Wishes...

"Moon Over The Sea" (Caspar David Friedrich)

I have no mind-blowing thoughts to share tonight....I just really wanted to replace that "Tears" quote with something a little less melancholy!:) and that got me thinking about things i wish for...things i wish would happen....things i wish would not have happened.

Thinking on wishing made me remember this line from Sondheim's musical "Into the Woods" (prologue to Act II, i think) : "i wish more than anything...more than life....more than the moon..."

and that made me google around a bit looking at Moon paintings...until i found this one by a Casper David Friedrich...isn't it just gorgeous?!

so: there you have it...a glimpse into the loop-de-loops of my mind!!

but...back to Wishes:

at the beginning of the summer season i wished happy things upon us all. i hope there have been many happy summer moments for you, my fair reader! There have been some for me. I have followed the relaxing looking travels of some.....and the exciting looking trips of others. (somewhat enviously!) It at least Looks as if y'all are having good summers...

i've had some joyful travel fun myself this summer....and some good days inbetween, too.....but as always, my trips are kinda short lived...and that's pretty ok...really....

• ~but i can wish for some long walks on a beach....
• ~some exploring of places not hemmed in by a time-schedule...
• ~several weeks or maybe a couple of months of driving through Europe...totally away from responsibility...

These are surface wishes...i know that. And truly, the wishes my heart is carrying most closely are far more weighty and far more important than these 'easy to share' ones......I am reminded that Grace makes it possible for us to carry more than we ever thought possible. i know it to be true for myself....and i see it in the persevering hearts of friends....despite the difficult times this summer has brought. While i might Wish Life would be a little kinder sometimes..... i see hearts shining brightly even in moonlit times. His Grace is Sufficient.

“Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.” (Zelda Fitzgerald)

There is a sacredness in tears.

They are not the mark of weakness,

but of power.

They speak more eloquently

than ten thousand tongues.

They are the messengers

of overwhelming grief,

of deep contrition,

and of unspeakable love.

(Washington Irving)

i saw this poem this morning on one of my favoritest blogs Quiet Life. Mz. Booshay has been through a real time of sadness...although we're strangers, my heart has hurt with hers. Hurting with others.....that's sometimes a decision, i think. When your own plate of "hurts" and stress feels very full!!, it can be tough to have the energy to truly care. But i do think we're called to care...always....past ourselves, our own needs, our own stuff....it's called "bearing one another's burdens". And, looking around, there is no lack of things & people who elicit concern....So Many Huge problems facing people i either kinda know or really love.

Lord, Give me the patience and hope to

keep loving and keep caring in these troubled times.

...Then, when it seems we we will never smile again, Life comes back...

I've loved this card's photo and saying for years.....I had it framed in my office when i was doing therapy. Maybe i'm posting it for me...maybe for someone else who might read this, i don't know. i do know that i think it's true...even when it's raining showers, there is usually some reason to smile. I've had some reasons to smile through tears even as i've been typing this quick post.

And maybe that combination (tears + smiles) lends enough strength to keep carrying on.....