ON THE MANTLE

You’re in the yard on a beautiful sunlit day pulling dandelions, and suddenly you drop to your knees and see the beauty of the yellow and the intricacy of the design and even the strange beauty of the smell — and the dandelion is transfigured. You know it’s not an ugly yellow weed, but a little bit of the wonder and glory of God.

You give your child away in marriage, and suddenly you no longer see the messy rooms and the late worried nights, or hear the shouts of anger. You realize that in your life you have known something of the Divine Love — that intense, irrational love which nothing can finally shut out. And your child is transfigured in your eyes, so completely that you’ll never see that child as you once did.

We go to church for years, hearing the same stories and hymns and creeds, and our spirits become sleepy and dull. But one Sunday morning it happens. Maybe in…