Saturday, November 21, 2015

While dusting

The sun shone quite nicely this morning.  The windows have been cleaned, inside and out, so nothing  there to cast a guilty shadow.  But, ah, the dust!!!

I set aside my coffee, - mopped the floors and started dusting with my nice new scarlet microfibre duster....  

By the time I had reached the book shelves I had lost quite a bit of my original impetus, and I lingered a while, pulling out a book here and there.

Ah, there is Jan Karon, and her 'Continual Feast'

The invitation was palpable!!!

Warm up the coffee and have a little brouse through Father Tim's words of comfort and celebration.......

The face page declares this to be an edition of the words of others,
gathered together to inspire and comfort
and probably to advance the sale of Ms Karon's books
about the beloved Father Tim.

"I have gathered a posy of other men's flowers, 
and nothing but the thread that binds them is mine own".
                                                        John Bartlett

I leaf through the pages and come upon this....

"Great works are performed not by strength
but by perseverance".  Samuel Johnson

Well, I am sure Samuel Johnson was not interested in my dusting
when he referred to 'great works'........

I flip over and find by an unknown author, but in Father Tim's own hand writing

"Eternal God, I thank you that I am growing old.  It is
a privilege that many have been denied. 
 Spare me the self pity that shrivels the soul...  
and grant me daily some moments living on tiptoe,
 lured by the eternal city...."




This sounds more appealing.....I am grateful and I do look for Tiptoe Moments

but I turn the page, and find here some words on Bereavement....

and they touch my heart.

"It is not that we feel cut off from the bigger spiritual relationship which
survives death, but from the hundred and one lesser links which
bind people together, incidental things which when looked back on seem
of enduring significance but which were taken so much for granted
at the time.  The other person's sense of humor, prejudices, moods,
all that has gone.  For the rest of our lives we shall have to do without
his mannerisms, his shyness, his ways of pronouncing things.

The voice is silent - we had expected it would be - but that the
yawns and bursts of laughter will never be repeated is almost more than we can bear...
These moments were not passing moments at all.  
They had something in them of eternity."

Herbert van Zetter, Moments of Light.

I am lost in memories, the duster forgotten for the moment
but the next page I open releases me from guilty idlesness....

"Work is not always required... there's such a thing as sacred idleness, 
the cultivation of which is now fearfully neglected."

George Macdonald

There, not only released, but released into worthiness...

and then I read from Macbeth

"Cans't thou not minister to a mind diseas'd, pluck from the
memory a rooted sorrow, raze out the written trouble
of the brain, and with some sweet oblivious antidote cleanse 
the bosom of that perilous
 stuff which weights upon the heart".

and I sigh a bit, pick up the duster and look out upon the sunshine
and smile at the quail which have gathered to feed.

After the work is done I practise on my new ukulele!!!!
That is another story......
I know all the chords to Silent Night so
am getting ready for Christmas!

Watch for a progress report!



5 comments:

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

Dust that leads to gold - that duster is a real bargain.

Penny said...

Had to read this to John, he appreciated it as much as I did. Love you.

The Weaver of Grass said...

How I love those words in Father Tim's own handwriting Hildred - thank you for posting. Nevermind that dusting, sit down, put your feet up and read some more!

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

You are a wonder! (I love how the line about the ukulele is just a throw-away at the end of this beautiful post. Most of us, if we were still smart enough to learn a new musical instrument (or any new skill) would make that a huge bragging thing, and the center of our writing. You just do it!! I liked all the passages very much and took heart from the one about idleness. I'm glad you got sidetracked in your dusting.

David Finch said...

Wonderful mom ... Thanks for sharing your thoughts so generously ❤️❤️