Friday's Faith - A Simple Holiday

Friday's Faith

A Simple Holiday

"Sorrow removes your attention from the active life and focuses it on the things that matter most. When you are going through a period of extreme loss or pain, you reflect on the people who mean the most to you instead of on personal success; and the deep design of your life, instead of distracting gadgets and entertainments. You may be more open to the beauty of your world as a relief from distress. Beauty is always present, but ordinarily you may not notice it because of your priorities or your absorption in other things."

~Psychotherapist and former Catholic monk Thomas Moore

Tell me, how did you spend your Thanksgiving holiday this year? Did your holiday plans work for you this year? Did they help you in your grief, or did they complicate your grief? Let us know what your experience was like. The following poem tells how I spent mine, and how that worked out for me...

Thanksgiving presented us with the gift of unseasonably warm weather. Tommy and I had already declined all holiday festivities~we just couldn't be around other people on a holiday, and we knew it. So we took the opportunity to do a long-overdue chore (I'm sure many of you child-loss parents are very familiar with this Grief dilemma). We chose to bypass a big Thanksgiving Dinner and decided instead to work on painting the exterior of our house (mostly trim-work) before the cold of winter hits.

I had a melt-down of grief on Wednesday night, so I prayed as I awakened on this Thanksgiving morning that God would give me a mindless task to do so that I wouldn't be too fixated on my pain. Though I am exhausted, the house-painting-chore did the trick! I was able to focus diligently on the task at hand but still have a sweet time being quiet and allowing praise songs to come to mind as I meditated on God and so many of His blessings to us. Then I wrote this poem about how I chose to spend this holiday.

A Simple Holiday

Spending a day focused on what matters most,

A simple holiday with God as my Host,

Brings joy to my otherwise grieving heart

For silence and solitude strengthen my heart.

Hearing from Him brings Light to Death's dark ~

Communing with God transports me from grief so stark...

Into His loving, radiating warmth!

Away from festive outings where crowds swarm,

I am free to grieve, and yet with Him near,

My heart can find reprieve as His voice I hear.

Thanksgiving Day spent with hubby at home ~

A beautiful day with God's tenderness shown!

Picture: Norman Rockwell's painting from the cover of The Country Gentleman, 12/1/1917: "Cousin Reginald Catches the Thanksgiving Turkey"

Poem - A Simple Holiday - Angie Bennett Prince 11/25/10