Blessings (Lisa)

As I clicked baby Mae into her stroller and went about the busyness of preparing for our walk, I was overcome with emotions. So many mothers, grandmothers, babushkas just wanting to do the same today. I am blessed. The simple ordinary stuff of life is right here for the taking, no bombs, no threats, no war. I am blessed. I watch my grandson poke in the snow with a stick. He runs his little toy car through the thawing mud and melting snow. He could be on any street of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol or Vinnytsia but he is not. We are blessed, not because we hold some special place in God’s heart, not because God favors us over any other people or nation. We are all His children, and in this moment, as in all, we are all blessed to be called His beloved.

I do not understand the evils of this world. I cannot wrap my brain around it all. It presses me down into a fog of despair. I watched a man interviewed on a street in Kharkiv after a night of bombing. It was oddly, peacefully quiet and the pain in his face, the emotion in his voice as he stood among smoldering homes were in such shocking contrast to the brilliant blue sky and the first birdsongs of spring surrounding him. God is just as much here on this sidewalk as He is on my own. As I bend to retrieve Mae’s fallen blanket tucking it gently around her, we walk on and I pray in gratitude for the gifts of this day.

I reach out and all around to feel the warmth of my Lord. I am blessed. I am grateful for the surroundings of my life. If you feel the fog of despair, if you just need to reground in the blessings of this day, I hope you will find a prayerful moment with this short videoclip:

Blessings with Brother David Steindl Rast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSt7k_q_qRU