Grains of Sand

Pixabay If I could have, I would have shoved my feet through the floor of the bus and used my own legs to push it along. If mind ever had power over matter, mine should have forced the driver’s foot to press down harder on the accelerator. The night flashed by, faint outlines of trees interrupted by the occasional house dimly lit by a yard light or edged with Christmas bulbs. The road stretched before me. I willed it to end where I needed it to end, but perversely it refused, one curve morphing into yet another length of highway flecked with swirling snow. The demon of doubt whispered: She’s going to die before I get there . A desperate faith countered: Please don’t let her go before I arrive . Does a minute always take so long? How is it that an hour seems like an eternity? Eight hours on a bus crawling through the night. No flights available this close to Christmas. No trains leaving that would get me there any faster. Faster?   My demon doub...

Reading Zechariah 12-14; Revelation 21 I just finished perusing some posts on Facebook. A young woman whom I used to do Bible study with commented that today was the 13 th anniversary of her father’s death. She remarked that this was the day that God decided it was time for him to leave this earth. She also remarked on how much he loved his daughters. According to my friend, her father now looks after them and protects them lovingly from where he is. It’s funny, and sad, how we remember things. We filter them through our “wanna be” and “wish it was” and end up with a story that comforts us even when it isn’t true. Her father was a philanderer who abandoned his daughters and wife to live with a second family that he had been maintaining on the side for some time. He left them penniless and with a mountain of debt that took his wife years to pay off. He committed suicide immediately after calling his oldest daughter to come and visit him, knowing that she would be the one to dis...

“ So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand ” —Isaiah 41:10, NIV. At the end of last week, a dear friend lost a much-loved brother. While her own husband struggles with serious health issues, a sister lies dying in the hospital, a brother-in-law is battling the dreaded “C,” it seems overwhelming that she should now face laying a brother to rest. How much can one person handle? Then I read Isaiah’s words and realize that my prayer for my friend has already been spoken. The words are old but their familiarity doesn’t breed contempt in God’s ears. He’s listening. He’s ready to bring fresh life to old words and meet my friend in her need. So much of life is edged with grief. The world presses in and we don’t always know how to respond. Trouble comes. If we only had to handle one trouble at a time we might be able to handle it on our own, but trouble, if it doesn’t act...