Glimpses of Soul

There are times in life when we catch glimpses of glory.

When the sun rises over the water, we catch the eyes of someone sharing the glorious, golden view,
and we acknowledge that we have seen true beauty.

When a stranger becomes a friend, and both parties know it in the instant that it happens.

When a sorrow or a loss or even a death become the conduits for grace, for an embrace,
and for the deepening of love for those who survive.

When the words in a book, a poem, a song, a magazine, an email, a text message,
or a hand-written note speak to and for the truest, deepest, most treasured desires of our hearts.

Glory. Beauty. Grace.
Words do not capture it well.
But our hearts know.
Our souls know.
We are changed forever.

In her book, Speaking of Faith, Krista Tippett describes those glimpses this way: Because however fleeting, these "glimpses" are transformative. They stay with you, long after you can still remember clearly what you saw and even begin to doubt that you saw it, and they work on you from the inside. The shared glimpses of others stay with me, changing the way I move through the world. But my work of questioning and seeing and knowing and unknowing and living remains mine to do.

My prayer this chilly Saturday afternoon in Charlotte is that
we will each and all
embrace the wonder, the joy, the messiness, and the mystery
that are inherent in this life.

May we receive good tidings of great joy,
of ancient and soulful love,
of sacred and profane friendship,
and in the midst of our contradictory and confusing lives,
may we catch glimpses of each other's souls and smile.