The Blessings

It is too easy to concentrate on the negative and painful aspects of life without giving at least a word or two about the blessings.  We work hard to understand our sufferings, to offer them up, to give meaning to that which is sometimes meaningless -- but we spend very little energy on the positive, glorious, blessings of creation and life itself.

Over at Stumbling Along the Spiritual Path, Michael's been listing Awesome Things pretty often; speaking of movies, and long holiday weekends.  I would add the simple joy of watching the clouds pass by in the sky, or the farmer behind my house mowing the pasture, a garden tour where beauty is hidden behind other peoples homes that they open to us to view.  Then, the glory of night, when ancient lights shine in the sky, their star perhaps long dead, the light traveling for millions of years; the rising moon that is still in the high sky when I say the Office of Readings.  There is the bird outside the window of my chapel who only starts to sing when I begin singing the invitatory. 

Have you noticed the wonders of technology, without concentrating on the threats?  How about the blessedness of holding a baby in your arm, close to your face, and feeling the life inside trusting you?  What about the swell of love and pain when your niece or nephew or grandchild is ill, and you sit with them, suffering with them, and realize what an honor it is to be so mixed in their life?  Or, those moments of silence while sitting with a friend of your heart, wordless for the need of words is contentedly silent?

Ponder on life and joy, remember O my soul, that all comes from God.