Thoughts for Members of a Family

"Let us hope that we are all preceeded in this world by a love story, that it lies behind us like a shadow, waiting only for us to turn and face it. And in facing it, face ourselves, perhaps."Of Time and Memory: My Parents' Love Story by Don J. Snyder

"It is those we live with who elude us... But we can still love them...without understanding..."    From A River Runs Through It   Norman Maclean

Some people have more than others: abiding in the comfort of their family life; parents and children around the TV on a Saturday night, eating bowls of ice-cream; perfectly content every one without a thought of being elsewhere, or needing more.

I think about it often.

Sometimes when I notice a man and his wife with their several children -- some of the youngsters walking ahead or behind, maybe one in a stroller, or another bouncing with hysterical laughter on the daddy's shoulder -- I say a prayer that breaks from my heart with fervent desire. It is simply said: "God bless families. Keep them together and happy. Protect and bless them in every way."

When the prayer is done, I feel glad for the man and his wife and their children too. And, I feel the wound in my heart where the prayer was made. 
From "The Wasteland" by Christopher Klinges