Something is wrong with me. Tears are so close to the surface these days. Is it the  holiday, with the gatherings, and the remembrance of those who no longer gather? Is it the fact that beauty sometimes seems to break my heart?

This photo makes me cry.

These words make me cry.

So nigh is grandeur to our dust,
So near is God to man,
When Duty whispers low, Thou must,
The youth replies, I can.
— Emerson

Dutch Beauty

I tried to include here an extraordinarily beautiful Dutch PowerPoint but WordPress said it was too large to upload.   I’ll be happy to send it as an email attachment to anyone looking for a blessing.  Just request it in the comments and send it to people you love.  Or, thanks to my very clever son, just click on Dutch Beauty above and you can download the PowerPoint to your computer.

And speaking of extraordinary beauty, my face is wet with tears from having viewed today, for the first time, a little movie called St. Bernadette of Lourdes, produced by Navis Pictures and available from Ignatius Press.  It is written, produced and directed by one Jim Morlino, a member of my parish.  The actors are all local children, and it is, of course, about the apparitions of  Our Lady in Lourdes.  All I can say is that it is precious  and gorgeous and charming and moving and has the Holy Spirit all over it.  It would be the perfect Christmas gift for any  family with children – you will be astounded  at the quality of the production and the children will love, love, love it.  This movie is  an act of love and I cannot speak too highly of it.

Meet Jim Morlino

Where have all the children gone?

I guess what’s wrong with me is that I’m mourning – the loved ones gone, young lives cut short, buds not allowed to blossom, beauty unappreciated, and beauty appreciated.

This is a day for weeping and Thanksgiving.   God is, and all is well.

~~~

Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.  — Mark 10:14

I just turned on the computer to see what weather I had to dress for.  We will pray at the abortion mill this morning and one needs to be prepared.   I noted a “Ta-Da!” in my Google reader and wondered what someone was ta-da-ing about.  It was a fellow muser, at Musings of a Housewife and the ta-da was about her Christmas tree – up and beautiful and it’s still November!   Well, OK.

I noted to the right of the tree a blog title “At the Foot of His Grave, I Sat Down and Cried.”  Intrigued, I clicked it.  It seems our housewife’s father died over a year ago and she had not attended the funeral – she explains why.  But now she has the opportunity to visit his grave at the Florida National Cemetery.    She finds the grave, does not know what she feels or should feel. She holds her baby and kneels before the gravestone:

I took her, and kneeled in front of the stone. I looked at the words, ‘Beloved Father and Grandfather.’

‘Dad,’ I said, ‘This is Cassidy.’

And I started to cry.

And I started to cry.

So here it is, still dark, before breakfast, and I am crying.  But crying not only for Cassidy’s grief (until this moment I had not know our Musing Housewife’s name was Cassidy) but for the outpouring in the comments that followed.   They are all short, beginning with “Oh my friend”  and “I’m so sorry” and sending love and hugs.

It is still dark and I haven’t had my breakfast and I am marveling at the connectedness of humankind in this impersonal cybersphere.

Surely it is a marvelous world and we are wonderfully made and mysteriously linked.

~~~

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.   Romans 12:15