WORDS LIKE LIGHT

Thursday, July 1, 2021

TRANSFORM

            Years ago, a woman I knew experienced some serious suffering, and I remember being astonished to hear her say, in the very midst of her misery, “I can’t wait to see how this is going to transform into something good for me.” She was smiling as she said it, not a wide and showy smile, but a modest one that simply said, “I see something good coming my way.” There was a sense of self-assurance, almost a sanguine buoyancy, in her smile, as though she understood that goodness sometimes gives its best gifts precisely at the center of suffering. She was almost excited, I could sense, to see how goodness would somehow work its wizardry inside her anguish – somehow transform it into insight and advancement. I think of her sometimes when I’m experiencing a passing misfortune. I see her smile in her wise way. I hear her say, “A gift is being given to you. Don’t miss it.”  

TRANSFORMING

(about Bernice D, 61, Blessings, CT
)

She loves the changes 
that choose her every day -- 
the constant and amazing mutations of her mind, 
the inspiring reshaping of strength 
caused by disappointments and sorrows, 
the way her powers of understanding 
so often seem transformed,
even by leaves letting go
or sunshine on the side of a house. 
A walk down the driveway 
redoes the cells in her body, 
and bringing the groceries in
somehow reorganizes 
all of her past.  
When she needs a total remake, 
she just sincerely welcomes 
whatever’s happening,
and the remodeling 
is instantly done.