A couple of days ago I watched the video below on Facebook. The first time I watched it I held my breath as the mother duck shepherded her chicks across the freeway. The next time I watched it, I found myself reciting Psalm 91. I have always imagined God’s sheltering wings to hold me in a place of warmth and comfort but as I watched the mother duck gather her ducklings as they were blown over in their precarious journey I thought – that is just like God. Not keeping us warm and comfortable but protecting us from the speeding vehicles of everyday life.
Watch the video through several times. Now read Psalm 91.
What imagery or memories come to mind? Sit quietly with those images for a few minutes. How do they make you want to respond? Allow the images to interact with your concerns and anxieties. Open your heart to God and enjoy a conversation with the One who invites you into that protective embrace.
Now watch this video and read Psalm 91 again.
Rest in the still presence of God for a few minutes. Free yourself from your own thoughts. Enjoy the experience of being in the presence of God. What is God saying to you? Write it down. Perhaps a prayer or a poem will rise spontaneously to your lips. Or you may like to draw the image that has formed in your mind. Or go and find a photo or picture of a painting that it evoked for you and meditate on it.
Close with a prayer of gratitude for God’s presence.