Journeying Mercies

Life's journey can be hard.

It can drive us to our knees.

Journeying mercies.

Signs of Spring

Today is a chilly day by last week's standard, but springtime nonetheless. I took a break from some studio work to poke around in my backyard to see if spring would show itself to me. I didn't have to look too hard.

Along our railway ties that surround our patio, patches of moss have begun to grow. The green colour breathes life into the air and sparks hope for more of the same.

Spring is a season brimming with new life, new beginnings. This reminds me of God's mercies, new each morning, not only in springtime.  Like signs of spring, I don't have to look too hard for these either. They are all around me. Thankful.

Someone Else's Christmas

Watching a breakfast television show while working out this morning, I saw the band Quinzy perform Someone Else's Christmas (well done, by the way)...at least I'm pretty sure that was the name of the song. What was powerful for me was watching this band sing while the news ticker scrolled through on the bottom of my screen with reports of fires, murders, court battles and more. For those impacted directly by these news stories and so many others, including loneliness, it may well be someone else's Christmas.

To reach out and show love to someone, to forgive a wrong, to extend grace and mercy to those who struggle with something, with anything, with you...this is the spirit of Christmas. To humbly receive the ultimate gift of love and forgiveness, grace and mercy is not just the spirit of Christmas; it is Christmas and it needn't only be someone else's.