Our current camper is not big enough to allow us to practice yoga inside so we have been setting up outside in the early morning. Facing the water of the lake off in the distance. It is very hot and muggy, and the bugs are abundant but in the early morning hours, a cool breeze seems to make it all tolerable.

Today, when I finished my yoga and meditation practice I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. And it occurred to me that it had been many days since I had sat still and silent - a practice that is very dear to my heart and one that keeps me going from day to day.

I watched the birds that sit sentry on the dock below us. I watched a microscopic ant crawl across my yoga mat. I watched the speeding cars cross the bridge and head busily into their day. And finally my eye caught two Cardinals dancing across the grassy lawn. I wondered if it was some sort of mating dance - not sure if we are past mating season or in the thick of it right now.

And as I sat there just watching them move about I was reminded of my grandmother who loved red birds and how they have always been a metaphor for the Holy Spirit for me. Maybe all that fiery red. Maybe because they remind me of my grandmother who is long since flown to heaven and yet still with me each day. Either way, I had a deep sense that the holy was there in those birds - and I was witnessing a sacred moment.

So I just sat there for a bit longer until they disappeared from view. I did nothing else. I had no agenda. I just watched and breathed - and in the watching and breathing I was blessed and calmed.

My prayer for you; today is that you take a few minutes to be still - nothing to be done, no mental gymnastics to work through. Just sit, breath, and watch. Maybe you too will receive a message from the Divine.