A Winter Story

Here's the story I shared at the Vespers service last Thursday night.  A peaceful day to you all--

'Twas a cold winter's eve.
They were out in the dark
When a biting cold wind came and took the last spark
From the lantern Pops carried.
The child was alarmed;
How would they return to their home without harm?

Pops turned to the child and smiled,
"Don't fear.  We'll just share some stories
On our winter's walk here . . .
Did I tell you the one about a day when I cried,
When I realized your grandma would probably die
And leave me alone here?  Now those were some tears . . ."

He took the child's hand and recounted the years:
Tales of hardship, of anger and deepening sorrow,
And feeling--sometimes--of no hope for tomorrow.

He shared other stories, too--
Of acting with courage,
When someone else might just be discouraged.

The child's heart warmed, the moon rose above
And Pops carried on with more tales of love,
Of happiness, laughter, good times that he had seen,
Friendships that sustained him, wild places he'd been;
A faith in mankind to do right by each other,
A hope that one day we'd live together as brothers.

In no time, it seemed, they saw a light shining afar--
A candle in the window at home, like a star
Shining its light through the cold and the dark,
Bringing them home to the warmth of the hearth.

When the child was grown, had become somewhat older
And thought back on that night as the winds became colder,
It wasn't the chill 'twas remembered nor fright,
But the warmth of that evening
And the promise of light.


Denise Pedane, DRE
Mattatuck Unitarian Universalist Society