Riding our bikes is a place of peace and a time to slow down. The smooth hum was instantly lost to the air. It was a planned afternoon on the Capital Trail with our granddaughter, Autumn, no pressing agenda, just the simple rhythm of turning pedals and teaching her to love nature and being outdoors. As I closed my eyes for a single, suspended moment, I heard it: the crickets’ song.

It wasn’t a crescendo or a performance. It was a constant, shimmering acoustic blanket woven from tiny, invisible instruments. It was the sound of complete and total beauty that came to me in the rhythm of the ride. It was as if they had shown up to sing alongside us on the journey. We would laugh along the way and ask Autumn, “You okay?” Then she would take a turn, “You okay, Gigi?”

The crickets, in their chorus, made no fuss. They didn’t hold auditions or worry about being heard above the traffic. In fact, at one moment, a fire engine raced by, interrupting our rhythm. All they required was the damp earth they were born into and the specialized bodies they were given to function by our Creator. Their song was the pure, unedited sound of presence.

The Tyranny of the ‘Next Step’

We humans, by contrast, are so often running ahead of ourselves. We are trapped in the tyranny of the “next step”—the next goal, the next promotion, the next version of ourselves we need to become. We are constantly seeking to self-actualize, treating our current, beautiful lives as merely a rough draft for the masterpiece to come. We mistake complexity for depth and activity for meaning.

But in that moment, riding to the sound of simple insect joy, I was reminded of a profound truth: peace is not found by constant worry and planning but by blooming in the present moment–where you are planted.

Slow Down and Simply Be

The crickets don’t worry about their legacy. They don’t fret over an unfulfilled purpose. They are here, now, doing the thing they were made to do until their last song is sung. I know that God created us differently. We are made in His image to be his hands, feet, and message of love. We are not crickets.

I’m reminded of this passage in Matthew:

Matthew 6:25-34

Do Not Worry

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can anyone of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Jesus used the world God created to share insights of His love and peace.

Slow down. Stop measuring your worth by your ambition. Stop chasing a hypothetical future self. Be who you are right now, in this breath, in this moment, with all its current flaws and unachieved goals. In the simple act of being, without worry or want, there is a deep, resonant peace that surpasses all striving.

Open your eyes, listen to the world around you, and recognize the beauty of your current, sufficient self that God loves unconditionally. Your song is already playing. We need your song, your presence, your beauty.

The day moved on with Autumn, encompassing its ups and downs, just like any adventure you embark on. I love micromoments that God reaches in and reminds us of His love and comfort. He pursues us with great compassion to give us the strength to face our future.