To Share Comfort

Our day with our friend was happy. We took her to Mt. Airy, about an hour from her home. The trees are ablaze with autumn color, and the day was crisp and clear. Mt. Airy is the boyhood home of Andy Griffiths and is the prototype for Mayberry, the quaint setting of the old Andy Griffith Show. We ate lunch at Snappy's and enjoyed walking around the town. The outing seemed to lift our friend's spirits. (It was a pleasure for us too, and I was much less tired than I'd been Friday.) In some ways, her kind of grief lasts forever. And most of us will eventually experience it ourselves. Thank God for the strength He builds into our souls during our happier days.

A friend sent me a lovely book titled When the Heart Waits. In it I learned about Hildegard of Bingen, a woman of the 12th century, a preacher, theologian, doctor, scientist, artist, composer, and writer. The author of my book says, "Hildegard rang a clear, holy bell in me. She said that the soul was like a precious field from which we must 'root out the useless grasses, thorns, and briars' in order to reveal the beauty of God's image glistening in the soil. To Hildegard, sin was failing to care for the soul, failing to water it and give it what she called 'greening power.' The saddest thing, to Hildegard, was a 'drooping soul.'" Well! Let us not neglect our souls' need for greening power! The author goes on to emphasize that the healthy soul intertwines itself with others in compassion, lest we become inward and selfish in tending our souls.

Today should be a good day for tending the soul. Have a good one.

I'd appreciate your prayers for a painful mass that appeared yesterday under my right armpit. I understand that tumors are not normally painful, so I'm not assuming anything scary about this one, but I'd be thankful to have it go away before I have to spend time and money getting a doctor's opinion about it.

Love,
Carol