Psalm 119:64 – The earth is filled with your love, O Lord; teach me your decrees. (NIV)
Psalm 119:64 – The earth, O Lord, is full of thy mercy: teach me thy statutes. (KJV)

I suppose that we all have a dream vacation we'd like to take at some point in our lives. Ever since Grade Four, mine was to see the Maritimes, inspired of course, by that well-known redhead Anne of Green Gables.

As I aged and realized my roots were in New Brunswick, the quest became stronger, and, finally, the time and opportunity came.

Upon arriving for a stopover in Toronto, we learned of the sudden death of a friend back home. Several nights later, emerging from a stuffy shuttle bus into the misty rain on a hot and humid Halifax night, I missed my footing on the plastic carton used as a footstool; sending it flying one way and me the other, leaving me with scrapes to the knee and an injured joint in my big toe.

My thoughts weren't often far from a mother who wouldn't see her son marry next summer, wouldn't watch her grandchildren grow, a family without the vital essence which held them together. My foot throbbed as I hobbled around by day, icing it each night.

To some, this would be an awful downer for a dream vacation. For me, I think it deepened our appreciation for all that He laid before us to behold. I was alive, able to touch, to see, to feel all that I'd only envisioned. The rich red earth, the cows in the countryside set by the sea, sunflowers stretching to greet the sun in almost every yard, towns untouched by neon signs and commercial ventures.

Normally a fast walker, my injury served to slow me down, causing me to take more time to get where I was going, enabling me to really see more things, to appreciate the aged and those who live with disability and pain.

The earth is filled with His mercy. Through tragedy, comes comfort. Through injury comes insight.

Prayer: Our heavenly Father, make us mindful of your mercy, that you are there in times of tragedy; that beauty abounds amidst uncomfortable circumstances; that your love knows no degrees. In Your name we pray. Amen.

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About the author:

Mary Daniel <marydee@shaw.ca>
Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada
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