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I have recently been made aware of profound hurt in several people I know.

Current friends and old friends; my heart is aching deep.

It’s a rough and troubled world we have, and at times the fight for peace and joy seems far out of reach.

The reconciliation between the love of the God Who came down and the hurt of the people for whom He died appears more like an intellectual exercise than a truth that sinks into the heart.

Then, if you keep your eyes open, something happens.

Often it is a small something.

A ray of sunshine across the floor, making the wood glow with an inner light.

A robin comes close and looks you straight in the eye.

A neighbor brings over a plate of cookies, straight from the oven.

This God of ours is certainly capable of the big, the powerful, the miraculous.

Yet often He shows up in the small, the ordinary, the whisper.

You can explain it away if you wish.

Or you can let it settle into your depths.

When you keep your eyes open, when you watch for the now rather than looking to the future or the past, God’s promised joy can slip in quietly,

His assured peace can sustain moment by moment.

And perhaps that’s all we really need.

Peace and joy for this moment.

Art credit: all photographs are copyright Made Sacred 2018