Like a Butterfly...(or, Beneath a Beaming Breadth of Sky)

How sacredly grief keens awareness to the preciousness of what we sometimes call Ordinary.How it stuns us, as we realize it is Love!and, what we once considered 'little things' are in reality the big things;the hymn of touch, a smile, a hug, a card, a bloom,a handshake, 'hello', a child, a chick,an autumn afternoon,a cup of tea, a meal and 'small-talk' shared, a breath-prayer, a holy pauseto marvel at God's infinite supply of mercies and then to thank Him, becauseno matter what was or will beHe loves and cares for you and me ***It's so hard to accurately describe the beautyof compassion from family, neighbors and friends; how your/their tender love strangely sweetens sorrow's most bitter partsThank-you to each and every one of youas you remind/teach me anew 1 Cor. 13:13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. *** Love never fails;it turns heart-wrenching lossinto a startling giftwe would never chooseor know;a gift, God-breathed to healgrief's brutal woundsas love's tears flow... *** Ps.147:3He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. ***Isa.52:7How beautiful on the mountains (or in a barnyard) are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” These youngsters (blurred to protect privacy) overflowed with sympathy, questions and conversationat the farm where I buy our fresh-as-they-come eggs(often they run to gather them, still warm with the touch of God!) SO many gentle moments to cherish... Beneath a beaming breadth of skyLife feels like a cheek, kissedAs Time wafts, like a butterflyTo bygone’s croft of mistAs joy and sorrow’s interplayComposes BittersweetArrangements, strewn like petal-frayThat flutters to the streetWhere Fleeting Footfalls thrum and fadeThrough seasons come, to passLike subtle arpeggios playedOn keys of breeze and grassWhere children romp, their innocenceCradles oblivionTo the brute strength of mere momentsEver-so-deftly spunLike threads, into a work of artAs tears and laughter meldLove’s precious glints of heart-to-heartThat we so briefly heldBeneath a beaming breadth of skyWhere Today/lifetimes seem/s so smallAs we waft like a butterflyToward Dusk’s shadow fall Beneath a beaming breadth of skyBy faith we humbly hearGod, kindly whisper, 'here am ITo catch each falling tear' © Janet Martin My neighbour, walking from her house to mine, bringing last night's supper 💝 and last but not leastthis morning's kind reminder devotion from the bookSprings in the Valley by Mrs. Chas E. Cowman