shorthand for the good

she came around the corner of the cereal isle at trader joe's and smiled.

i had not seen her in years.

we chatted and caught up on life: love. loss. sickness. health. happiness.  grief.

she had just been to the bookstore. "i bought an extra…thinking i would give it to a friend…

someone who might need it."

perfect timing.

yesterday, in a coffee shop near the water, i cracked it open and began reading.

and then, this. 

this.

"if i use the word "god", i sure don't mean an old man in the sky who loves the occasional goat sacrifice. i mean "god" as jane kenyon described god:

'i am food on the prisoner's plate…the patient gardener of the dry and weedy garden…the stone step, the latch and the working hinge.' i mean "god" as shorthand for the good, for the animating energy of love; for life, for the light that radiates from within people and from above; in the energies of nature, even in our rough messy selves."

stitches, written by anne lamott 

i sat, in the corner, tears streaming down my face. 

because i feel that i am beginning to get it.

this life.

oh, this life.

a constant surprise.

sometimes bad, but mostly good. 

because hope makes it possible, right?

#naphopomo day 13.