Each week, I find inspiration from secular and/or sacred texts and weave a personal essay aimed at revealing a loving spirit at work in the universe. Each post concludes with a prayer and self-enrichment journal prompts.
Scripture:
“Love is patient and kind, never jealous, boastful, proud, or rude. Love isn't selfish or quick tempered. It doesn't keep a record of wrongs that others do. Love rejoices in the truth, but not in evil. Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting. Love never fails!” 1 Corinthians 13.4-7
Reflection:
Family is the anchor that keeps us grounded, the wings that help us soar, and the harbor that offers shelter in life's storms.” Maya Angelou
I have a few sentimental objects that I believe hold a loving energy bestowed upon them by my late great grandfather, who kept our family tightly knit for five generations.
There is his rosary, the one he kept on his nightstand, which now rests on mine atop his wife’s prayer book. These are remnants of his loving Catholic faith. Yet, his love isn’t limited to these religious idols.
His love is in the rocking chair that lives in my front room. I remember bobbing on his knee as a tot as he sat happily delighting me. Love is ingrained in that hand-crafted chair more than a century old.
His love is in the China bowl painted with red blooms among green vines outlined with gold thread. When I serve my family from this dish, we all share the love of my great-grandfather.
His love is in the aluminum, bell-shaped ornaments brought out each year during advent as we await the celebration of our family faith tradition. The carols sung around them are the same ones sung around them a hundred years earlier.
His love is in the floral buttercream fabric stitched together with forest green yarn. The heavy quilt is pulled to my chin during the winter months and folded at my feet when it is warm.
My great grandfather lived for 98 years independently, full of vitality, until he eventually wore out in his sleep. My middle son was born a year later. Grandpa’s love is carried forward in my child’s name. In my all my sons’ hearts I see the love my grandfather had for me reflecting back with a wink to the unbreakable bond we have with family from another lifetime.
These objects impressed with sentimental memories seem like something more than talismans. But if they were somehow lost, my loving memories would not be diminished.
Actually, I find it easiest to feel this transcendent love when I am stripped of clutter. Unobstructed views connect me with the unseen beyond and spirit within. The world my great grandfather—now passed two decades—lived in remains the same world I live in today.
His love for family carries through. Artifacts are treasure troves to be certain, but the gold is the love that we received from generations prior. Love, that we are meant to share through gifts of time connecting with our spiritual self, one another, and the world we live in.
As we learn in 1 Corinthians, “Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting.” My family elder lived this ideal leaving a loving legacy to a long lineage of benefactors. The objects I hold in my home. The love I hold in my heart, which I hope to bestow to my future family, who I do not yet know.
Prayer: Oh Holy One, thank You for the gift of family love. Be with me today as I look for ways to remember my loved ones passed and seek to share my love ones present. Amen.
Nurture your relationship with the divine through reflective journaling.
Journal prompts:
Look around the room. Are there any objects around you that hold sentimental value for you? Consider where they are from and how they are used or displayed. How do you care for them? Write about the day you received them. How have your feelings toward them changed since then?
Remember a special gift you have received or given. Explore the concept of the giver’s love being represented in the object. Write about the value this gift brings to you.
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