Live

My Dearest Daughters,

“I found a way to live.” I heard that phrase twice in one day and it struck me, so much so that it stayed with me all day, to the point that I just had to share it with you, my dearest daughters. There is something uniquely inviting about that statement.

The person who first spoke of it was referring to a lifetime of heartache and difficulties, but finally they are free to live. The circumstances are unimportant. The message is profoundly simple.

Ant then I read these words on the rare occasion that I allow myself the time to sit and read for pleasure, much to my regret. These words came from a novel. I do enjoy reading fiction because the stories that unfold come with nuggets of truth that cause me to wonder if the author realizes the implication of the off-the-cuff remarks that jump off the pages as I turn them. This is once such case.

The Beekeeper’s Ball states: “I brought her up as best I could,” Magnus said. I gave her love, but did I teach her to live? No, she will have to discover to do that on her own. She has found a measure of happiness here at Bella Vista. But she is not at home in the world. I was too preoccupied with protecting her from it.”

Words are amazing to me. The ability to put them together in such a way that resounds with such truth. Words that become a part of our being, leaving us with a desire for change, for more, for rightness. I stand in awe.

These words speak such to me, my dearest daughters. I want to be counted in the group of people who have truly found a way to live. I want to be among those who have put aside the fear to let go of something good, for something best.

God, grant me the wisdom.

I don’t want to get in the way of someone experiencing something that would be life-changing for the sake of saving them from themselves, or my misconceived preoccupation with protecting someone from the world, especially someone I love.