birds, bread, petals

This morning I walked to the station. I was walking and reading at the same time - a practice that has caused me trouble several times before! Halfway to the station, I passed a garden that contained the most beautiful blossom tree. I find blossom trees very moving - the contrast between the stark brown branches and the clouds of delicate pink petals. Beneath the tree stood an old lady, who was jerkily throwing handfuls of bread onto the lawn. Birds were darting in from every direction, fluttering and pecking, wheeling away to perch on the branches of the tree or the roof of the house.

At that moment, my eyes had just fallen on these words on the page I was reading.
Wind of God, blow far from us
all dark despair,
all deep distress,
all groundless fears,
all sinful desires,
all Satan's snares,
all false values,
all selfish wishes,
all wasteful worries.

Blow into us
your holy presence,
your living love,
your healing touch,
your splendid courage,
your mighty strength,
your perfect peace,
your caring concern,
your divine grace,
your boundless joy.

Wind of God,
blow strong,
blow fresh,
blow now.

The prayer, the darting of the birds, the kindness of the bread, the beauty of the petals undid me. I wanted to stand on the street and weep aloud for my dying grandmother, for my friends who suffer and yet have courage, for the carnage and horror in the news. So much dark despair and deep distress.

Wind of God. Your holy presence, your perfect peace, your boundless joy.