Good morning…
On this All Saints’ Day weekend, when we honor the lives of those who have left earth for heaven, I sat on the back porch of a friend whose husband passed away eight weeks ago. We marveled at how quickly time has passed and how slowly, surely God’s peaceful strength has built a home within her.
Amid our conversation I said, “There’s a poem I want to share.” Instead of sending the words just to her, I feel compelled to share them with you too.
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Lessons from a Nest by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
It hides in the rafters,
this tightly woven nest of grass,
brown and humble,
lined with mud.
I would like to hold
this messy vessel in my hands,
as if to hold is to understand.
I would like to know
what the nest knows—
how to hold what is fragile,
how to keep life safe,
how it is to be made to be useful,
how it is to be made to be left.
How beautiful it can be
to hold emptiness.
******
All of us, we are fragile. We seek to keep life safe. We are made to be useful and we are made to be left. As we tenderly remember those who have shared their lives and left our sight, holding emptiness can be beautiful.
Then I said, “I will pass from this earth in the comfort of my nest. My days will be more numerous than a beach’s grains of sand. My roots will grow deep, spreading out to the water’s edge, and in the night, the dew will come to rest on my branches” (Job 29:18-19, VOICE).
…Sue…
P.S. Our hearts also join with Onrica Harris as today she lays to rest her 7-year-old daughter, Hailey, her mother, and her two aunts, all who died in a tragic house fire in South Fulton County two weeks ago. A small group of us have made a collective donation to PAWkids to help support the immediate needs of Onrica and her remaining children, ages three and six. Gratitude goes out to Mary Helen McGruder, Gretchen Ellis, Brooke LeBow, Elise Drake, Claire Spears, Barbara Ghegan, Tamara Guilday and Maurie Drambel. We will let you know of future opportunities to offer support.
