Laurie Klein, Scribe

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Scales: Deliberate Tippage

by Laurie Klein 24 Chiming In

Scales

Symbol of justice.
Tool for measurements. Proportions. Ratios. Ratings.
Do re mi fa sol la ti do: syllables assigned to musical steps in an octave.
Verb for ascent.
Colorful chitin covering moth and butterfly wings.
Bony overlapping plates on crocs and dragons. Clown fish.

Scales of Wonder
Nemo at the Fair

I see the clown fish bubble toy at the Fair. What a hoot! I breathe deeper, forget the crowds and heat.

Later, I read the news and feel . . . overwhelmed. On a scale of 1 – 10, I’m at -3.

I read a poem titled “Work,” by Catherine Pierce.

… I remind myself
for every person razing there’s another engineering
a ladder of light.

The scales tilt.

Hope stirs my thoughts, my pen. I fumble an incomplete litany onto the page. Perhaps you’ll assist me?

  • For every business depleting a natural resource, there’s an angler practicing catch-and-release.
  • For every flash flood in a cave, entrapping children, there are divers donning their gear, risking all.
  • For every soundbite polarizing a nation, there’s a volunteer translating for detainees at the border.

I think of murderous Saul, in Damascus: blind, fearful, huddled in darkness. Enter Ananias, carrying out his work as messenger. He lays his hands over Saul’s eyes.

“Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again.”

What can you add to augment our hope?

For every ________________, there’s a ____________________.

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You might also enjoy “Catch and Release”

Filed Under: Small Wonders Tagged With: catch-and-release, hope, scales, see again, work July 15, 2018

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  1. Carol Wilson says

    July 27, 2018 at 12:45 pm

    What a splendid way to spend a few pondering moments. Thank you.

    For every dark night, stars twinkle above.

    For every child taken from the womb–
    *heavenly arms extend to receive a new life.
    *Grace extends to forgive and heal.

    For every mundane day, wonder moments abound

    Reply
    • Laurie Klein says

      August 4, 2018 at 9:03 am

      Carol, sorry for my belated response. I’ve been away for awhile with no access to internet.

      I love your “ponderings”! Each stands alone beautifully, and together they strike my heart as a hymn 🙂

      Reply
  2. Joy Lenton says

    July 25, 2018 at 11:05 am

    Oh how I love this, Laurie! It’s always good to read your lyrical and wondrous words. And you never fail to inspire us to reflect, while encouraging us to chime in. This offering really spoke to me. I couldn’t help but have a go and share some of the results with you here. It’s quite compulsive once you get started, isn’t it?

    For every aching heart, there’s a poet talking about faith and love.
    For every dismal journey, there’s always hope of an ending.
    For every challenge we may face, there is God offering us His mercy and grace.
    For every catastrophe, there are people helping, praying, saving lives.

    With love and abundant blessings. xo <3

    Reply
    • Laurie Klein says

      July 26, 2018 at 7:40 am

      Dear Joy, what a delight finding your words here today! I trust you are well. Your words splash over me with beauty and conviction and hope. I love each line and thank you for sending them. Much love to you, friend!

      Reply
      • Joy Lenton says

        July 26, 2018 at 7:50 am

        Dear Laurie, your reply reminds me of the book ‘The Splash of Words: Believing in Poetry’ by Mark Oakley, which I have been dipping into now and then. I love the thought of our words being soul refreshment for another, such as yours always are to me. I probably owe you an email or more. Apologies if so. Although part of this break was meant to include getting control over my inbox, I have failed dismally in that task. I’m am still resting, pacing, relaxing, recovering, on a blogging break and trying not to melt in the unaccustomed heatwave we’ve had for weeks! Thanks for asking. I hope you and your beloveds are keeping well? xo

        Reply
        • Laurie Klein says

          July 26, 2018 at 6:40 pm

          Joy, no apologies needed. I am cheering you on as you absorb renewal. I must look for the book you mention. It sounds refreshing. We are keeping ourselves as well as we can. Thanks for asking. I am picturing you downing a tall hand-blown glass of lemonade, beaded with moisture, a fresh slice of lemon bumping your nose. And now I want one too. 🙂 Cheers!

          Reply
  3. John Lindsay says

    July 20, 2018 at 5:56 am

    One of Newton’s Laws, isn’t it? For every action . . . Sometimes our reactions are greater than the action of the initial experience, but we carry on. Viewed rationally, I think there’s a tendency to keep a tally, but I think there’s no benefit in seeing the bad as a series of misfortunes, just a blur of anger and evil that we can choose to sidestep, or step in as our resources – emotional and physical, allow. Always good stuff, Laurie, you’re a prize!

    Reply
    • Laurie Klein says

      July 20, 2018 at 6:16 pm

      John, yes, I’d completely forgotten (slaps forehead). Thank you! It’s great to be reminded the equation is built into life itself.

      I really like your take on this, the kindly roominess you bring to the table here with the line “sidestep or step in as our resources—emotional and physical, allow.” Perhaps spiritual as well.

      So if I’m a prize, I must add “takes one to know one.”

      Reply
      • John Lindsay says

        July 21, 2018 at 4:00 am

        Spiritual as well, although that sometimes seems involuntary, as I think it should.

        Reply
        • Laurie Klein says

          July 21, 2018 at 7:03 am

          You know, I never thought of it quite that way: involuntary. And fittingly so. That feels true and really interesting to contemplate further. Thank you!

