The Silence of a Hundred Days by Shelly Wampler

Today I think about remembering. It's deeper than finding the remote or," did I miss an appointment?. "

Aging makes me think of all the things I've been through that mean so very much to me. 

Things that were life changing can be taken away now. 

Memory can slip away and never be found. 

Looking at a photograph of someone you don't know but have heard about..except the person, is you. 

Forgetting the names of strangers at a meeting takes on a whole new meaning when you know they were named by you and taught how to read and tie their shoes. 

Knowing how I loved someone and after 7 years, the faces are still clear, and the voices still speak in the silence of a hundred days. 

To remember causes pain and to forget leaves scars on my heart.

Posted May 23, 2017 by permission of the author

Baby Step 18: Silence

Some days, no matter how bright the sun, or cheerful the breeze, I feel weighed down by a darkness within. There is no escape, no place of refuge, only a deep, hopeless chasm in which I cannot even rest. The pain seems more than I can bear. The joy stripped from within. Paralyzed, I cannot move. Blind, I cannot see. Deaf, I cannot hear. I find only the silence.

Domine Jesu Christe, you knew the darkness, the chaos before there was time. You breathed a Word, and there was light and calm. You move gently into my emptiness and lift me above the pain. In you, I live and move and have my being. You find me in the silence. You give voice to my grief. In the depths of despair, you breathe hope.

“But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.” (Habakkuk 2:20)

“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15)

“Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)