2016-12-24

My Love:

I have been thinking all the more about how vital your quiet calmness is, and not just in personal considerations.

There are so many ways in which your calmness makes me a better person: in the relaxing hug that allows the scurryfunge to instead be a higher contemplation, or in the suggestion that causes a selfish moment to instead be a dedication to a better calling, or in the wish that inspires an overwhelmed self to instead seek something more pure, something to benefit others.

But there are also many ways in which the world would be better from following the example of your calmness. This is more than an appreciation for the Sermon on the Mount and what Jesus said about the meek, and it is not merely a wish borne from recent examples of political discourse. It is also a growing recognition of how the trust created by mutual engagement is being set aside in favour of belief broadcast to the exclusion of all others.

We forget sometimes that depth of faith is not measured in volume. God is most likely heard in the whispers of a gentle breeze or in the stillness of a meandering brook or in the infinity of a calm snowfall, rather than in the collective yells of hordes. The Holy Night being remembered this evening became known in the quiet darkness in a forgotten, humble corner of the world.

There are so many things I should thank you more often for: the Light that is hinted by the brilliance of your eyes; the Hope that is reborn by the ideals of your mind; the Joy that is proclaimed by the love of your heart; and the Thrill that inspires from the sweetness of your smile. Even when I forget to say something, may Light and Hope and Joy and Thrill always be refreshed by the quiet calmness of your Soul....