So, in light of the fact that the news of the day as usual is not great, to the point of awfulness, I thought I would say some joyful/ delightful/ light-filled things. Not making 'light* of the heavy things but to remember that beauty, dignity and delight are still possible in the midst of things - though sorrow can make this hard to see - (I remember when at 21 I had one of my first huge losses in my life and did not understand how the sun was still shining) - however - still.
So after vespers a young brother and sister were sitting on a pew at the front of church. The boy got up first and the littler sister stayed on the pew, with full concentration and purpose, held her big teddy bear backpack open, put one medium sized teddy bear inside and then a smaller teddy bear inside, on top of the bigger one, stuffing them in like a woman with an awesome bag and then carefully zipping the bag shut. It was so sweet.
While she was doing this, the Mother helped her older son kiss an icon on a taller stand (of Christ's transfiguration). ...
And then she went and kissed the Mother of God's icon (with the help of her Mom) and then, standing back on her feet, kissed the candle stand next to it, and then the Cross next to that... the boy coming and doing the same thing with her...
A Child's sense of an ordered world, where it is natural to express love to Christ, His Mother and to Church itself, is just such a delight, a truly beautiful thing to see.
In the midst of strife, confusion, and worse, it's worth remembering that today there were two young kids in church who were so happy to be there and were kissing icons and Crosses, conscious of goodness, safety and love.
1 comment:
Such a blessed instant you draw our attention at! I come across mothers with children at church and my heart melts.One of the biggest obstacles in surrendering our lives to Christ is stop using our logic for everything. And like you point children do so naturally.
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