A family of four sat in front of us at church last Sunday—two young children sitting between their parents. The little girl, probably about eight years old, was beside her father, head down, busy with her crayons. During the sermon, her father looked down at her for a long minute. He looked at her as if his heart would break . . . as if she were his delight . . . as if he would always be loving her. It was the kind of look that sweetens the whole sky. She didn’t see it, but I still do.
“But when [H]e looks [H]e loves me . . . / and [H]e has never ceased to give / This glance at me that sweetens the whole sky.” Mark Van Doren
“The Lord will not abandon . . . nor will He forsake. . . . If I should say, ‘My foot has slipped, your lovingkindness, O Lord, will hold me up. When anxious, disquieting thoughts multiply within me, Your comforts soothe my soul.” Ps. 94: 14, 17-19