The migraine that brought that last night’s sleeplessness

Lingers still

As I drink in the startling beauty of this place

The rippling water and lapping waves

The warming sun at my back offset by the cooling breeze

And I reflect on how pain and beauty can exist at once

I have no more patience for platitudes

For cheap grace or positive thinking

Happiness a poor substitute for joy

Sunshine and rain

Both necessary for plants to thrive

For a flower cannot grow without sun

But wilts for lack of rain

So too me

The church bells ring across the lake

Calling me back to the here and now

God’s ways higher than mine

Not muddied by sin or self-interest

Yet he uses broken vessels to show his glory

Faith that is dependent on “good things” is not faith at all

For it is not in what he gives

Or takes away

That we put our trust

But in the goodness of the giver

Even when things are not as they should be

Joy is found not just in being thankful for the good

But thankful for it all

Weeping may remain for a night

But rejoicing comes in the morning

Even through the pain behind my eyes

I see the beauty all around me and I worship

Looking forward to the day when there will be no more tears

When we shall see Him face to face

The weight of living in a fallen world

Itself fallen away

This world so tainted by sin

Impossible to make it through a day without being struck by the jagged places

In myself or in someone else

We live in the tension

Heartbreaking beauty and terrible loss

Lord, help me lay aside my own comfort

To comfort someone else

Make me an instrument of grace

In the life of someone who needs it

Fill my parched and dry places

That I might refresh others