Is It Not All Blessing?
By John Bonney of Springfield, OR, USA
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. —Luke 6:36 NRSV
IS IT NOT BLESSING?
Is it not blessing to see
the face of the baby,
or the teen
the middle-aged
or the elderly,
to say to oneself,
that person is a blessing?
Is it not blessing to thrill
to the song of wild geese
as they fly overhead,
to hear a melody
in the baby’s cry
the burble of the brook
the boom of the bullfrog?
Is it not blessing to take time
to actually look at the flower
attentively,
to sense the fragrance
blessed to touch a loved one
to give thanks
for the food of the day?
To catch one’s breath
at a sunset
a sunrise
or in moon’s glow,
to note the lush effulgence
of vegetation
every year.
Yet, still, to love the sight
of the naked tree standing
in unabashed, intricate
and asymmetrical silhouette
against the gray sky of winter;
blessed to listen, to watch
and to wonder
at the water—
water roaring shoreward
from great oceans,
water running in swift rivers,
water lapping gently
along lake shores,
water to drink and thereby thrive.
Is this not all blessing?
Prayer Phrase
God is with us.
Invitation to Spiritual Practice
Holy Attention
Ordinary time is a season for awakening to God’s presence in all the details and circumstances of our everyday, ordinary lives. Wherever you are, pay attention to your surroundings. Allow yourself to be fully present for a time with whatever is before you. Where do you sense God with you right now exactly where you are?
How does today’s poem invite you to discover God in the realities of your everyday life?
Today’s Prayer for Pea ce
Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.
