A Tale of Two Times

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together.
Ecclesiastes 3:1, 5

In my youth
I threw away the stones
That impeded my progress.

The stones of family,
Which held me down:
The stone of a mother’s love,
Which I thought was hate
Because it hurt.
The stone of a father’s love,
Because I didn’t understand
His need of me.

The stone of religion,
Because I’d outgrown it.

The stone of country
Because I moved away
To a land more large and free.

*

In my maturity
I gather the stones together again
To build a home.

The stones of family
And ancestors:
The stone of a mother’s love,
Cleansed of late
With tears of understanding.
The stone of a father’s love,
Redeemed by the love and care
Of a surrogate father.

The stone of religion,
Split into gems innumerable
With many facets, polished into brilliance,
Reflecting God’s spirit in my life.

The stone of my country,
My Celtic heritage,
Given pride of place in my new home
Of Canada.

*

The stones
I threw away in my youth,
I now gather
In my maturity,
To prepare a dolmen,
A holy dwelling,
For my soul’s eternity.

Christmas Gift

In this fifth short story in part two of Welsh Cakes: Book of Short Stories, we find Amy Johnson hurrying to get to Muskoka on Christmas Eve to join her husband Michael and daughter Joan at their cottage. A few years previously, Amy had insisted on going back to work after feeling trapped in a family situation that required her to stay at home and look after Joan following a tragic illness. When Joan went into remission, Amy saw her opportunity to escape from the drudgery and endless sacrifice she felt at home by searching for a job in the work-a-day world. Michael had difficulty in understanding Amy's need to get away from home and the marriage was in danger of falling apart. To make matters worse, an office relationship was building up and tempting Amy into a fantasy world. Her trip to the cottage that Christmas Eve became a near tragedy when dreaming of another life that might be hers, Amy became distracted on snowy remote country roads and her car careened into a snow bank. With no possibility of getting the car back on the road and the cold and snow increasing, Amy now saw her family as her anchor and didn't know whether she would have the chance to put things right with them. When a light appeared in the sky she thought her end had come. "Amy had read about the light and the tunnel that was part of the experience of dying and she yielded to its radiance, giving herself up to the angel who was guiding her to God. She said a brief prayer, asking God for forgiveness for her past and that he would take her directly to himself. She closed her eyes and relaxed into the Christmas light..."