SPRING PROMISE

Aching as I walked,

I wondered if my life would ever again

be joy-filled and bright.

Then I found my answer.

It was only a small shrub

– two bare branches rising up from the earth –

but at their tips

tiny green buds had appeared.

I breathed a prayer of thanks,

and was blessed again

by the yellow smiles of daffodils.

24March2017 - mshr

UNPREDICTABILITY

The calendar said it was almost spring,

but snow covered the bright daffodil blooms.

Weather is unpredictable;

Mother Nature is a Mistress of Surprises!

My mind says that spring

should always bloom in my body,

but the aches of age

blot out that lovely wish.

Life, too, is unpredictable;

the Creator sometimes surprises me.

But,

being more loving than Mother Nature,

always comforts and carries me through.

18March2017 - mshr

WALK ON THE BEACH

Surely the Almighty is like the ocean

a vast sea of loving goodness

waves constantly breaking around me

and over me

kissing me with pure white foam

and trickles of water

between my bare toes.

While invisible beneath the roiling surface

pulses deep, fertile, and mysterious 

power.

Shore birds feed sumptuously

on the gleanings of the surf.

Tiny crabs, like silent monks,

dash quickly into their sandy homes,

close to the water

but safe from the waves.

A peace I cannot understand envelopes me

as I walk the beach.

The nearness of God 

has washed the stress from my soul

as the waters rinse the sand from my feet.

No wonder, Incarnate Word,

that You spent so much time on the seashore,

inviting us

– and all of creation –

to come and experience 

the reality,

the power,

and the joy

of the One from whom You came.

6 March 2017 - mshr