Life is fluid, and while we are given a say through our gift of choice, very rarely do we have any control over the speed, the direction, or the details in the eddies of that fluid movement. The notable moments in our life can be rooted in the personal, or the societal, or even the environmental realm, and the impact to those life experiences may run the gambit from joyful to heartbreaking.
Our joyful or serene moments often bless us with a slower pace to fully enjoy them and can be exhilarating, calming, or heartwarming, even bordering on spiritual. It’s not lost to me that we are gifted the pace, the ability, to bath in the details and celebrate the positive emotions that these great moments afford.
The harder moments, however, often strike like lightning, and we must spring into fight mode immediately. My logical mind tries to sort and compartmentalize so I can put those occurrences in proper perspective. My passionate spirit wants none of the calm rhetoric but instead wants to scream out in anger or distress at the inequity or stupidity that appears to be directed at our precious world or the innocents who we share it with. My faith stands in a precariously balanced place between these two.
Faith is rooted in trust. Perhaps it could be argued that the word faith is synonymous with trust. I often need to remind myself that I have less say or control over the more egregious events and must depend on prayer. I must have faith that the greater power will intercede. I have had a lifetime of evidence that it is not mine to fix, but to trust the process. So I pray.
This 10” x 20” oil on canvas painting is my prayer … my pause to reflect.
Kelly E. James 