Last Sunday afternoon,
as I sat down to see what the day’s page of “The Little Prince” had to say to
me,
I wondered if the
message was going to be autobiographical or if it was going to be fiction.
On Friday night, a
scathing fictional poem had emerged.
It said:
“You complain and boast
But your heart is
empty.
You’re nothing to me.”
I commented to my
writing partner, Heidi-The-Librarian, that I hoped I’d never actually have to
say those words to anyone!
As I reflected on
Sunday’s text and let the words float around in my brain,
A poem emerged that is
loosely based on life experience.
It said:
“My friend told me that
I, myself, am enough.
I didn’t understand
But I answered, ‘Yes,
of course.’
‘You’re beautiful, too,’
(he said).
This time, I said
nothing.
And we sat in silence.”
Many years ago,
Jenny-The-Counselor told me that I was enough,
But I wasn’t healthy
enough to understand what she meant.
Having grown up in a
faith tradition that taught me that I was nothing but a sinner saved by grace,
I internalized the
sinner part of the equation so much that I made damning myself a regular part
of my existence.
I always thought that I
needed to be and do more.
I didn’t fully
understand that I, as a child of God, created in God’s image, saved by God’s
love that overcome all darkness and death, was enough.
I didn’t fully
understand God’s amazing grace.
While I get it now,
It’s still a
mind-boggling concept—
This concept of being
enough.
And it’s also a mind-boggling
concept to think of beauty
As someone who has
absolutely no beauty regimen
Other than showering
and brushing my teeth :-p.
But beauty is there,
too,
As God’s beloved child.
Beauty is something we
see as well as something that we feel,
But it’s not something
that I talk about much.
And so I sit in
silence,
Letting “enough,” and “grace,”
and “beauty,”
Sink in.
Dear God: Speak to us
in the silence. Speak words that we need to hear. Let your truths sink in. And
let that be enough. Amen.
