In the hands of a loving God.”

She’s got the whole world in her hands.

She’s got the whole wide world in her hands.

She’s got the whole world in her hands.

She’s got this wild wonderful world… and everybody here, and everywhere … in her hands.

Is 2024 approaches and the joyful and, for me, somewhat anxiety raising gatherings of family, faith communities, and other social events recede into memory, this morning I am contemplating “resting in the hands of a loving God.”

One thing I become aware of is these words are to comfort my soul as Kathleen returns home to Berwick, Nova Scotia, 2500 kms by plane. The first time she’s been away from her 30 month old daughter – for this far and long. She can’t fly out of the hands of a loving God so in a sense we are still together “in the hands of loving God.” May that somehow comfort her, Adley-Jo – who misses her mom when she can’t see her in the house, and all of us who love her dearly and will miss her wise warm positive regulating energy.

“Resting in the hands of a loving God” also comforts my soul and mind after relating to those I love but don’t often connect with – family and friends. I now know things, their joys and challenges, that quickly slip my mind with months of separation. Our lives are so rich and full, maybe these gatherings and story times are gifts to each other as we share our joys and release some of the pain that is part of living. It’s good for this introverted, slightly socially anxious soul that gatherings can be gifts of blessing and healing – if I let myself “rest in the hands of a loving God.” Times so needed in a world experiencing so much pain and confusion.

It’s comforting to sense, as the holiday season comes to an end and we return to our respectful homes and institutes of higher learning, that we are all still in the hands of a loving God, and therefore still together in a mysterious comforting way. Thanks be to Love. Alleluia. Bismallah. Baruch Adonai. Praise to the One. Thanks be to Love.

From Stephen’s iPhone