I look out of the kitchen window
The morning is beautiful!
The wisteria dripping with sprays of lilac blossom.
I reach for a camera and go out
To capture the moment-
Lord, what I see when I look at the photo
Is the intrusion of washing.
I am annoyed,
The picture is spoiled.
I take more
Excluding the washing.
Yet somehow that photo is not binned
But kept.
When I come to choose
That is the one that says
‘Use me
I am what life is about,
Beauty and chores,
All mixed up.’
( The fragrance of clean washing
Is as fragrant as the wisteria,
I muse.)
Father life just doesn’t come in neat pockets of
Joy and Sorrow
Work and Pleasure
Separated;
They tangle with each other
Threading through,
Knotting
Muddling along.
They only spoil our lives
Completely
If we seek to hold them
Separately
And not entwined.
Reality lies in acknowledging the mix,
Revelling in diversity,
Smiling through tears,
Finding wellingtons for the floods
And sun cream for the heat of the sun,
And a hat.
Reality lies in the ferocity
Of the storm
And its intrinsic
Beauty.
Hold us together
Gracious God
So that Wisteria and Washing
Go hand in hand,
As Crucifixion and Resurrection
Speak of your acceptance of
The reality that is
Our life on earth.
Amen Hazel Parsons
Reading: Matthew 5:1-12
SthF. 516. What shall I do my God to love
