COMING
FRIDAY
7 PM PST.
JOE SICCARDI
AUTHOR
OF:
Wisdom From a Father is
a reflective look at life, segmented into chapters. The words are updates of
posts made on his blog,wisdomfromafather.wordpress.com. The 52 essay chapters
include reflections on life, love, and family. All are written from the heart,
sometimes seriously and sometimes with a touch of humor.
Don’t Flinch
I was out in the gazebo the other day, having my
morning coffee with Karen and reeling from the four years [now 10 years] old
memory of the night my world changed forever. To put that in context, when my
wife was diagnosed with cancer, the prognosis was bleak. But she handled
chemotherapy better than anyone – including the doctors – had thought. We – me
– thought we had dodged the bullet.
Then came the night of Aug. 23, 2008, when it
became painfully clear the calm would soon tilt to the chaos that claimed her
life a scant 35 days later.
Nonetheless, I was in the gazebo with her Friday
morning (Aug. 24) reliving the nightmare and feeling, quite frankly, pretty
blue.
Out of the corner of my eye, a host of sparrows
descended on my rose and burning bushes. One – not sure if it was the drone or
hen – took charge and, I swear, stared straight at me while the others did what
sparrows do, picking at the leaves, presumably chowing down on aphids and other
bugs. But I focused on the head honcho … just sitting silently in stillness.
I immediately recalled the words of Jesus, Are
not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in
God’s sight (Luke 2:6, NRSV).
And I felt ashamed for feeling sorry for myself.
God never “forgot” us as we walked down those
last days. God never “forgot” me in the days, weeks, months and even years
since Karen’s death. God wasn’t “forgetting” me as I sat there. And He won’t
“forget” me as I move forward on this journey called life.
In contrast, I often “forget” God. In fact, I was
forgetting Him as I sat there mired with melancholy.
But it wasn’t just the sparrows. The drone or hen
was stonily still, which brought to mind Psalm 46:10, Be still and know
that I am God.
The sparrow knew that, but I wasn’t allowing God
to be God. I kept and keep focusing on how my world crumbled around me and
forgot and often forget the mandate from Scripture to not flinch in faith in
God. The irony is I always told Karen when she started fretting about this or
that to stop and “be still to listen to God.” Don’t you just hate it when your
words come back to haunt you?
As sudden as the swarm of sparrows came, the
drone or hen took flight with the host quickly following. The message, however,
lingered.
I admit the pain is still there. But I know by
faith God hasn’t forgotten me and still has a greater plan. I just have to
remember to be still and listen. I have to remember to get out of the way. I
have to remember the past is the past and no amount of melancholy will change
anything.
And it took a sparrow on a Friday morning to
remind me of that.
THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: Be an encourager.
...Samantha
is dreading her return home. Throughout her life, she had a rocky relationship
with her mother – and now her mother is all she has left. Through a nostalgic
look back, Samantha recognizes the presence of God in, an ordinary life.
She learns more about herself as a wife and mother who has had her share of
sorrow and blessings. As her faith increases, she is able to see her
mother through new eyes, leading to reconciliation … and is reminded of that
every time she sees Heaven Shining Through.
I found myself driving
home alone on the black asphalt, which seemed darker because of ominous clouds
again on the horizon ranging from dark gray to puffs of white. Out of the
corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of white as the sun tried to peek out from
behind the clouds. It didn’t succeed, but first, a ray rained into the picture,
followed by a halo of rays.
I remembered, my
conversations with the kids when we had seen a similar canvas in the sky that
day. They’d thought the light was heaven shining through.
I knew they were
right.
Joe
Siccardi has been an editorial writer, editor, and publisher for 52 years and
posts a blog at https://wisdomfromafather.com/. As he states, "I'm
the ordinary Joe walking along this journey called life and sharing it with
you!" He is the proud father of five children, 18 grandchildren, three
great-granddaughters and another great-granddaughter expected in the fall. He
currently lives in Dover-Foxcroft, ME, afterlife experiences in Paterson,
Totowa, Ogdensburg and Newton, NJ; Belvidere, IL; Toledo, OH;
Washington, DC; Laurel, MD; and Seneca Falls and Willard (Romulus), NY.
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