Lord, I don't know where to start
When confronted with this daily recital of brutality and greed.
There is so much hatred - how can I encourage love
When so many are driven by generations of mutual cruelty?
So many injuries cry out for retribution - how can I urge forgiveness
Or even justice?
Faith, betrayed so many times, is in short supply these days.
Doubt, so seldom disappointed, seems a wiser, safer course.
Like comedy, hope is difficult; and history suggests
Despair is a rational response.
I am tired. I am growing older. Old. I have tried so hard
To nurture others, to comfort, to listen, always to give and forgive.
Life has not been what I expected. Possibilities diminish.
Promises unkept, efforts unrewarded. How, in the midst of all this
Sadness, can I find joy to illuminate my life?
But the sun has warmed my skin. The rain has washed my garden
And given me rainbows. I marvel at the songs, the colors, the wisdom
Of the birds.
The self-contained perfection of cats and the devotion of dogs.
I have known unexpected kindness, while delight and wonder
Have seasoned my life and been taken for granted like salt.
© 2002 Clara Blair
