, Bible Journaling Through Psalms. Send me a member request on the FB page. We would love to have you join us.
By Lynne Hartke
By Lyndy Colleen
By Juliette
By Sally
Psalm 1 Planted by Streams of Living Water Water by Joyce
As I was reading Psalm 55 in my mom's bible she had many verses underlined so I felt it was only fitting to send a painting of a picture she did in honor of her, (oh how I wish I would of taken more time to look at her art work when she was alive). With this pandemic and not being able to attend church services I felt it was appropriate to share this painting of a church. Mom underlined one of my favorite verses, "Cast all your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall." Psalm 55:22 --Nancy
I drew hearts with wings after reading the heart is in anguish … and Oh, that I had the wings of a dove, I would fly away and be at rest. It is a mix of scrapbooking and paint.
Barb Hoffman, Gilbert AZ
by Jill
For if it were an enemy taunting me, I could endure it. If my foe was exalting himself over me, I could hide from him. But it is you, a man like me—my companion and my close friend! Together we enjoyed great fellowship. We used to walk with the throng in the House of God. Let desolation come upon them, let them go down alive into Sheol. --Nicole
By Renae.
ABOUT LYNNE HARTKE
Lynne Hartke shares stories of courage, beauty, and belonging--belonging to family, to community, and to a loving God. She is the author of Under a Desert Sky: Redefining Hope, Beauty, and Faith in the Hardest Places.
For a free ebook of desert flowers and hope, click here: Breath of Hope, A Desert Photo Collection.
*This post appeared in the Ahwatukee Foothills News, The SanTan Sun News, and the East Valley Tribune.