How sacredly grief keens awareness
to the preciousness of
what we sometimes call Ordinary.
How it stuns us, as we realize
it is Love!
and, what we once considered 'little things'
are in reality the big things;
the hymn of touch,
a smile, a hug, a card, a bloom,
a handshake, 'hello', a child, a chick,
an autumn afternoon,
a cup of tea, a meal and 'small-talk' shared,
a breath-prayer, a holy pause
to marvel at God's infinite supply of mercies
and then to thank Him, because
no matter what was or will be
He loves and cares for you and me
***
It's so hard to accurately describe the beauty
of compassion from family, neighbors and friends;
how your/their tender love strangely sweetens
sorrow's most bitter parts
Thank-you to each and every one of you
as you remind/teach me anew
1 Cor. 13:13
And now these three remain:
faith, hope and love.
But the greatest of these is love.
***
Love never fails;
it turns heart-wrenching loss
into a startling gift
we would never choose
or know;
a gift, God-breathed to heal
grief's brutal wounds
as love's tears flow...
***
Ps.147:3
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
***
Isa.52:7
How beautiful on the mountains (or in a barnyard)
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion,
“Your God reigns!”
overflowed with sympathy, questions and conversation
at the farm where I buy our fresh-as-they-come eggs
(often they run to gather them, still warm with the touch of God!)
SO many gentle moments to cherish...
Beneath a beaming breadth of sky
Life feels like a cheek, kissed
As Time wafts, like a butterfly
To bygone’s croft of mist
As joy and sorrow’s interplay
Composes Bittersweet
Arrangements, strewn like petal-fray
That flutters to the street
Where Fleeting Footfalls thrum and fade
Through seasons come, to pass
Like subtle arpeggios played
On keys of breeze and grass
Where children romp, their innocence
Cradles oblivion
To the brute strength of mere moments
Ever-so-deftly spun
Like threads, into a work of art
As tears and laughter meld
Love’s precious glints of heart-to-heart
That we so briefly held
Beneath a beaming breadth of sky
Where Today/lifetimes seem/s so small
As we waft like a butterfly
Toward Dusk’s shadow fall
Beneath a beaming breadth of sky
By faith we humbly hear
God, kindly whisper, 'here am I
To catch each falling tear'
© Janet Martin
My neighbour, walking from her house to mine, bringing last night's supper 💝
and last but not least
this morning's kind reminder devotion from the book
Springs in the Valley by Mrs. Chas E. Cowman
