THE WAY OF IT

Those of you who have been reading this blog for some time know my fondness for the words of R.S. Thomas. His words combine faith and doubt, certainty and mystery, sound and silence. His wife, Mildred “Elsie” Eldridge (for 51 years until her death) was a well regarded English Artist and book illustrator. They shared the love of bird watching and the beauty of flowers. I find his poem below full of beauty, earthiness and love. “The way if it” – life, love, and marriage. I wonder what lines in the poem stand out for you? Pause, ponder, and enjoy.

THE WAY OF IT

With her fingers she turns paint
into flowers, with her body
flowers into a remembrance
of herself. She is at work
always, mending the garment
of our marriage, foraging
like a bird for something
for us to eat. If there are thorns
in my life, it is she who
will press her breast to them and sing.

Her words, when she would scold,
are too sharp. She is busy
after for hours rubbing smiles
into the wounds. I saw her,
when young, and spread the panoply
of my feathers instinctively
to engage her. She was not deceived,
but accepted me as a girl
will under a thin moon
in love’s absence as someone
she could build a home with
for her imagined child.   R.S. Thomas

Prayer:
Loving God, we are
often quick
to give thanks for the beauty in nature but
often slow
to give thanks for the beauty we recognise in others.
Often quick to take for granted the kindness and love we receive from
spouse, child, parent, sibling, and close friend.
Often slow to express deep gratitude for the unending love we recieve
day to day, month to month, decade after decade.
Loving God, hear our prayers of gratitude and prompt us
to speak our thanks in the here and the now. Amen.