March 15, 2012
Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me,
and bring me to your holy hill
and to your dwelling. Psalm 43:3
I step out of the car into the flawless afternoon sunlight and head for the ball field thinking there might be nothing quite so perfect as softball practice on a warm spring day. I scan the scene for my daughter and smile as she walks to meet me. I anticipate with pleasure our intersection and reconnection.
“How was your day?” I offer in greeting.
“It was good. I had a really good day.”
She moves gracefully though draped with backpack, softball bag, and trumpet case along with other gear. I offer to ease her burden.
“Can I carry something for you?”
“Yes, please!” she smiles at me. But it is clear she has no burdens today, not even an unprepared for social studies quiz can bring her down. Her enthusiasm is outrageously abundant. It is the tempered exuberance of early adolescence, but full of joy nevertheless.
We both waft along on the energy she exudes and it is her buoyancy more than anything else that propels us into the car and across town and into the house where her father receives his blessing as well as she recounts again the day’s events.
“Today is such a good day!” she exclaims once more and gifts me with a hug as she moves on to the next thing.
I have no defenses against such joy. I give in to its tumult and let its rapids carry me along into some lake or ocean knowing I will be cast eventually upon a holy shore.
copyright © Anne E. Kitch 2012
