Picture This

I had grown used to visiting this secret place each day at work. A place special only to me, my corner of peace, a sanctuary when a phone call went bad, a deadline loomed and sluggish brain needed a jump-start. When pain fired hot and spirit sagged low, a moment's rest from turmoil I craved. I read a few years ago in a research study, that simply looking at a loved one in a photograph eases pain receptor in brain by forty percent. I brought a digital photo frame to work.

It is therapy this scanning of photography.

Subtle it is, this lifting of the corners of mouth, ever so slightly. Shoulders release tight grip.

It changes things, this gazing, sour tones quickly transform into light notes, a beacon for those who surround us.

 

And when flash drive failed after using Walgreen's photo computer, I said thank you to co-worker who possessed talent to fix and now I can behold once again and practice those grateful breaths.

 

This ride we are taking, us all, it helps ease the pain, the uncertainty, to pause in that place that is yours alone. Breathe it in, this great grace that says I-am-here-right-now-and-I-always-know-exactly-what-you-need, even when the ride goes unsteady and you tumble and fall. I will pick you back up.

 

And I look at scenes, at snaphots, moments in this life. It comes once again, His grace-tipped arrow, it pierces the heart, this love that conquers all, and I quiver unsteady.

And I come across words that lends voice to this flutter inside. There on the mountain top, there in the everyday and the mundane, there in the sorrow and the dancing. His great grace, and I breathe it in, all over again, yesterday forgotten, this moment, this now, cupped in exalted grace. 

 

Joy is that deep settled confidence that God is in control of every area of my life.

~Paul Sailmamer~