Life

It has been a difficult few months. Unbloggable things in my life have made the past weeks most challenging. My faith has been tried, by sanity tested, my strength called upon on what felt like a minute-to-minute basis. I think we have a shred of hope these days. It's been a fierce storm and I feel battered. I do see tiny glimmers of light, though, and this song feels like a whispered refrain:

My life goes on in endless song:
Above earth's lamentation,
I catch the sweet, tho' far-off hymn
That hails a new creation.
Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear the music ringing;
It finds an echo in my soul--
How can I keep from singing?
What tho' my joys and comfort die?
The Lord my Saviour liveth;
What tho' the darkness gather round?
Songs in the night he giveth.
No storm can shake my inmost calm,
While to that refuge clinging;
Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,
How can I keep from singing?
I lift my eyes; the cloud grows thin;
I see the blue above it;
And day by day this pathway smooths,
Since first I learned to love it.
The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,
A fountain ever springing;
All things are mine since I am his--
How can I keep from singing?

National Poetry Month- Day One

In a Country Once Forested

The young woodland remembers
the old, a dreamer dreaming

of an old holy book,
an old set of instructions,

and the soil under the grass
is dreaming of a young forest,

and under the pavement the soil
is dreaming of grass.

Wendell Berry


Young forest photo from here.

Friday Five Quick Picks

At the RevGalBlogPals site, Kathryn writes:
"We're in the midst of 'it' and I'm hoping that it is not just me who is starting to get a bit overwhelmed. So for today I am asking for five quick picks of things that are good in your life. And as a bonus, 1 pick for a thing you could do without.
If you want to describe them? Great.
If not? That's fine too."

It's not just you, Kathryn. It's the ironic Lenten dash.

Five things that are good in my life include: my sweet puppy, Lucy; signs of spring in the yard (daffodils, crocuses);a good hair cut; great books I'm reading (see yesterday's post; a fairly short to-do list for today.
One thing I could do without? Insomnia.



Spring flowers image from here.