Comfort: Beauty is a gift

“Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” – James 1:17

Beauty is a gift

The lumpy brown and red soil
Is silent.

The night closes in.

Death waits.

Time slowly rushes by.

A surprise cantaloupe emerges under a large leaf
Round, orange, and dripping connected to the once silent soil.

The deep, black sky is pin pricked with stars
Painted with gray drifting clouds a dome opening up to heaven.

Productivity pulls me through the days
Cooking beets from the garden and marinated chicken,

Washing my forgetful middle schooler’s soccer socks at 10pm,
Loving my husband’s gentle arm around my shoulders,

My man-child son walks out the door to college,
This present time captured in my memory.

Writing down the moments so they don’t drift away
Lost in my ever accumulating life.

Gifts of beauty

Perfectly placed

Among ordinary moments.

Days made exquisite.

Some Comfort and Joy was developed as a devotional resource that follows the rhythms and seasons of the liturgical year from an Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective.

Comfort & Joy: Readings and Practices for Advent is available now! With readings to walk through the Advent and Christmas season, the weekly offerings in Comfort and Joy include a variety of devotional meditations and invitations to spiritual practices that help us slow down and savor this sacred season.