Whilst cleaning out the widow found a letter that she had written years before.
“Dearest Bryon, I feel as though I have walked a long way to find you and the going has not always been easy. There have been some sunshine moments where the path has been luscious and I have slept soundly, joyously and easily beside you. But there have been some dark nights as well where I have stumbled along some rocky roads. These nights have been very chilly and my loneliness has been relentless and punishing. I have ached for you and believed that I had lost you forever.
Now, on our tenth wedding anniversary, I finally understand that while you seemed a long way from me, I can rest secure in the knowledge that you had already found me a long time ago”
I think about this letter, or at least the truth it generously offers, when the going seems harsh and unpredictable.
The Master sometimes seems especially close and its all bottles of pop, mangoes, sunshine and roses. But it is also true that there are black nights and stony roads. And far from enjoying the real presence all there seems to be is real, complete and total absence. There are times when the ache is palpable.
I console myself with the sure and certain knowledge that He has already found me a long time ago. This simple but incomprehensible truth is all that is needed to bring Him into focus. I understand that we have always been, and will always be, inseparable.
The widow read the letter again while unstoppable tears gushed down her cheeks. But they were not tears of sadness, but tears of joy and the very deepest gratitude.