Cup Our Hands, Open Our Hands, Scatter Love

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" Lord, we cup our hands to gather the

pieces of heaven you shower upon us. Help

us to open our hands with generous

spirits and scatter your divine love

in the darkest places. Amen. "

from COMMON PRAYER, p 243

It's a bit of stream of consciousness writing today. You might need a large mug of your favourite beverage to sustain.

A couple of days ago, I woke up in the night and felt out of sorts in my soul. I wasn't having any awful dreams, but sometimes for no apparent reason the night has an unfriendly feel to it. That night it felt bleakish. I have basically learned to ignore that feeling. No, that's not quite true, I don't ignore it but I have learned to accept that's how it feels sometimes. It will pass. It's not just me, I know, for many of us the sad of the world seems ever present, even when we're not consciously thinking about what's going on, even when our own lives are perfectly pleasant for the most part.

The soft light from my lamp soothes me.

You may recall I have been slow reading for a couple of months now a book by British author, Matt Haig. It's titled Notes on a Nervous Planet. We see a world falling apart. Matt reminds us that parts of the world have always been falling apart. It's just that now with social media we have access to all the corners where ructions are going on. The book is one I recommend—it's filled with tiny essays about the author reminding himself and his readers to accept the sadness around us, to accept that it affects us. And then he shares how to recalibrate our thoughts so we remember 'the big importance of small lives', jogging our memory that a 'million unsung acts of kindness' happen every day. A million acts of love. Quiet human goodness living on'. I imagine being one of the million in such a count. To be intentional about kindness and love every single day I live on this earth. It's life as it ought to be.

The bleakness lessens.

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" The last part of a man's life is his little, nameless,

unremembered acts of kindness and love. "

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

I open my journal and flip through the pages—I look for a poignant quote, a soothing thought, a consoling text of Scripture. Something I wrote down earlier that might help me move past this bleakness filling the air. I even visit my social media; yes, even in this hour, for folks in different time zones have already begun their day, and many fill their feeds with good thoughts and positive intentions. For example, Bertie Lakeland, a very dapper British Lakeland Terrier, along with his human dad, has his own Twitter page. On it, Bertie spreads joy as he lives his happy doggie life and shares it with his followers. Bertie posted these words the other day, "If you root yourself in love and kindness, your heart will always bloom." What a smart fellow.

Then I catch sight of the tweet pinned at the top of my own Twitter page, a line I once read on author Shawna Lemay's blog Transactions with Beauty that I never want to forget: "You've got to live this life with joy, I've learned. You've got to transform the ugly stuff into love." Yes, that's what life is about, learning to transform the ugly stuff into love. It's a full time job. In the middle of the night, this inspires me; it's work I can do in my corner of the world.

Back to Matt Haig's book. He talks about not letting the fear and the ugly be in charge. Oh yes. I am immediately reminded of much loved verses in the Bible: "Be anxious for nothing. . . Cast all your cares upon the Lord for He cares for you. . . Fear not, for I AM with you always."

Soft light as if from my lamp now seeps into my thoughts. Did I mention the bleakness has moved on? 

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" Even in the darkness, we will trust :

that our lives are still in your hands. "

from COMMON PRAYER, p 243

As if you don't have enough, here are a few more lines I found in my journal that night. I loved being reminded of these good words:

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" Hello World...

Hello; sun in my face,

Hello you who made the morning

and spread it over the fields . . .

Watch, now, how I start the day

in happiness, in kindness. "

MARY OLIVER

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" Keep faith with your awakened heart . . .

sit in silence each day and reground yourself in

that which is so fleetingly glimpsed, which is

God loving you through and through and through . . .

just as you are . . . always . . .unexplainably . . . "

BODMIN HERMIT, on Twitter

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"Lord, we cup our hands to gather the

pieces of heaven you shower upon us. Help

us to open our hands with generous spirits and

scatter your divine love in the darkest places. Amen.

from COMMON PRAYER, p 243

I close this post with the same quote I opened it. I've cupped my hands to gather the pieces of heaven I found in these wee hours. I open my hands to scatter them, like bits of joy, hoping something in these few lines will send any sad shadows fleeing. And that light will fill your thoughts today, just as it did for me the other night.

Look after each other.

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Sending heart hugs,

Brenda

Top Image by mysticsartdesignfrom Pixabay

(2) Image by Farbsynthese from Pixabay

(3) Image by Alicja from Pixabay