fall into his arms with thanks


 

Anyone

who imagines that bliss

is normal in life is going to waste a lot

of time running around shouting that he’s been robbed.

The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children

grow up to be just people, most successful marriages require a high degree

of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise.

Life is like an old-time rail journey – delays, sidetracks, smoke,

dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally

with beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed.

The trick is to thank God for letting

you have the ride.

 

Jenkin Lloyd Jones

 
 

Fall into

His arms with thanks

and you’ll weep like the sky;

refuse Him your thanks

and you’ll freeze like

the snow.

 

Rumi

 

how dark the beginning


 

All  we ever talk of is light—

let there be light, there was light then,

good light—but what I consider

dawn is darker than all that.

So many hours between the day

receding and what we recognize

as morning, the sun cresting

like a wave that won’t break

over us—as if  light were protective,

as if  no hearts were flayed,

no bodies broken on a day

like today. In any film,

the sunrise tells us everything

will be all right. Danger wouldn’t

dare show up now, dragging

its shadow across the screen.

We talk so much of  light, please

let me speak on behalf

of  the good dark. Let us

talk more of how dark

the beginning of a day is.

 

Maggie Smith