It's been two weeks since a posted about a "happiness moment," and I was beginning to wonder. It's not as if I've been unhappy, but I hadn't had any of those particular moments I'm trying to document. Then yesterday I had two in close succession.
The first was sitting on the back porch, on my favorite swing. It was early in the morning, and (at last!) cool enough to enjoy snuggling in my beloved Kevin Blanket (made for me many years ago by a then-young nephew). There was a very gentle breeze blowing, so soft that I felt it only as a coolness on my face, but occasionally strong enough to move the leaves on the trees. When I see that, I always think of two things:
John 3:8:
The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it,
But you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes;
So it is with every one who is born of the Spirit.
and Christina Rosetti's poem:
Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you.
But when the leaves hang trembling,
The wind is passing through.
Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I.
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.
And both make me smile. Then my mind wandered: How the Holy Spirit is represented in the Bible by such elemental images: wind, fire, water. How Christ, though described with a variety of images, both material and abstract (e.g. light, vine, truth) is most fully represented to us by elements that are distinctly human, living and festive: bread and wine. And both of those thoughts made me smile, too.
Later I had the same feeling just walking through the house. As always happens when we have guests, the approach of our weekend visitors inspired a flurry of activity, of pushing cleaning and organizational project either to completion or at least to a point where the chaos is less noticeable. With the visitors here, and further work impossible, I could walk into each room and simply enjoy the clean lines and reassuring evidence of work well done. Such a moment is always worth savoring, and makes me smile even in remembrance.
That reminds me of the feelings I had in the evenings and mornings after discovering Flylady. It felt SO good to look around and see clean floors and surfaces (even if it was still cluttered). I would remember while falling asleep that the house was clean, and it would make me smile!!! It still is a very nice thing, but I take it for granted most of the time now!
