Standing by and entering in...

I cannot stand by and watch those I love suffer.

I enter into it, invest my whole being.  I agonize, I pray, I throw my towel into the ring, offer to help.

Still, I feel utterly helpless, inept.  Yet, that being said, I feel positive about the small ways that I can help; either by fervent supplication, or by going and being, just there, giving whatever I can. An oxymoron in feelings perhaps, but nevertheless very real.

And, there is the grief, real, pulsing and tangible.

Mingled in the midst of this tangle of emotion and circumstance is the ray of light shining through.  Though darkness may overshadow, hope is the beam that radiates through the blackness.

If I do not get the answer I desire, I will not loose hope; that there always is purpose - profound, and powerful.

Life is a prism of mystery. The sun casting light through the prism crystallizes the many shades of color and beauty.  Beauty that will arise from the ashes.

I love this quote -

Let your mighty hand and outstretched arm, O LORD, be our defense;
Your mercy and loving-kindness in Jesus Christ, your dear Son, our salvation;
Your true and holy word our instruction;
Your grace and Holy Spirit our comfort and consolation,
Until the end and in the end. -- John Knox, Scottish reformer (1510 - 1572)

These  lines penned by John Knox take hold of me.  These simple yet majestic truths, especially the deep and lovely reminders of His grace, of the Holy Spirit who gives us comfort and consolation, and poignantly this line, until the end and in the end. This comfort - eternally given.