Perhaps everyone has moments, difficult to put into words, i think just called Grace. When i was a kid, i had a Grace Fantasy, that my future husband and i would be in the kitchen in the mornings, the sun just coming through a window. we moved about, quietly each doing our own thing as we prepared for the day. i only imagined us from the waist down. we moved perfectly in the space, aware of and in love with each other. it was Grace-filled.
One day around age 19 i read a book; Laurel's Kitchen, the best vegetarian cookbook ever
(cream cheese stuffed pierogi omgood enough to make a peacher cuss) which had woodcuts to illlustrate the themes of the book. there was a simple woodcut, of a woman in a kitchen from the waist down;she standing at the counter, carefully cutting a cantaloupe with zigzags so she could stuff it with cottage cheese, close it up, and put it in a little cooler for her husband to take with him. The simple moment in Time that love is. awesome.
Today, Independence Day, i was standing at the kitchen counter, with a great bread knife slicing a thick crusty loaf of seseme seed bread. I was going to mix some summer savory just picked from the garden with some aMAZing farmers' butter, coat and grill the bread along with some corn and gigantihumongnourmous steaks outside to celebrate the 4th of July.
Earlier in the day i had been reading on a discussion thread about a man who has been getting battered about. He's been out of the military, where he had suffered the wounds that our soldiers are returning with...
and rather than being treated well by companies, bosses, and those who should be happy to have his skills, he has been being betrayed, cheated, and lied to.
He did not seem to have posted the sad string of apparent misfortune for any reason other than to fill folks in on the latest Trial sent his way. God must love him a lot to give him such burdens to offer.
My guess is if he did not have a family he loves
it would not carry such a weight of hurt or aggravation.
And
the folks who knew him on the discussion thread all offered prayers, jokes, hugs and tears. if any one of them (or me for that matter, a complete stranger) was rich or a lawyer, he would have been offered anything he needed.
The point: several hours after reading the thread, as i stood cutting my bread,
i was suddenly overwhelmed by a sense of humility, gratitude, grace, and prayerfulness.
I stood at the cutting board
and prayed Hard for that man and all who he loves.
I know that our Creator is Good.
And the Mills of God Grind Exceedingly Slow, but Exceedingly Fine.
Blessings. Time. Peace...
(what if everyone on the planet asked our Good Creator to ease the burden of this man? i wonder what would happen...)
(cream cheese stuffed pierogi omgood enough to make a peacher cuss) which had woodcuts to illlustrate the themes of the book. there was a simple woodcut, of a woman in a kitchen from the waist down;she standing at the counter, carefully cutting a cantaloupe with zigzags so she could stuff it with cottage cheese, close it up, and put it in a little cooler for her husband to take with him. The simple moment in Time that love is. awesome.
Today, Independence Day, i was standing at the kitchen counter, with a great bread knife slicing a thick crusty loaf of seseme seed bread. I was going to mix some summer savory just picked from the garden with some aMAZing farmers' butter, coat and grill the bread along with some corn and gigantihumongnourmous steaks outside to celebrate the 4th of July.
Earlier in the day i had been reading on a discussion thread about a man who has been getting battered about. He's been out of the military, where he had suffered the wounds that our soldiers are returning with...
and rather than being treated well by companies, bosses, and those who should be happy to have his skills, he has been being betrayed, cheated, and lied to.
He did not seem to have posted the sad string of apparent misfortune for any reason other than to fill folks in on the latest Trial sent his way. God must love him a lot to give him such burdens to offer.
My guess is if he did not have a family he loves
it would not carry such a weight of hurt or aggravation.
And
the folks who knew him on the discussion thread all offered prayers, jokes, hugs and tears. if any one of them (or me for that matter, a complete stranger) was rich or a lawyer, he would have been offered anything he needed.
The point: several hours after reading the thread, as i stood cutting my bread,
i was suddenly overwhelmed by a sense of humility, gratitude, grace, and prayerfulness.
[ I just walked into the store and bought what i wanted.
i am not having to use blood sweat and tears to give my children what they need for a joyous holiday (no kids). I am not currently out of work, or being cheated out of my proper recompense. I have not given my all, a significant ALL, only to be treated badly and perhaps in ways which seem irrecoverable...now, i am truly grateful each and every day, but-- ]
and prayed Hard for that man and all who he loves.
I know that our Creator is Good.
And the Mills of God Grind Exceedingly Slow, but Exceedingly Fine.
Blessings. Time. Peace...
(what if everyone on the planet asked our Good Creator to ease the burden of this man? i wonder what would happen...)
