A sermon, a song –  

Keys opening up our hearts and raising our hands. 

The swirl of an artist brush, poetry of the heart,  the click of an eye capturing a moment of life’s beauty –  The senses imbued with Spirit. 

A Friend’s warm hand in yours, a hug when you’re most in need,  a welcome smile or tearful empathy –  Love felt, seen, known. 

Pancakes and coffee, cookies and tea, a sit down dinner, buffet snacks –  

Breaking bread together again and again. 

Guidance, through paths of creativity, practicality, inspiration –  Prodding and holding up,  

Offered knowledge and awareness to be taken in, stepping out into action – Thought, prayer, and deed.   

Laughter, lots and lots of laughter.  

Our God in the midst of it all.   

How can one not be grateful 

When, not just Sunday –  

Receiving again and again? 

I offer my heart, my service, and my more than ‘a widow’s mite’. 

I need to  

In return for these gifts.  

                                                                        From Susan Ceely Philips