Psalm 23 — The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

I hope that, sometimes, I have something different to say — something that makes you think. Today I have no such expectations. I just want to share a simple pleasure, and let you make of it what you will.
Myra and I have not been out for our evening walk for a while. A combination of awkward circumstances and bad weather have prevented us. Today, however, the weather was fine and nothing prevented us, so out we went.
As we walked through our Development the weight of the day rolled off my shoulders. There was a rabbit to make us smile. There was a squirrel to amuse us, to bring out a little laugh. And then we came to the lake behind the Community Center.
Monday’s record rainfall had filled the lake. In fact the water had risen so fast that the reeds that usually line the side of a lake were now several feet from the water’s edge. Between the water’s edge and the reeds, two or three coots were gently swimming. It was a beautiful, peaceful, scene. I said to Myra that this was one of the times that I wished I was an artist. I could see the picture, but I could never paint it. It didn’t matter; we were walking besides still waters.
God’s creation is a wonderful thing. It sustains us, at times it heals us and at times, like tonight, it calms us.
Now here’s a funny thing. We were blessed by coots tonight. Sometimes it’s ducks. You won’t find ducks or coots mentioned in the Bible! It doesn’t matter. All of creation has been made for our stewardship, use and enjoyment — and that includes the coots!
One of the things I love about this Christian life is that it is seamless. There are no compartments. There are no “God areas” or “Not-God areas”. It’s not just about worship on Sundays or even prayer, quiet time and Bible study on all the days of the week. It’s an all the time and every day thing, and whenever I will let Him, God leads me beside still waters.