vitalwholeness

Right now I am sharing in two situations of love – one that brings tears and the other that brings laughter. Both are real because they are based in love, in caring, in desire for the best for these companions of the heart.

In the one instance my heart is torn for the anguish of the other. As they share the moment of the shattering of glass, I can’t pick up the pieces for them. The glass that dropped, that struck the hard surface, exploded on impact. But it is not the end. How can I communicate what we all know in retrospect, that it is not the end, though it seems so at the time? Holding the other in love is perhaps all we have at such moments. That is probably what is most important.

On the other hand I am blessed to share joy with loved ones, to celebrate, to lift the glass in a toast to life. How is it that such unexpected joy may come our way? What makes it doubly joyful is its unplanned appearance. To turn the old phrase around, “Why do joyful things happen to rank and file people?” We didn’t earn it. The blessing did not come because of conspicuous valor, but perhaps in its absence. I share joy with them.

All of these are experienced because of love. Love holds the heart in just such a way that it catches both radiance and shadow. It does not discriminate for when it is open love receives the entire cargo of its caring. And so we love and wait. We weep and laugh, laugh and weep.

Such is the way of love. And it is so worth it.