gathering days…two hundred eighty nine.

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I watched with dismay as two people danced around each other this week, posturing and fighting for place.  It wasn’t pretty.

There are things that shrink the soul, leaving it walnut-sized.  Things like not hearing, no compromise, needing always to be right.  Other things like jealousy and pride come disguised as wisdom and have their say…in a small-souled way.

And there are things that expand it.  Those places we shrink from like humility, or forgiveness when it’s not been asked for, kindness that’s undeserved, and grace extended with hands that still hurt.

Love makes the soul elastic.

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~ lindasinklings 

gathering days…two hundred eighty eight.

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They lay sprawled on the carpet like puppies, waiting for the final night of Homework Club to begin.  Their leader was moving away, they were sad, so they were plotting…

‘Let’s jump ‘em, he’ll like that.’

Heads nodded agreement then, Or we could throw cups or water on him!

‘Yeah!’ they all yelled.

I know, said one boy, We could all line up and throw ice water on him, like, lots and lots of ice water.

‘Or man, like a cooler of ice water, like at the end of the football games, like they do to the coach.  We could do that to him, pour a cooler of ice on him, he’d love that.’ 

This was the penultimate idea; the pinnacle of boy-love.  

They smacked hands and turned to the miniature fridge in the room, began chipping bits of ice out of the tiny freezer, cupping the shavings into their hands.  It was going to take a long time to get a cooler full.

I offered to go get buckets of ice, and made friends for life.

Later I watched as they chased their coach-teacher, dousing him with middle-school love that couldn’t be spoken, but poured out in a cooler full of ice cubes.  

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~ lindasinklings