What I Didn't Tell You

what i didn’t tell you about that river wedding-

when we reached the “island” out in the river, we inadvertently found a nest filled with eggs. well, the bride did because she almost stepped on it. down next to her cowboy boot (yes, she was wearing cowboy boots, how awesome is that!), sat four brown, speckled eggs packed into a nest buried halfway into the ground. 

throughout the ceremony and during the pictures that followed, we were all so nervous that one of us might crush the precious contents of the nest. we lost track of it several times since it blended in so well with its surroundings making it nearly invisible. when it did suddenly disappear, we frantically searched for it until we found it again, undisturbed. thankfully, the eggs remained intact until we departed. and i’m sure you’re wondering the same thing i still am, “why didn’t we mark the spot somehow to know exactly where the nest was at?” i know!

i read a story once about a man wrestling with an angel and the man won. i know the man won because the angel gave the man a new name. his new name meant “the one who wrestles with the divine and wins.” on another note, my name, phillip, means “lover of horses” : (

before the wrestling match, this same guy (bearing his old name) had a pretty cool dream. he fell asleep outside and saw heaven and earth overlapping. there was a connection between the two. i like to think of it like a bridge or revolving door (or if you totally geek out, imagine a portal). but you get it right? in his dream the two were linked. when he woke up, he grabbed a stone and built something to remember the place where heaven and earth held hands. then later he wrestled an angel (some people have all the fun don’t they?).   

can you imagine if throughout all history people had marked the places that felt important to them… the spaces in which they had experiences of depth and meaning and significance? we’d probably need more stones wouldn’t we? we’d be bumping into those markers everywhere, and i think that would be awesome! 

i personally could use that sort of nudge to see MORE than my eyes can literally see. 
i could use a “sign” that points to something else hidden right here in front of me. 
and if i bumped into those sort of markers everywhere, i feel like i would become more and more aware of the truth that there truly is MORE present in every moment and space of our lives, even the ordinary ones. a deeper reality just beneath the surface.

most of the time that reality seems so hidden that we tend to miss it. even when we have seen it before, it can still be pretty elusive causing us to feel like we may never find it again. 

so here’s the question again: why don’t we just mark it somehow so it’s obvious and stands out?

perhaps we write it down, journal about the moment, or share the story with others.
maybe we litrly (think Chris Traeger from Parks and Rec) build something, or leave something behind, or take something with us. whatever we do, we find a way to mark the experience and grab ahold of the moment for ourselves and others.

i’m not sure what you’ll stumble upon or discover. 
who knows what you’ll wrestle with. 
chances are good you’ll have an experience that changes the way you see things.
and even though your name probably won’t change, you will.​

around us is the ever-present invitation to experience more to this gift of life we are living. 
let’s fill the world with reminders otherwise we might forget.