Those who make us blossom

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“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”

                               Marcel Proust

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It is easy these days to be churlish

From the moment we wake up (in the dark)

To the moment we go to sleep (many hours after dark)

 

We are assailed by annoyances and aggravations

Some minor, some profound

 

From the cat scratching at the bedroom door at 2am

To the dog growling at mythical beasts at 4am

 

From the empty shelves at the grocery store

To the myopic and thoughtless responses on Facebook

 

From the latest political polls

To the hate filled, lie filled venom of some political rallies

Where there is no plan for the future, but only promised retribution and cruelty

(cheered on by people caught up in the hate)

 

From the stark pictures of humanity’s inhumanity to humanity

The devastation in Gaza, the horror of Hamas

The warming world,

To the hard reality that your family will not be with you this Thanksgiving

 

We are assailed by the negative

and if we are not careful, soon find ourselves sinking

into the ooze and slime and old decay

into the swamp of our own resentments

 

and yet

we are Sacred children

gifted children

beloved children

 

we have something that, if we can stop

and breathe

go deep and settle,

 

will lift us up

 

Paul says it well in Philippians (4)

"I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

 

I am not suggesting some sort of simplistic piety

Sometimes life sucks and we are brought low

 

But we can rebound

And even in the face of need and want

We can find abundance

 

As Mary Oliver so beautifully puts it

“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.”

 

This day as I struggle with many things

(I will not list them for they may not be your “things”)

It is time, is it past time

To be grateful

 

and this day I am grateful for people

I am grateful for my family who love me

I am grateful for friends, who seem to be able to look past my flaws

I am grateful for the dedicated people I work with, for their determination and compassion

I am grateful for those people who grace the pews and (these days) the computer screens on Sunday morning

I am grateful for those I agree with

I am grateful for those I don’t agree with (they keep me honest and humble)

 

I am grateful for all those who, in so many ways

Till the soil of my soul

And make me a better person

 

Blessings to those charming gardeners who make my soul blossom

You may not know who you are (although I hope you do)

But I do

 

Thank you