JOYFUL PIECE #129
All the lonely await...
We are on that anticipatory time correctly named Advent, and even nature feels it and expresses it as the maple tree does in the photo. The bark is shedding with the leaves, yet the tree is as beautiful in the fall as in the spring and summer. In winter I will recall its prior beauty, for the tree recedes to dormancy now, pondering its next moves, gathering resources for a springtime explosion of further change and growth.
The above paragraph provides a metaphor for our national situation. Patience is needed, including recollection of past political crises, and a need to plan for the coming rebirth when the unwanted, the unneeded is shed like outgrown bark and leaves.
In this season of Advent I should take time as the tree does, to patiently and deliberately plan for a personal and even national rebirth.
The tree caught my eye as I set out on a walk to refresh myself after a day of must dos before Christmas Day, before family arrives to stay with us. Earlier that day, a recently widowed friend called and shared how his period of grieving was past and yielding now to loneliness. His grown children will travel away on Christmas Day and he will stay dog-sitting, house sitting. It does not feel right yet married children are always splitting holidays with in-laws.
What to do with so many similar stories out there?
We will uncover joy this Christmas season, for ourselves and others, by reaching out to the lonely.
I will give it attention.
📞👩🏻🦳👴🏻
So hopeful, thank you Manuel.
"We are on that anticipatory time correctly named Advent, and even nature feels it and expresses it as the maple tree does in the photo. The bark is shedding with the leaves, yet the tree is as beautiful in the fall as in the spring and summer. In winter I will recall its prior beauty, for the tree recedes to dormancy now, pondering its next moves, gathering resources for a springtime explosion of further change and growth.
The above paragraph provides a metaphor for our national situation. Patience is needed, including recollection of past political crises, and a need to plan for the coming rebirth when the unwanted, the unneeded is shed like outgrown bark and leaves.
In this season of Advent I should take time as the tree does, to patiently and deliberately plan for a personal and even national rebirth."
Happy holidays. Enjoy the time with family. After the long winter, the spring and rebirth upon us. My condolences and best wishes to your friend 🙏