Excerpt from Lamentations of the Heart (Wells-Smith): The Lovely Things

 


Lamentations of the Heart is a memoir about the death of the author's son.

THE LOVELY THINGS

      Today, I look fondly upon this place, this life of mine, in a softer way, from a different view. Choosing to see something new, even in its long-lived state. To peer upon my world and see the faintest lovely things grow large, as the smallest acts of kindness show their power.

     Weary of grief, this choice was made. A call for beauty among ashes, overlooked before, pulled from a time that cannot return, from thoughts that churned in an aching stream. Those were the days when I dwelled on my loss—when it seemed there was nothing more.  

     But there is always more. “God, help me,” I said, “to seek them out, the parts that will cover the rest of my life.” Shaping the corners where you once stood, connecting the spaces that you once filled, I asked for something to move me when I stand too still. And faith came upon me. It carried me along, and I went with it, willingly.

     I now study what goodness remains. I linger upon it daily—for it is the goodness that I must always keep in sight. This is how I look fondly upon this place, this life that is now mine.

Philippians 4:8 Whatever is true, whatever is honorable…whatever is pleasing…if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.


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