One of the wonderful things about living where we do is that we can have spectacular views of New York City. On a clear night you can see the skyline from our corner. Last night, a full moon hung over the city. As we got out of the car, returning from dinner, my husband pointed it out and went and got my camera. How easy it is to fall head over heels with something in the distance, so beautiful and so iconic. I thought of the song we used to sing to our girls when they were young. "I will draw a ring around the moon, I will draw a line from star to star, I will sing a pennies worth of songs to tell them how in love we are." Love is an easy thing to sing about but a much more complicated thing to demonstrate and live out.Yesterday, I was supposed to have a test but when I showed up there was more paperwork I was supposed to have brought with me and so everything is postponed. I was very frustrated and hungry when I left the hospital. It is easier to think about demonstrating love when things are picture perfect. Yesterday, nothing but the moonlight seemed picture perfect. Meanwhile the cough seems to be subsiding, and yesterday I kept wondering about God's love and my life and what is being demonstrated in these days. My answer came in the moonlight. I could have ignored that moment, I could have missed it. Mark pointed it out to me. We stood in the street taking pictures. Pictures that cannot capture the beauty of the moment. And for me, that is love demonstrated. Seeing beauty at the end of a frustrating day. Stopping to sing about silly things we used to do. Being present and tender when the world turns a cold shoulder. Listening for the heart and not the words alone.
May I have the strength from God today to see beauty even amidst frustration. May I sing, even when it seems silly. May I reach out and be present, even when there is a storm of anger. May I bring warmth when cold cruelty has set in. May I listen with a mother's heart. May I have the strength to do these things, not because I want to be a saint or a martyr, but because God first provided them for me. Others were my breath when my breath was gone. May today, I simply return the favor to another as a demonstration of my love for God. God, who despite my own hurt and disbelief, continues to pour on the beauty, pouring on the love.
1 comment:
Bishop and Friend,
Thank you for the reminders of small things, like Mark pointing out what you may have missed.
It put a smile on my searching face, as last evening, at our final Confirmation Class, I helped the class "see" what they have been looking at for a very long time. Signs and Symbols was the topic, and the class was asked to just walk around the church to see what they could see. With the help of a camera and power point, I pointed out what they saw, or didn't see. Of course they pointed out a couple of things for me as well.
They missed a couple of small things, so at the end of the class, "we want to go back and see what we missed".
You and Mark continue to be in my prayers, humble as they are, but with special focus or intention of your voice. I remember a couple of weeks ago, you spoke about your voice. But it was followed by the good news about your coming journey across the pond. I hope that when you speak, that others hear your message.
Be well, and All the best.
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