Tuesday 30 December 2008

Little Women (1994) - WITH BETH

Little women

Today has been a lovley day. You know how some days are just beautiful? sometimes there is no obvious reason for it and it is hard to pin point what it is that has made the day so wonderful. Today has been such a day. Harmony, peace, reflection, goodness and well being have been prevelant.

Today my frineds and I watched 'Little Women' together. It is such an amazing and beautiful story. It was almost as if after watching it my eyes were opened in a way that they perhaps haven't been in quite sometime sadly.

Poetry, art, literature, music and other creative medias strive to provide a moment of enlightenment or understanding. Quite often when I look at a painting I 'understand' after a while of gazing. I can't tell anyone what it is that I understand as I can't explain, yet I understand. The brief moment of realisation is what draws me to art. It is a euphoric enlightenment that captivates my imagination and stirs me to creatvity. It is a connection to the artist and to myself that can be difficult to explain. Art provides a space for clarity of thought and reflection, it provides a way of seeing. George Orwell said 'Good writing is like a windowpane' and I completely agree.

Today however, after watching Little women, my heart swelled. I understood immediately and a rare experince occured. I experienced the feeling of enlightenment, yet it was the simplest of understandings to comprehend. My enlightenment was so simple I can explain it, and the enlightenment was not a mere euphoric glimpse but a sustained, developing thoughfulness.

I have no siblings of my own, I never met my brother James and as I grow older the absence of brothers and sisters in my life causes my heart to ache more and more. When watching little women today at first I was sad when I saw the close friendship each of the sisters shared. My heart longed for the same, the friendship between Jo and Beth particularly touched me. For a while I pondered this and dwelt on the sadness of never knowing my brother. Then all of a sudden something changed in my heart. I thought of my best friends who are those who know me better than I know myself. My most precious of friends are my sisters. Though God hasn't blessed me with blood related siblings he has blessed me with sisters who are as family to me.

The closeness we share is hard to explain but is one of the most beautiful gifts in the world. God has blessed me with the best of friends and I pray that as it says in proverbs I will be the kind of friend to them that 'sticks closer than a brother'.

The gift of friendship is never one to be taken for granted. Friends are precious gifts. As friends we bear each other's load, we share in each other's sadness, we protect each other from the world's evils, we celebrate in each other's joy, we persevere in each other's trials and when we try and express our love for each other words are not enough, neither are actions. Our expression of love is our connection that like the understanding of a painting can often not be expressed in words.

"For when three sisters love each other with such sincere affection, the one does not experience sorrow, pain, or affliction of any kind, but the other's heart wishes to relieve, and vibrates in tenderness... like a well-organized musical instrument." ~ Elizabeth Shaw ~


sisterhood and friendsip are gifts that we should never take for granted. We must never become complacent with those we share our lives with. When we lost our friend James nearly three years ago one of the hardest parts of going through our journey of grief was the fact that none of us got the chance to tell James how grateful we were for his friendship. Yet reflecting back, it is obvious we didn't need to. We all know that each of us treasure each other's friendship though we rarely say it. James cherished our friendship and we cherished his, though words that projected such thoughts were only expressed occasionally the 'understanding' was communal. Words were never and are never required. James Main and James Nelson are in heaven just now where love and eternal brother and sisterhood reign.

Friendship is a gift that relects a little of what is to come. United by the blood of Christ as sisters and brothers we will live in harmony one day soon.

Monday 15 December 2008

Saturday 6 December 2008

Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing - Mother Theresa