Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

I have postponed writing for so long that I now have volumes which will remain in my journal until I write a book.....sigh. So tonight I take the plunge and jump in part way into a very exciting story. I feel sorry for those of you who haven't heard the beginning of said story yet. It's a very hot story which needs telling and I derive much pleasure from the telling of it over and over again to whoever will listen!

This morning I read Matthew 5:4. Bible reading is going very slowly these days. There is much more pondering than reading going on. I am finally taking time to digest it very slowly. The words of Jesus read, "God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted."

I think of my Mom when I read this verse. I remember back to October 5, 1987.....when she slipped away from us after a weary battle with cancer. All these years it has still been very painful for me when I think about her being gone. She was so precious, such a saint. Why did I have to lose her when I was so young and still needed her? I may never know the answer to that question this side of heaven.......but I have finally found comfort after all these years of waiting for it.

Last Sunday morning as I was preparing to tell my story to our church family.....I stood in the bathroom putting on makeup. I had been racing around all morning getting ready for a houseful of people who were coming for lunch. My heart was pounding and butterflies were flying around inside me. All of a sudden these words flooded my mind....words I hadn't seen in many years...... Slow me down, Lord. Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind........I knew right away where they came from! Back in the early 80's Mom had had a poster framed for me and it hung on the wall in our home until we redecorated many years ago. I raced down to the crawlspace, hoping all the while that I hadn't disposed of it. Just inside the door I laid my hands on the new treasure and raced back upstairs to the bathroom with it. I had Rick read it to me while I finished getting ready.

Slow me down, Lord
Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind.
Steady my hurried pace with a vision of the eternal reach of time.
Give me, amid the confusion of the day, the calmness of the everlasting hills.
Break the tensions of my nerves and muscles with the soothing music of
the singing streams that live in my memory.
Help me to know the magical, restoring power of sleep.
Teach me the art of taking minute vacations --
of slowing down to look at a flower, to chat with a friend,
to pat a dog, to read a few lines from a good book.
Slow me down, Lord, and inspire me to
send my roots deep into the soil of life's enduring values
that I may grow toward the stars of my greater destiny.

The best was yet to come. On the flip side of the poster she had written the words........ in her own handwriting.......as well as the Scripture verses that corresponded with each line. Rick found a Bible and patiently read them to me. I inhaled the words and exhaled the stress. Instantly, there was calm and an abiding peace, and I wept with joy, comfort flooding my soul. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Twenty-two years later and not a minute too late I was the recipient of that comfort..........and it was well worth the wait.

Postscript: The poster now hangs in my study. The frame is worn and battered and it doesn't fit the decor of the room but it is a treasure and continues to be a source of comfort.