Dear God.

Dear God,

Isn’t it strange how

There can be so much sadness

In a world of such happiness?

I used to wonder how

You could let such things happen

To all your children on earth

How you could take away lives

And leave the living with their pain

How you could let our hearts be broken

Again and again, until it seemed we could stop loving

How you could cast the world into such shadows

Until it seemed there was no longer hope for any light

It gets me down sometimes, it makes me question why.

But then I open my eyes,

And i see the little signs you leave for us

Signs that you care, signs that you love.

A baby’s first breath gathered to scream as it greets the world

A fawn’s first wobbly steps as it learns its way in the world

An old woman’s smile as she holds the child of her child

I smell the wondrous scents of freshly cut grass, of fallen leaves;

A mom’s home-cooked roast, prepared with so much love;

I hear the music you created,

In the laughter of children around me,

In the voices of the people I love, as they tell my about their day.

Now I’m sure there will always be sorrow,

And there will always be pain.

And I may not know, Lord, why you let them happen,

But I’m also sure,

That you will always be there,

Giving me hope through these little pleasures of life,

These little post-its of nature,

Just so I can stop, appreciate, and know that I am loved.