A couple of months ago, a young veteran who has been residing in a rehab hospital for quite awhile now, pointed to the bedside table that had been conscripted to host the communion elements, my Bible, and a few song sheets. "Those are the tools of your trade," he said. As I reflect on my recent day spent with mop and dishpan, I think of those who clean houses, schools, and hospitals every day, who make hotel beds, who cook food in all kinds of kitchens. I think of doctors and scientists serving in out of the way places, farmers toiling in the hot sun, and veterans who are trying to heal into their lives today. I think of chaplains and pastors and nurses and cab drivers. I begin to see that a kingdom is where we tend to our tasks of work and family, those places sanctified by tears, laughter, anger, frustration, and acceptance. There, in the midst of all that seems so routine and maybe even pointless, we are drenched in holiness because we tend to God.
I greet this day with love in my heart.
Henceforth, I shall love all life
and all kingdoms in every expression.
At this moment I take steps towards
a greater level of expression
for myself and all of humanity.
I grow in my understanding of the power
of love and its holy purpose.
I can succeed with love alone in my life,
as a great power that leads my experience.
Love alone is capable of uniting all life
in such a way as to complete and to fulfill.
Love takes each one of us
and joins us by the deepest in each.
This appreciation hastens the day
when all life is consciously linked together.
I greet this day with love in my heart.
Rev. Carol E. Parrish-Harra
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