Streams of Mercy

Sometimes it’s difficult to know how to be of help to one another. If only we could find the words to make things better, to bring that glimmer of hope and new perspective, to help settle disagreements and bring healing and reconciliation. Years ago I read a poem by Ann Weems that helps me through such times.

“I’d Write For You a Rainbow”

If I could, I’d write for you a rainbow

And splash it with all the colors of God

And hang it in the window of your being

So that each new God’s morning

Your eyes would open first to Hope and Promise.

If I could, I’d wipe away your tears

And hold you close forever in shalom

But God never promised I could write a rainbow,

Never promised I could suffer for you,

Only promised that I could love you.

That I do.

We are called to love one another as Jesus has loved us, and we grow in our understanding of just how to go about this by following his example and his leading. As we see in scripture all the ways Jesus went about loving others, we see a little more clearly how we might follow him. There’s a big difference in fixing people and loving them; there’s a big different in finding solutions for folks and helping them to find solutions. When we love one another in all the ways we can, our love helps to create a space for God’s love to come in and do the rest, completing the needed work of grace.

Giving thanks for every opportunity to be God’s love to another, for the assurance that God is at work in all things for the good of all involved, and for those streams of mercy, never ceasing.

Elizabeth