Just a Moment?

A grin.

A smile.

A hearty laugh.

Good food, perhaps. Good friends.

Times - moments - of joy are gifts to be received.

We say goodnight, the revelry ends.

With departure, two hearts reveal.

For some the glow of gathered joy gives warmth and fosters hope

These times - moments - are glimpses of a home yet unseen.

But the joy ‘round a gathered fire

Can make the cold of loneliness and loss - seemingly irreversible -

Feel colder and more bitter than ever before.

And so we chase.

We chase more moments.

Moving from fire to fire, gathering to gathering.

Hoping that with enough moments,

the joy can be made to last.

But winds howl and drifts pile up.

Joy fades.

Hope - true hope - provides a Fire inside.

A Fire that is stoked in celebration, but lasts beyond.

The Glow offers a Peace beyond understanding.

A deep, slow Breath - a Sigh - of relief, sometimes, but something more.

Joy.

Unspeakable, never-ending Joy.

The storm continues to blow. The cold continues to nip.

But Hope, Peace, and Joy protect.

This heart continues unbroken and unbitten,

Leaving behind the moment

And carrying the fire out into the night.