I’ve been musing these days about the word aftermath…mostly due to the tragic news stories of the suffering caused by recent hurricanes and seeing that the aftermath of these storms is destruction and loss of life and home and security…

The word aftermath has an interesting agricultural etymology, originally referring to what was left after the mowing of the first cutting of grass…but now almost exclusively refers to what’s left after a disaster or unpleasant event…the effects/consequences…

In my musing though, it occurs to me that this word has another meaning all-together if it’s cut in two and becomes two separate words… what nuance occurs if I look at After Math., as in after math class!  I have always resisted math at every turn owning up to the fact that it was and still is a most challenging subject for me…I majored in English for many good reasons!!

But I must admit there are so many times I “use” it and happily so!! I find myself counting a great deal…as in counting on each season to follow each other, counting hugs and kisses, counting summers by the sea and winter evenings by the wood stove fire. In this rich and colorful month of October, I count apples, leaves, acorns, pumpkins, cups of cinnamon spiced tea, the number of times my team loses the football game, and how many more days until Halloween. I count and add up blessings: 1 wonderful husband, 3 very wise daughters, 5 affectionate grandchildren, and 1 wiggly, happy great-granddaughter. I subtract sorrows and disappointments from the number of joys I’ve experienced and calculate that there are so many lovely events leftover. I try to multiply kindnesses first offered to me…and I believe for certain that when I share my grieving with another person, that pain is surely divided in two.

As you and I pray for those who have suffered the aftermath of this hurricane season, and you and I count on the amazing autumnal gifts of this month…AFTER this kind of MATH…are we not ready to indulge in a hefty portion of gratitude??!! As we begin to prepare ourselves and our homes for the winter, let’s remember to share what we have with those who have less. The more you give away, the more you will have… abundant joy “packed down and overflowing.”  For that is our good God’s kind of MATH!!