Being vulnerable by Letitia Mason

I held an eight week old baby in my arms yesterday. Tiny, perfect, downy hair, and bright eyes that fixed on mine. Her perfect bow of a mouth moved in a smile and then the lips parted as she tried to communicate with me, eyes alight.

Trying to communicate

It is all there - the personality, the desire to communicate, the spirit to spirit connection through the eyes. And yet she is so vulnerable. Mum and Dad are concerned because she may have an allergy and has lost weight in the last week. I hug her plump little body against me and feel the strength of her being, and the potential unfolding in this small bud of humanity.

At the other end of the spectrum many of my friends are encountering health problems. Couples who once seemed vibrant and capable of anything are finding their lives curtailed by physical limitations and medical appointments.

It seems solid, this world around us, yet a large proportion of it is air and water; molecules held into shape by the space between them. Created and evolving by the Word that speaks them into being.

As I count down the weeks to Christmas on my Advent wreath I am aware of the fragility of my own words. I long for them to reach someone, to strike a chord. I constantly struggle to find communication of eternal impact. The desire is there, but I need to mature a little more, and stay close to the one who created me.

Letitia Mason fell in love with East and Central Africa while teaching at a harambee school in Kenya. She has published Lost Children of Cush, a novel of South Sudan. Tish works for Flame International and lives in Surrey with her husband and a crazy dog.   @TishMason1

www.mariaofsouthsudan.wordpress.com