Sunday, October 10, 2010

To Be Witness

The leaves are gone off the trees today. A hard wind came along and away the last of them went.I don't know what fits a death more - grey skies and bare trees or a sunshiny blue sky.

This is Thanksgiving weekend here. I came home mid morning and put a pie in the oven and made the cranberry sauce. The turkey was slipped in to the oven to roast just a few minutes ago. Dearest one was gone when I came home. I thought maybe he'd gone to have coffee with a friend. Nope. He was at the hospital with his dad, who had been feeling ill enough that dearest one's mom called and asked for help. He is okay, no heart attack as was feared. Dearest one will be home as soon as he can. It's been that kind of a weekend.

I am beyond grateful that I am sober and emotionally healthy. Otherwise I would not be in this place of accepting life on life's terms today. I don't do it perfectly of course. I'm just grateful for those times when it is so clear what the right thing to do is regardless of what my idea of the day was going to look like. Thy will be done is a really brave thing to pray some days. There is a bigger plan than I can see. That sentence doesn't answer all the questions. I don't think faith needs every question answered in order to be real and vibrant. Maybe just the opposite.

Last night my sponsor and I settled into her hot tub after everyone had gone home. She reached both her hands out to me and under an inky black sky with pin pricks of stars trying to shine through, we prayed together. A first for both of us. The first words out of her mouth were ones of gratitude. We then sat and talked and even laughed a bit. It is a privilege to be witness to someone else's journey.


Photo Credit

5 comments:

Andrew said...

"I don't think faith needs every question answered in order to be real and vibrant. Maybe just the opposite."

I think you may be right.

Blessings to you and yours this Thanksgiving weekend.

Dianne said...

I am grateful for you today,
sort of in a birthday way,
we've barely met,
but a friend
to many and hope for myself,
keep writing,
Dianne

poet said...

even in sadness and tragedy we can be thankful for our sobriety. as you said, and i have recently as well, it is much better dealing with life stuff with a clear head.
sending thoughts of thanksgiving to you and yours~

Heidi Renee said...

oh dear, what a lot... praying for you all and thankful for your calming presence in the lives of those you love today.

Peter said...

Gratitude is a choice, like sobriety. It's also a gift, like sobriety, right?