Flying Free

Gentle Reader,

I wrote the following a few weeks ago as a little offering of encouragement for those involved with Five Minute Friday Snail Mail. (If you don’t know what that is, start here). Somehow it seems appropriate to leave these words here, on a day when I was able to get out and take a nice, long walk. A day when I’m tired, but not miserably so. A day when the ache in my side isn’t that sharp.

I leave these thoughts with you because every day is not like this one.

Some days, perhaps many days, are dark and difficult.

And we need reminding.

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Today is one of the hard days.

My body is not my friend. Illness zaps my strength and keeps me couch-bound. I feel weary. Bummed out.

My eyes stray to the front window. The breeze dances through the rose bushes, barely contained by the wooden trellises. Delicate canes sway back and forth. A few faded pink petals skip over the concrete walkway. Shadows and light trip across the green grass, locked in a forever gave of “chase.”

And I realize that I would have missed this were it not for the nausea and the pain.

Dear one, I don’t know what you might be struggling with today. Life is tough. Relationships break, bank accounts drain, jobs end, bodies fail. It’s hard to see anything other than the storm. But look, beloved. Look. Lift your eyes. Ask God to grace you with His clear and eternal perspective. Seek out the little, bright spaces that flicker and flash between the clouds.

If you do, somehow your soul will fly free, if but for a moment. In that sacred, precious space, you will breathe deeply, catching the scent of holiness found in His presence. For you are never alone.

And that will be enough.