Graces abound...

  THE DARKLING THRUSH
            Thomas Hardy

I leant upon a coppice gate
  When Frost was specter gray,
And Winter's dregs made desolate
  The weakening eye of day.
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
  Like strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
  Had sought their household fires.

The land's sharp features seemed to be
  The Century's corpse outleant,
His crypt the cloudy canopy,
  The wind his death-lament.
The ancient pulse of germ and birth
  Was shrunken hard and dry,
And every spirit upon earth
  Seemed fervorless as I.

At once a voice arose among
  The bleak twigs overhead
In a full-throated evensong
  Of joy illimited;
An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
  In blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
  Upon the growing gloom.
  
So little cause for carolings
  Of such ecstatic sound
Was written on terrestial things
  Afar or nigh around,
That I could think there trembled through
  His happy good-night air
Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew
  And I was unaware.

Thankgiving for graces,
#239  .....for warm days in January
#240 .....for books, The Heavens, to expand my view of the universe and GOD
#241 .....a phone call from youngest son
#242 ......a brunch to look forward to with friends
#243 ......YOUR grace to a redeemed sinner who needs grace over and over
#244 ......unexpected laughter with a friend concerning the cat
#245 ......more seed catalogues bringing hope
#246 ......computer to keep up with friends and meet new ones
#247 ......Hallmark movies to make me smile and cry (A Smile As Big As The Moon:will air again on    
Hallmark channel this coming Saturday and Sunday)
#248 .....son to change florescent light bulbs in ceiling

#249 ......sermon to challenge from Sermon on the Mount
#250 .....gym time with sister

#251 .....beef stew, slow baked, comfort food
#252 .....anticipation of a new adventure
#253 .....words to express inner thoughts and focus
#254 .....green apricot tea—aroma, flavor, moments of stillness
#255 .....notes, encouraging, challenging, saying thank you
#256 .....seeing YOUR work in others
#257 .... a perfect picture of a perfect bird
#258 .....lap cat bathing in sunlight
#259 ....a poet's words to express well thanksgiving for God's creation

Lord, 
Thank you for the Hope of eternity with you, 
        no tears, no sin, no time.
Thank you for Hope, here in this time,
       sunrise, sunset and spring
Because of Your creative Creation and the Cross
       We have Hope never ending.
Thanks and praise to You,
Amen

Linking today with Ann