photo: Toa Heftiba“Grief and gratitude live under the same roof.” This axiom is one that has held me through the vicissitudes of life.
You know, vicissitudes: successive, alternating, or changing phases or conditions, as of life or fortune; ups and downs:
I have so much to be grateful for and much to grieve as well. So many friends here and in other parts of the world living in violence, poverty, and pain. Here I sit with a turkey in the oven while friends, family, neighbors, and enemies all need a touch from God.
I’m not a pessimist, optimist, or realist. I am a person of faith. Faith in God. Oh, God, you have held me through every season of gratitude and grief.
Today I say thank you for who I am, who I love, and the One who holds it all.
Today I say thank you for those that hate me and the One who holds it all.
When I hard on myself, God reminds me of who I am.
When I am proud of myself, God reminds me of who I am.
When I’m hard on others, God reminds me of who I am.
I hold it all here in the present moment. In thanksgiving. Deep sadness. The unfixable. Angst and elation. Disappointment and faith. I let God hang out with me here in the funk of it all. Trusting what is here and now is a gift, and what it will develop is care to live there and then.
Today I sing to God in longing and thanksgiving and I pray for you…
May God grant you the grace to hold grief and gratitude with thanksgiving.
God loves you here.
“…always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:20