Tea with Juxtapositions

Saying Goodbye and Hello

Original image credit to Maria

My Dear Lovelians & Lifers,

It is that time of year when we once more rub shoulders with juxtapositions. Or in my case, have tea with them on a blustery post-Christmas morning.

There is something poetic about their relationship. Hello and Goodbye are the best of friends. A deep understanding and appreciation for the other exist between them; I can’t help but crave the same. After all, we meet up many times throughout the year, not solely at its end. Goodbye introduces Hello and vice versa no matter how subtle or seemingly inconsequential. Both embody the change that occurs with every slight alteration to the way we lived before.

Sometimes, grief accompanies this change and my arms ache with an absent weight. Goodbye is the more melancholy of the two and is often ignored because of this, despite the fact we cannot experience one without the other.

New years are both----Goodbye and Hello. A cleansing rain; an oiled canvas. Beginning anew; grateful songs; a plea-filled prayer----

LORD God, I stand in awe of your deeds.

Revive your work in these years;

Make it known in these years.

In the midst of Your wrath remember mercy!

My Jesus has done amazing deeds in, through, and around me, including the times I just stood present as a faithful witness to His magic.

The newfound ability to breathe underwater unlocks new depths, and I dance suspended in the not-always-alright. Excitement, curiosity, and wonder pull my heart to further explore what I had ignored living a surface life of constant smiles and the religious need to be fine all the time.

A slight tremble courses through my fingertips. Will Leviathan come out to play? What other mysteries stir in the deep...

Pale sunlight softly illuminates my surroundings, and I am faced with the weight and glory of my own insignificance. Remember mercy. Oh mighty man, remember your frailty; but more importantly, remember His mercy.

I say goodbye to a tough year; good, but tough. I say hello to newfound strength, the kind where faith blooms through cracks in the concrete.

In these years, may we experience wonderful and mighty works.

In these years, may we delight in new mercy in the midst of goodbye and hello.  

Happy New Year,

Olivia

P.S. I read this ingredient on a shampoo label recently: saponified oil of olive... so olive oil. Fancy.

 

P.P.S. Also, I am now in possession of a Positive Potato. I named my new crocheted friend Groo-tato.