Missing my beloved

Nothing can make up for the absence of someone whom we love.
It is nonsense to say that God fills the gap; He doesn't fill it, but on the contrary, He keeps it empty and so helps us to keep alive our former communion with each other, even at the cost of pain. The dearer and richer our memories, the more difficult the separation. But gratitude changes the pangs of memory into a tranquil joy. The beauties of the past are borne, not as a thorn in the flesh, but as a precious gift in themselves.

Expect too little of Him

Filled with a strange new hope they came,
The blind, the leper, the sick, the lame.
Frail of body and spent of soul...
As many as touched Him were made whole.

In every tongue was the Healer's name,
Through all the country they spread His fame.
But doubt clung tight to his wooden crutch
Saying, "We must not expect too much."

Down through the ages a promise came,
Healing for sorrow and sin and shame,
Help for the helpless and sight for the blind,
Healing for body and soul and mind.

The Christ we follow is still the same,
With blessings that all who will may claim.
But how often we miss Love's healing touch
By thinking, "We must not expect too much."