In our Midst

Hark! My lover-here he comes springing across the mountains, leaping across the hills. ..he says to me, "Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come!"--song of Songs 2:8 and 10
The Lord, your God, is in your midst--Zephaniah 3:15
And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  Luke 1:43

I was making German Chocolate Bars this morning stirring the caramel melting on the stove. It takes patience to do this so that it does not burn. While I was stirring I was thinking about the Sandy Hook families and the challenges they shall face in celebrating their holidays this month. There will be a family member missing from their celebrations. Will others talk about them so that their memories and life will be part of these December holidays as they have in the past? Or will people avoid their names and their memories in the face of grief and anxiety and fear?  All of us have lost someone near to us. Whether we acknowledge them out loud or not, the memories of these people will be in our lives. The woman who gave me the bar recipe has been gone for a few years now. but in the making (and enjoying!) of this recipe she still lives in my mind and in my heart. In the speaking of her name, in writing to her children about my enjoyment of this food, and the memory of her remaining in my own holiday celebration I bring her in my midst. We are called to remember our loved ones. With time it is much easier to recognize their part in our lives with joy and love instead of under the veil of grief and regret.Recognizing and acknowledging our loved ones, our friends, the good memories we carry within us; this is God in our midst. Trekking Catholic.