Walking in the Land of the Living

I am among the gazillion people who, when looking for inspiration, turn to the Book of Psalms.

That’s me walking at Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland in 2013 ©CindyThomson2013

For you, LORD, have delivered me from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before the LORD
in the land of the living.
~Psalm 116:8-9 NIV

Walking in the land of the living…I know, it has a spiritual meaning–spiritually alive rather than spiritually dead. But taking the Celtic view here (and none other, of course) the physical and the spiritual are not actually separate. The land of the living is right around me, and walking in nature certainly makes me aware that I am right now in the land of the living.

That’s me walking on a Florida Beach ©CindyThomson

I sometimes image I can breathe a whole better in a natural setting. That could be physically true–even though ragweed is a thing–but it’s absolutely spiritually true. God is the source of the air I breathe and who was it that said you are never so close to God as when in a garden? Maybe lots of people, but here’s one:
“Kiss of the sun for pardon. Song of the birds for mirth. You’re closer to God’s heart in a garden than any place else on earth.” — Dorothy Frances Gurney