Devotion
The heart can think of no devotion
Greater than being shore to ocean –
Holding the curve of one position,
Counting an endless repetition.
-Robert Frost

He was a faithful man, and over the time I got reacquainted with him I saw that faith grow.  It had grown through the loss of a partner and now, after the Holidays, through the sudden loss of his job, leaving him with the girls who depended on it.

A week after, I took part of the day to grab a coffee and find out how he was doing.

“It’s been a big struggle, but sometimes I find this incredible sense of peace.  It surprises me.

I think it has to do with having the strength to let go, and the courage to remain vulnerable and let new people and experiences enter my life.  In the last week I have found friends I never knew I had.  It’s been humbling.

I talk about remaining vulnerable with a mentor of mine, but the first one that suggested it to me was a certain friend I know.”

It was lunch time, and the place was full of diners.  We hogged a whole booth to ourselves, without an appetite and only two cups of coffee between us.  Even our waiter had lost interest.

“This friend you talk about, God only seems to speak to him in silence.  He has a humble house he doesn’t own, and the walls of it have blown flat many times.  Sometimes he’s tired of putting them back up.  If you’re looking for peace, he hasn’t found it.  I’m not sure he’s the one you should be taking advice from.”

“I never said he was a carpenter.  How’s work?”

“Won’t be long now.  By Sunday it will be cold enough the ground will have a pretty thick crust on it.”

“At least we aren’t like the ground, then.”

He isn’t.