LesleyBrogan
LesleyBrogan
  • Home
  • Advent 2020
  • Lent 2020
  • Lent 2019
  • Writings from 2019
  • Lent 2018
  • Advent 2017
  • Lesley's Blog: Holding On and Letting Go
  • Relying on the Moon: Companioning Grief for 29 Days
    • Relying on the Moon (book excerpt)
    • White Horse Questions
    • 2014 Advent Daily Readings
  • Advent 2018
  • Traveling This Tender Advent
  • Home
  • Advent 2020
  • Lent 2020
  • Lent 2019
  • Writings from 2019
  • Lent 2018
  • Advent 2017
  • Lesley's Blog: Holding On and Letting Go
  • Relying on the Moon: Companioning Grief for 29 Days
    • Relying on the Moon (book excerpt)
    • White Horse Questions
    • 2014 Advent Daily Readings
  • Advent 2018
  • Traveling This Tender Advent

Holding On and Letting Go

The cheeks of angels

11/24/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Clouds are not the cheeks of angels you know, they’re only clouds…

     I've always loved this poem by Rod McKuen. I can’t even remember when I heard it for the first time or learned it by heart. I appreciate the way this poem can open up a conversation about clouds. And the clouds in Atlanta have been so beautiful this fall.

     It seems like more days than not this fall I’ve been stopped by something beautiful going on in the sky. And they’ve been reminding me of Mom. Maybe it's their wispiness or their colors, but they’ve been wonderful. Mom always loved watching the sky. One of her favorite things was to watch storms come in. I have many memories of watching from our front porch. These Atlanta-fall clouds would have given her so many days for her heart to dance. And my heart has been dancing as I’ve been watching them and remembering her. They have inspired me and comforted me.

     Coming from corn and bean fields, I grew up with lots of sky. The sunrises and sunsets in the winter were always so incredible. You could see the silhouettes of the trees and all the rest were clouds and color. It was as if God started each day with a new canvas and just painted, swirled and dashed as we all marveled.

     The holidays are tender now with Mom and Dad both gone. I miss them ~ talking important things or just about what's going on. I can't remember a time when she told me what to do, but mostly she would hold me close and pat my arm (or was that Granddaddy? All my angels sometimes inter-mingle). She would draw me close and hold my face in both her hands, look me in the eye. When she did that, I knew all the way to my toes how very much she loved me.

     Lately I’m thinking Mom’s playing a part in these beautiful clouds. Maybe God’s loaning her a paintbrush and inviting her to take a turn at painting. I see these clouds and give thanks from the bottom of my heart.

     These days I would like to have a conversation with Mr. McKuen, I’m thinking clouds are the cheeks of angels, you know?


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Lesley Brogan

    Working in Family Experience at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Lesley is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ.  A Candler School of Theology graduate, Lesley has just published her second book, Grief and the Psalms: Companioning the Moon for 29 Days (available on this website). She and her partner, Linda Ellis are raising their two sons, Brogan and Sam in Decatur, GA.

    Archives

    April 2018
    May 2017
    April 2017
    July 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed