Courtesy NSSA Lab

So much of life in the world, for so many people, looks like a long dark road. We are in grief for one more mass shooting; for refugees fleeing terror; for families torn apart; for broken countries and broken people; for angry politics; and for the changes big and small in our lives.

How do we live in a world in turmoil? How do we keep going and trusting and hoping and smiling? How do we not get caught up in the blame and fear?

That, however, is the challenge always. How do we live in balance?

I picked up a small book of Advent Meditations from the work of Henri J.M. Nouwen this morning and opened it to to an essay, Search Amid The Small, to read:

“When I have no eyes for the small signs of God’s presence–the smile of a baby, the carefree…