Streams of Mercy

My first year out of college I was living in the little town of Narrows, Virginia, teaching third grade at Narrows Elementary School. I had 40 students, no teacher’s aide, no planning period, and I taught my own Art, Music and PE! By November another teacher was hired and the class size became more manageable. The children were much like those we saw on Walton’s Mountain - barefoot, bib overalls, etc. We went up the mountains in jeeps for home visits, and I remember celebrating the first Earth Day by cleaning up along the stream at the “falls” of the river.

I kept myself encouraged that first year on my own by covering the kitchen wall of my tiny garage apartment with inspiring quotations, mounted on brightly colored paper! This one remains a favorite to this day:

“Look to this day

for it is life,

the very life of life!

In its brief course lie all the verities

and realities of your existence:

the bliss of growth;

the glory of action;

the splendor of achievement.

For yesterday is but a dream,

and tomorrow is only a vision;

But today, well lived,

makes every yesterday

a dream of happiness,

and every tomorrow a vision of hope.”

How important it is to live in the present moment – not lingering in regrets about yesterday, or entertaining worries about tomorrow. “Today I choose to live with gratitude for the LOVE that fills my heart, the PEACE that rests within my spirit, and the voice of HOPE that says…all things are possible.” Choosing how we will live day by day is a CHOICE!

A few days back I came across another bit of encouragement for the kitchen wall of the manse: “Begin each day with a grateful heart.” I once read that gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.

Giving thanks for the love, peace and hope that fill my life, for a grateful heart, and for those streams of mercy, never ceasing.

Elizabeth