look for the gifts

For Equilibrium, a Blessing:

Like the joy of the sea coming home to shore,

May the relief of laughter rinse through your soul.

As the wind loves to call things to dance,

May your gravity be lightened by grace.

Like the dignity of moonlight restoring the earth,

May your thoughts incline with reverence and respect.

As water takes whatever shape it is in,

So free may you be about who you become.

As silence smiles on the other side of what's said,

May your sense of irony bring perspective.

As time remains free of all that it frames,

May your mind stay clear of all it names.

May your prayer of listening deepen enough

to hear in the depths the laughter of god.”

                      John O'Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings

______________________________________________

It was a normal conversation

On an abnormal day

The coronavirus threat was hanging in the air

People, more careful than fearful

Were “sheltering in place”

Life was blurry

With one day blending into the next

Until even the day of week seemed uncertain

She answered the phone

Her voice full of energy

“I just got the most amazing advice” she shared

Oh?

“Look for the gifts”

And so, for a time, we ceased talking about

Numbers of people infected

Our fears for those we love

The things we have lost in this time of pandemic

Instead we talked about gifts

About having time to take a longer walk in the morning

To see the sunrise

Of empty calendars

And suitcases, sitting, dust covered in the closet

And of time at home

We talked about books read

And about conversations with friends

And the gifts of distant friends calling, unexpectedly, to “touch base”

And people in the community, rallying around those in need

We talked of love shared

Of grace abounding

And faith deepening

We talked of time in meditation

Of spending time in prayer

Of connecting with all that is Sacred

Ah, yes, these are difficult time

It is easy to focus on the illness

On the deaths

On the things we have lost

But if we take the time

If we settle into our Center

Into that place where Sacred dwells

And open the eyes and ears of our soul

We will indeed be surprised by joy (CS Lewis)

And “hear in the depths the laughter of god.”