Other Things

I've racked my brain to think of what to write here
But the words aren't tripping from my fingers
Maybe it's because the rain makes my days drear
Or it could be because my mind is busy processing
Other things.

I've tried to focus on the good and to not fear
But there are many things to worry or to pray about
So I'm working a lot on that, and I find cheer
In my children. But just now they are fighting over
Other things.

It's rainy today but I suppose I should be thankful that it is not snowy, or at least not yet. My children have all three cried at different points this morning. They've fought over the same toys and then fought with me when I've given them separate things to do. ("I want to do that too!") And it isn't even lunchtime. (le sigh)

My uncle is in the hospital, a childhood pen-pal's mom is very near death, and while neither of those things is - directly - affecting me, just now I am spending a lot of time praying. Not that praying or thinking about those concerns is a negative thing, but it does seem to sap my concentration on other things. Like whether my children are dismantling my house piece by piece.

Now it is feeding time at the zoo, I mean here, and Prince Charming isn't coming home for lunch. Remember the woman in the shoe who "gave them their broth and gave them their bread and spanked them all soundly and put them in bed"? She had the right idea.

A Moment of Tranquility

O Simplicitas
by Madeleine L'Engle

An angel came to me
And I was unprepared
To be what God was using.
Mother was I to be.
A moment I despaired,
Thought briefly of refusing.
The angel knew I heard.
According to God's Word
I bowed to this strange choosing.

A palace should have been
The birthplace of a king
(I had no way of knowing).
We went to Bethlehem;
It was so strange a thing.
The wind was cold, and blowing,
My coat was old, and thin.
They turned us from the inn;
The town was overflowing.

God's Word, a child so small,
Who still must learn to speak,
Lay in humiliation.
Joseph stood strong and tall.
The beasts were warm and meek
And moved with hesitation.
The Child born in a stall?
I understood it: all.
Kings came in adoration.

Perhaps it was absurd:
A stable set apart,
The sleepy cattle lowing;
And the incarnate Word
Resting against my heart.
My joy was overflowing.
The shepherds came, adored
The folly of the Lord,
Wiser than all men's knowing.