More meandering at the start of Lent...

Last night we celebrated our daughter's 32nd birthday - a lovely time with both daughters and their respective spouses at our home - a time filled with feasting, sharing stories and lots of laughter.  It always brings a measure of healing and calm to my soul to break bread with these dear people - it evokes a deep sense of peace that washes over and through me at these times - and I feel renewed.  The late poet, John O'Donohue, spoke of this in his book, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings, in this blessing spoken after a feast:

We end this meal with grace

For the joy and nourishment of food,

The slowed time away from the world

To come into presence with one another

And sense the subtle lives behind our faces,

The different colors of our voices,

The edges of hungers we keep private,

The circle of love that unites us.

We pray the wise spirit who keeps us

To change the structures that make others hunger

And that after such grace we might now go forth

And impart dignity wherever we partake.

Today our lives return to "normal" - rest and cleaning, preparing for worship and ministry in our community - with all the hassles and holiness that is pregnant within the ordinary.  All the more reason to delight in the feasting, yes?