Every day will I bless thee and I will praise
thy name for ever and ever."
           ----- Psalms 145:2

Drop by Drop
 
Suddenly happens at the drop of a hat.
Suddenly happens just like that.
A snap of a finger in this dance-
A whisper, a flicker, just a glance.
 
Gradually seems to take forever to be done.
Gradually doesn't happen with the setting of the sun.
A bucket being filled  slowly drop by drop by drop-
A rainy day, an ocean shore, a spinning top.
 
Suddenly, gradually, two complete opposites it seems
Suddenly, gradually, two methods of fulfilling dreams
In this life, we sometimes quickly reach our goals,
In this life we sometimes find dreams come with leaky holes.
 
When things don't happen like we want at a drop of a hat,
We often give up if things don't happen just like that.
We snap our fingers and choose to no longer dance.
We whisper that the flicker isn't worth a second glance.
 
We lose hope in forever and say we are done.
We settle down and wait for the setting of the sun.
We watch all our joy leak slowly out drop by drop.
We forget peaceful rainy days on ocean shores and spinning tops
 
Yes suddenly and gradually are complete opposites for sure.
But if we want dreams fulfilled we sometime must learn to endure.
It is good to joyously celebrate goals which are quickly complete.
But we must learn patience and gradually stop those pesky leaks
 
 
This week was graduation week for a lot of people.   As I thought of graduation, I thought of gradual. Reaching a graduation ceremony is a gradual process. Step by step, a time finally comes when we walk across a stage and a piece of paper is placed in our hands.  We are told our goal has finally been reached, we have graduated.   Of course, the graduation that we reached gradually,  is only a step into the rest of our lives and more goals that we hope to reach.
Sunday morning in a children's class, I was reminded of how God sometimes does things very suddenly, as quickly as a snap of a finger.  Of course, He also sometimes does things gradually.  We must learn not to give up on God if things don't happen suddenly.
This life is a series of gradual processes. God walks with us through every single one.