Lost in a Sea of Faces

From time to time I just need to get away for a little while and have some alone time with God. My normal routine is to go out in to nature like a state park or by the lake (see post From 01/04/09). But today I felt that I was being led to do the opposite. So I took the South Shore train into Chicago for the afternoon. I'm not sure why but it seemed that there was something I needed to learn from being alone in the middle of 3 million people. How was I going to hear from God there? What was he trying to get through to me?
I walked up and down Michigan Ave. in the rain, stopped in a couple of shops, and saw some of the sites but nothing. I even sat on a bench outside of Water Tower Place to people watch, and still nothing. The whole time I was talking to God, asking for direction. Then suddenly something told me to go the Chicago Public Library. THE LIBRARY? What? Are you kidding me? I came all this way to go to the library? Ok if that's what you want. So a walked a few blocks to the main branch of the Chicago Public Library and went in. I asked for a little help finding the books on Christian Religion, and starting walking up and down the rows of books. There must be thousands of them about Christianity. I was whispering; Ok God which one, what is it that I'm supposed to find here. I picked up a book about Nehemiah, (he is one of my Biblical heroes) read through a few pages but nothing. So I put it back and looked some more. And then after about 15 minutes endless titles a small little book caught my eye, Talking to God: Personal Prayers for Times of Joy, Sadness, Struggle, and Celebration by Naomi Levy. I opened it up right to the page I needed to read: A Prayer for Facing our Faults. That was it. As I read the prayer I could feel the wheels turning in my head. Wow!

Just what I needed, but did I really have to go through all that to find it? I guess so, sometimes the journey is just as important as the the treasure.

As soon as I finish this post I'm going to buy that book online. I love having resources like this to help me with my walk. But more importantly so I can help other people with their walks.