Kiss the joys

A line from a poem by William Blake:
"He who binds himself to a joy,
does the winged life destroy;
but he who kisses the joy as it flies,
lives in eternity's sunrise."

This quote is in a daily devotional I read today. The writer who referred to it was blinded as a child but due to advance surgery regained some sight only to mostly lose it again in later years.


He wrote: "I have had to learn not to bind myself the joy of sight but to kiss this winged blessing as it flies through my life. At time, the urge to grab and hold onto it is overwhelming, but in my heart of hearts, I realize one has to develop a certain attachment to joys of all kinds in order to escape the insidious poisons of bitterness and despair."

Tis the same principle that should be applied to our abilities (physical and mental) as they wax and wane or be wiped out suddenly in some accident or illness. And the people and things that come and go from our lives also seemed just loaned to us for a season.
If it is all God's, then I can accept more readily and let go more easily. Everything in it's own season.

(NOT having a bad day, just reflective as visions of destruction hog the news.)

Great Giver of all gifts, thank You for the blessings of this life. Help me to hold loosely, very lightly the gifts that You bestow. Help me to hold fast to You.