Last Christmas I shared a reflection:
Good grief and COVID: dealing with our pain can bring light and relief.
A year later, I am still finding the light and relief of Jesus through the gift of my good grief.
There is a little child within the adult me who has for all her life struggled to feel safe. I can identify how that little girl inside bears such immense sorrow. How gracious God is to minister to that child as she learns to minister to her own.
Dear Little Child
Where have You gone?
I feel so lost
I look to be found
My sense of direction
There is no one
I search and I search
In this world gone wrong
I search and I search
Caught up, in the great throngs
It’s one way they go
The way of the big
The way of the strong
But You are not there
It’s the least that You know
It’s the least that I am
In my littleness
I am known
So I press on and on
Against the torrents, the waves
I press on and on
Holding out hope
That my heart you will save
To my surprise
In the dark
In the depth of my grief
Who do I find
But You, My Relief
You are there
There in their soft eyes
You are there
In their delightful chase
I am found,
Found in their sweet care
My children held tenderly
Kept oh so safe
They reflect back to me
Your loving embrace
Dear Little Child
In this gift of motherhood
I find myself cradled
In my own littlehood
This Advent in your own darkness – however it may manifest itself – may you too seek and find the light of The Little Child. When you feel tempted to shame yourself over your very sorrows, remember that Mary is the Lady of Sorrows and that Jesus is the Man of Sorrows. And ask yourself, what true joy can be had if we own not our true sorrows?