Susan LaffertyMorning exercise at sunrise. Walking at a fast clip, tuned in to a podcast. Suddenly, there it is. Fragrance.
Distinct. Sweet. I don’t even have to look.
Honeysuckle.
Stopping, I turn and see. Down the the slope. A riot of honeysuckle blooms. Taking over the thicket.
Motionless. I sit. In sunlight. Stilled by loss and grief spilling across screens and down streets. Through personal stories of friends and strangers. Hard and sad.
Bitter wounds. Raw pain rooted deep. Laid bare.
Motionless. I wait. Stilled by the scale of it. What are we to do? Hands rest, palms up.
Eyes lifted to open sky between tall trees.
Wordless cry to the One I trust.
Today is the day. Yes, today. While panic swirls in the atmosphere. Surging through conversations and broadcasts and social media. As a global pandemic postpones, cancels, locks down.
Today is the day. To remember what is true. And focus on the lifeblood of this walk by faith. The only way we live and breathe and have our being.
Jesus invites us. Right in the middle of the normal and the upside down. Whether we’re walking through the ordinary or the unprecedented.