          Reply
  4. Nancy Ruegg says

    July 17, 2018 at 4:37 pm

    Thank you, Laurie, for bringing balance to our thinking. Praise God we are never without hope, never without signs of his grace!

    For every rude comment and gesture, there’s is a kind word and deed.

    Reply
    • Laurie Klein says

      July 17, 2018 at 4:51 pm

      You are so welcome, grateful it resonated with you.

      What an encouraging line for our litany—especially in times so often lacking in civility.. Thank you!

      Reply
  5. Niki Anderson says

    July 17, 2018 at 7:22 am

    Laurie, what a beautiful presentation of balance. I may well borrow some of this?(with attribution) for my balance series (Beckoned to Balance) a teaching presentation on the topic that’s been my soapbox for years. This blog may be my all time favorite among your litanies. Love, Niki

    Reply
    • Laurie Klein says

      July 17, 2018 at 8:28 am

      Borrow away, my friend. 🙂 I’m deeply glad it spoke to you.

      Reply
  6. sjl says

    July 16, 2018 at 5:38 pm

    For every bewildered countenance, a moment of surprise from a neighbor offering a smile and word of encouragement who brought his Granddaughter to show me her coverall shorts her Mom wore as a child. And from my discard box of stuff, she chose a non-functional camera and a cross necklace. The pay off was a hug for me.

    Reply
    • Laurie Klein says

      July 17, 2018 at 10:52 am

      Oh Sally, this delights me. A payoff of shared joy for me in hearing how the scales tipped for you and your neighbors. Thank you for adding your voice and heart to the litany.

      Reply
  7. Lynn D. Morrissey says

    July 16, 2018 at 3:25 pm

    Laurie, I love this post as I do them all… and especially because I was thinking: Oh, where is Laurie? And there you were in my inbox when I returned from a visit! Yay! Before I reached the end of your post, I too thought of Saul turned Paul. I thought of myself and coward turned truster when I scaled the summit of Iona knowing my times were in God’s hands, and I thought of the bathroom scale on which Mike weighs daily (and which I use periodically… not understanding how I maintain my weight and yet feel heavier because it keeps shifting to where it should not be). And this summer (before it is over forever, I know I need to scale back on my papers and books, in which I am drowning). To play your little game (which really isn’t a game at all, but an uplifter when one learns to shift perspective) . . . for every fear, there is hope. I will leave it at that, because I am having an early dinner and heading out for a board meeting of my Bach chorus. We’re struggling for survival, having had all of our funding scaled back to virtually nothing. But it’s our hope that our group will scale the heights of cultural Saint Louis again, and that as a soprano, I will have the continued privilege of singing those beautiful Bach melismas, or scales. It’s my hope that I will one day be able to say, for every professional Bach chorus, there is a happily ever after!
    Love
    Lynn

    Reply
    • Laurie Klein says

      July 17, 2018 at 8:32 am

      Here I am. 🙂 Thanks for wondering.

      That “uplifter” is a line so true and deep I need it tattooed on my brain.

      I hope your chorus continues. The world needs Bach, especially live! I love the word “melisma,” which is new to me, thank you. And Lynn, I love the way you work a metaphor!!! xo

      Reply
      • Lynn D. Morrissey says

        July 17, 2018 at 8:46 am

        Oh yay! You’re here! Truly, your words so bless and minister to my heart. Oh my, melisma! One of my all-time favorite words, albeit easier to say than sing. 🙂 Once I latch onto a word, I’m prone to overuse it. So you may see melisma a lot in print from me (and you don’t want to hear one from me, unless I’m fully awake and warmed up)! Yes, yes, you so get it: The world needs Bach. I think I will share your quote w/ our board. It was a rough meeting, a soul-searching kind. But we are going in a good, if difficult direction, and bottomline: We know that this is God’s chorus, and always has been. I know you love to sing and know that music is God’s special gift to mankind. Yes, we do sing words in our group (in German no less), but the music transports souls to places words never can. I need to stop talking your arm off here, and stop all my verbosity. Now there’s a great word, and one I demonstrate so well (ask my poor husband!!) 🙂 Love you dear and beautiful Laurie!
        xoxo
        Lynn

        Reply
        • Laurie Klein says

          July 17, 2018 at 10:48 am

          “the music transports us to places the words never can.” How deeply, widely, thoroughly true. Love you right back, my eloquent-rather-than-verbose friend. 🙂

          Reply
  8. Larry says

    July 16, 2018 at 10:38 am

    For every friend i have lost to cancer and other illnesses this year , i find hope in the birth of friends children, and in my Grandchildren ,even in the new brood of local mallards i saw yesterday morning by the river. New life in whatever form. Balances my scale

    Reply
    • Laurie Klein says

      July 16, 2018 at 12:23 pm

      Larry, feeling my eyes fill up as I read this—especially since I just viewed your photos of your grandson and the ducklings this morning. So vivid and tender and heartening! Thank you.

      Reply
  9. Diane says

    July 16, 2018 at 9:26 am

    A quote by Helen Keller that I tucked away some time ago comes to mind: Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.

    Reply
    • Laurie Klein says

      July 16, 2018 at 12:19 pm

      That is beautiful, Diane, and considering the source, all the more poignant. Thanks for adding to the Hope List!

      Reply
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