"on an ordinary day..."

 "An
ordinary day
is,
perhaps,
the most holy
of all.”

- m. george

a widow,
a mother
gathering sticks,
one last meal
a fire
a cake
a cruse of oil
a hungry prophet
arrives
their last supper is shared
and a promise
is born
out of
an
ordinary
act of
kindness

two women
widowed
one the mother
of the other's
husband
unquestioned devotion,
"whither thou goest
I will go"
a journey shared,
gleaning,
caring,
a husband
a son
a grandson --
redemption

drawing water from
the well
she finds a thirsty
stranger
and does what women
do on ordinary days
she offers a cup
he offers her
living waters
and she
sees
herself made
new
in his
eyes

"is not this
the Christ?"
she asks

sisters,
their chores are
shared
until she drops her
apron to
listen
to the
honored guest,
freedom from the banal
comes with a cost
she knows
but
he tells the other
to let her
listen
and she
is
free

they come for
dinner on
an ordinary
day
but she has
more than fish and
loaves to
offer
this time --
an alabaster
box,
fragrant ointment,
humility,
hunger --
she wants
what her sister
now knows

how
to stop and let
the gift of grace
fall on her
shoulders like
soft rain

she lets it
soak into the
once
hard soil
of her
busy heart
and
something
starts to
grow and
bloom

a morning
dawns and she
is awake to perform
a simple
act of love,
spices for his
interment
a fragrant resting place
for one who'd
blessed her
life with
kindness,
dignity,
compassion

she
accompanies his
grieving mother to
a loved son's
sepulcher
with only this one simple
task
to bring something
lovely
to his grave
he calls her
by her
name,
"Mary,"
and the
world is
new

for all of
us

an extraordinary
moment,
on an
ordinary
day




"The grand
must stoop
to the
menial.”

~ Mary Baker Eddy