Prayer and Castle in the Clouds

In Henri Nouwen's classic prayer handbook "With Open Hands", he trained his sharp 'life-microscope' onto five critical aspects of prayer: Silence, Acceptance, Hope, Compassion, and Revolution.

My eyes just could not leave the chapter on "Prayer and Hope" when Nouwen insightfully described the importance of the Hope element within our prayers, whether they are for Thanksgiving, Praise, or Petition to God All Mighty.

Without hope in God's eternal kingdom, everything we experience now here on earth by faith will be just castle in the clouds. Thank God for the beauty of clouds. He definitely had a hand behind the castle in the sky.

Mom, Remembered

Dear Mom,
The hardest word for me to say is goodbye.
Tears of sadness bathe our face as your children survey your silent face.

We stood by your final resting place where Dad lies.
Clouds hovered over us as rain mixed with our tears.
The farewell never seems to ease, nor does our churning heart subside.

This is our final goodbye, though we hate to let you go.
Some days we will meet again. But this I am sure you already knew.

Your Little Son,
Tak