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"The present moment feeds, nourishes, educates, instructs, guides, counsels, loves, and sanctifies."
Matthew Kelly from his book A Call to Joy

Imagine my delight, when visiting a lovely Inn in New Hampshire, I came upon a swing hanging from a sturdy old tree, as sunlight cast shadows on the ground.  I just had to try it out.  A week later a moment of time came rushing back.  A nudge really.  What did it mean?  Write about it, came the whisper.  Draft 1 of my poem The Joy of a Swing was created. I'm beginning to understand the whisper and nudge.  The moment I saw that swing I knew joy.

The Joy of a Swing

Draft 1

My grandfather always made me wooden swings

when I was little.

My first swing was box-like  and it

held my toddler body within its cage.

My small fingers grasped the bar

as Grampa  gently pushed & pulled

me through the air.

I trusted him and giggled in response.

It was pure joy.

Later the swing was handed down to my brother

and replaced with a green painted board

laced with a strong rope and wrapped

around a sturdy maple branch.

Many summers were spent gliding through the air

basking in the delight of pumping my legs

hard enough to reach high into the sky.

Reaching for heaven to a grandfather

I so much missed but most all

learned of trust & joy.

June 2014

It is interesting how memories come flooding into your brain -that special moment that recreates a feeling.  Many years ago my grandfather created a moment that caught my attention.  It was the way he pushed and pulled me through the fear as my little hands wrapped tightly around the bar.  The care he took to make  sure the swing was secure and safe.  It was his way of showing me he loved me and I could trust him.  It was a moment that Matthew Kelly  says,  "A call from God to love as He loves, in the present moment."  ( page 117 A Call to Joy)