First a note that I need to be changing the time of the month when I post a blog entry: all part of reducing commitments, and you might say “holding the space,” between the year that just ended and the new one just begun. Hal Borland, a mentor of mine that I quote a bit in my book, “A Seasoned Life,” once said, “Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.” It’s already the 20th of January 2024, and I am acutely aware of several pivotal facts: I am entering my 76th year on this earth, still “going on” and engaged with God’s people as their needs become apparent to me. I’m hoping that there is a tiny bit of wisdom acquired through grace keeping me open to what God wants from me, and wisdom acquired in the space between blessings and loss. You too, dear reader, have no doubt experienced both deep joy and deep sorrow in your years. Is wisdom the automatic gift that comes from experiencing both? It might not be automatic at all…but perhaps more dependent on having taken enough time to reckon with both. It is both together…joy and sorrow…that grow us! By taking inventory, as a regular practice, of what has been, how we reckoned with it, and what may lie ahead …this grounds us before the Holy One, who forever accompanies us no matter what we may be experiencing at the time. Learning to hold the space between joy and sorrow, between loss and blessings…knowing no matter how how bleak some days can be; we must go on…the good news is we don’t go on alone…Someone holds that space with us, walks with us, guides us! Trusting in the abundant goodness of God; THAT is wisdom…of the kind that lets us keep hoping things will come around…they always do… I wish you time to take inventory of 2023 if you haven’t already; what were the discoveries, the joys, the disappointments and hard times? And then cross the threshold into 2024 face forward, trusting that “all will be well, all manner of things will be well…BECAUSE there IS a Force of Love moving through the universe that holds us fast and will never let us go.” Julian of Norwich

Perhaps it’s Love holding the space after all…

I’m haring a call in 2024 to write a new book ( somewhat of a sequence); but this time, a collection of my own poems inspired by the changing seasons. Here is a wintry January one:

Back To Back

And the year that ended just weeks ago

I was reluctant to let go…

From its start to its completion a word had chosen me and made itself known

SURPRISE was its name

Glimpses of mystery as it played out:

Unexpected train sightings

Ripple effect connection

Loss of consciousness

Celebrant at grandson’s wedding

Great grandmother to be

Surprises indeed

And the year that began just weeks ago?

Better leave the window open

Could very well be astonishing