Sacred Gifts

I read a story recently about a woman who looked out her window and noticed something beautiful: sunlight glistening on moist leaves. Immediately prior to this, the day was very gloomy, as was her mood. But that brief moment of light reminded her of beauty and she recognized it as a sacred gift.

I need this kind of reminder again and again. The reminder to lift my gaze and pay attention to all the wondrous beauty and goodness, to those moments of light breaking through, moments of kindness unexpectedly shown, moments of joy and laughter emerging by surprise.

Attending to the sacred gifts we are surrounded by does not mean we ignore the pain and suffering, the confusion, the violence. Rather, we recognize that even in the midst of all the horror, God still shows up with sacred gifts. Because God is good.

So often we miss the sacred gifts right in front of us because we are caught up in the tangle of division, of disgust, of anxiety, of suspicion, of loneliness. Lord knows there’s enough of this to go around wreaking all sorts of havoc.

When we are caught up in this tangled web it usually takes an act of our loving God to show us the thread that might begin our untangling. And indeed, this is what God does. God does not want us to stay all tangled up, but to experience the freedom of letting go. At the same time, God will not force our disentanglement without our permission, nor without our participation.

I was given a glimpse of a beautiful thread inviting me to participate in my own disentanglement last fall. As I was waiting in line with some friends, on foot at the drive-through coffee kiosk, we were overcome with some recent heaviness. The driver in front of us noticed our teary embrace and, unbeknownst to us, paid for our coffee drinks. A thread of hope, a sacred gift.

We pulled on this thread. While we couldn’t tell this person “thank you” as they had driven off before we were aware of this act of love, we could pass along the same gracious kindness, knowing how meaningful such small acts can be. I mean, who doesn’t like free coffee or tea? I wonder if that person knows what a sacred gift they gave us. I wonder if they know that it inspired us to do the same. Tugging on the thread, the pain is still present but not as tangled up in us as before.

For me, this was a sign of hope for humanity. Hope is something we all need right now. That’s what sacred gifts often can be, if we let them. In all the drudgery, in all the mean rhetoric and political fervor, these simple sacred gifts are signs of divine hope. I pray for the eyes to see them, the ears to hear them, and the mouths full of gratitude to name them. Thanks be to God. Amen.