The tree is small this year

The tree is small this year--

the bottom boughs too short to cover

the sturdy stand which used to hold much grander trees.
Near the boughs

I sit on the floor, stretch out my arm

and strain to put my hand down into the stand to see if it needs refilling.

Only touching air

I pour clear water down into the dark space

until the water’s rising surface touches my silently waiting fingertips .

And for this simple act

I am blessed for hours with a hand perfumed with the scent of pine

from a tree, cut down and far from home, standing in a stand made for grander trees.

Healing after Sandy Hook

In this excerpt Christine Valters offers us a way to experience hope in the midst of so much grief.....

"In the wake of so much grief over the unimaginable violence at Sandy Hook elementary school last week, I invite you to let sorrow have its place in you.  I have no easy answers, and people who claim God's will somehow at work in the violence itself are offering trite answers to a mystery that is greater than our understanding.  Our response must be to stand witness to the terrible things done, to grieve and know the fullness of our own humanity, and to cherish those we love dearly and hold them close.  We are reminded again and again that life is a fleeting gift.  Sometimes it slips away in illness and sometimes stolen brutally.  There are no words of solace.  We must simply be with the great sadness of loss and know that these wounds and places of being broken open are where the grace enters.  We must commit again to make this one life matter.

One simple act you can do in response to this heartbreaking thievery of human life is to let yourself feel the deep grief of it.  Notice when you want to push it away, or numb yourself, or find a distraction.  This capacity to sit with the pain and let it work its way through you is the first and fundamental response. The second response is an embrace of love as the deepest and truest thing, what makes life bearable under the most grievous of circumstances.  Hold someone you love close, make amends with a loved one with whom you had a falling out.  Extend yourself in this circle of love.  These things matter deeply.  Then comes the hard work of conversation and change of policy and ways to protect lives more vigorously.  But this work must emerge from a place that has allowed the river of grief to flow through and the deep well of love to nourish and sustain.  We must remember the extravagant source of life as we consider the reality of death."

......from Christine's Abbey of the Arts website