Isn't it Beautiful!
We were standing around outside having a cup of tea and a slice of loaf. The
ground was white with winter frost and we stomped our feet to get circulation
moving as we warmed our hands on our steaming cups.
It was bitterly cold but the operative phrase was "Isn't it beautiful!" And it
was beautiful. Green grass, powdered as with crisp snow, was crackling under our
feet as we moved about, the air was bracing, and our mood was in harmony with
its clarity. It was as though the world had been made clean and we with it.
It was a transformation and I wanted it to last forever, clean and shining
bright on a clear winter's morning.
Then the lady I was talking to winced in pain. She was soon to undergo serious
surgery and every movement was painful. As we shared our thoughts, another lady
remembered that only a few months ago her husband had stood beside her and now
she was alone.
Two of the men had turned away, discussing heavy stock losses and another,
crippled with age, wondered how much longer he could manage to care for a
mentally ill relative.
The transformation was gone and reality stormed in. Somebody shut the church
door behind us and we turned towards our homes.
But we had glimpsed a moment with the disciples who saw Jesus transformed and it
lifted our hearts towards the morning when 'the sun of righteousness will
rise with healing in its wings, and you will break loose like calves released
from the stall.' Malachi 4:2.
That will be a day, clean and shining bright, when we will turn to each other
and say "Isn't it beautiful!"
By Just a Minute team writer Elizabeth Price.
You can contact Elizabeth direct at mailto:reprice@dragnet.com.au