“Life has loveliness to sell… All beautiful and splendid things…”
This opening line from Sara Teasdale’s poem “Barter” has been a staple in my life since I was a little girl. One of my mother’s favorites, she would quote it to us often when we would come upon a breeze rustling the leaves or when we would sit on the beach shore watching the waves roll in at dusk.
She would recite this poem from memory wanting us, even in our callow youth, to pause—to rest in nature’s grace and majesty.
Now that I’m grown, this poem reminds me to pause where God’s grace is most visible. We experience moments in our lives when we feel an alignment with God. More than just a general sense of faith and spiritual connection that comes from regular participation in Word and Sacrament, these moments are brilliant flashes where there is a loveliness in the rhythm of life, where it is truly “beautiful and splendid.”
This message is excerpted from “Do you feel alignment with God?” by Jennifer Michael from the August 22, 2019, blog of the Women of the ELCA.
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