The hallmark of any bubble is its fragility which usually leads to its immediate demise, although some last slightly longer. Watching a child’s joy in chasing a big bubble across the yard and reaching it just as it POPS yields gaggles of giggles all around.
A reflection by Christina Brennan Lee for September 13, 2026.
Recently as I squeezed the bottle of dishwashing liquid into water in a sticky bowl, some little bubbles floated up and, as expected, popped quickly as they rose. After washing the dishes and putting them in the drainer, I turned to use the hand towel I have hanging on the refrigerator door handle. When I looked up I noticed this little bubble sitting on a pot holder that I keep on a magnetic shelf on the side of the fridge. I found myself watching it, expecting it to disappear at any moment. I was amazed as it simply sat lightly on the cover of the pot holder. I began to wonder if I could get my phone from the den and get back in time to get a picture of it? It was silly I thought, why do I want a picture, and anyway I was certain I couldn’t possibly make it. And yet as I continued to watch and wonder, I finally thought: nothing ventured … and unbelievably I returned in time. At least a full 5 minutes had elapsed since my first view. After taking a picture, while wondering why I was doing so, I turned for a nanosecond to put my phone on the counter and when I looked again the bubble was gone ~ it had “mist-appeared” as my now adult granddaughter would have said with grand arm gestures, just a short while of about 15 years ago. Interestingly, perhaps even strangely, I started to ponder the life journey of a tiny bubble and suddenly the thought moved to one of a tiny embryo that grows into a noisy newborn, a toddler, a child, one of those teenager-things, and beyond….
Through our toils, our troubles [received and given], through our lows and highs, some days we bubble and some days we pop during the length of time we’ve been given to live. Obviously, some of us have life-bubbles that last longer than others and we all have different ways to cope and celebrate in our days. For those of us with a reasonably solid faith tradition, we have been given formal rituals to guide us through the most difficult times as well as the happiest. Some of us have developed additional ways to make our way in dark moments and thanksgivings for those beaming rays of joy. We who are pray-ers, use our own words as well as the more formal ways of memorized prayers. Prayer and Liturgy are how many of us gather the spiritual sustenance to take us through the ups and downs in the everyday and the extraordinary happenings of this life. Some turn to the Bible for comfort, advice, and a sense of God’s Presence through various Hebrew Testament books such as the Psalms, some of the prophets, and some turn to Paul’s Letters, the Gospels, and the Acts of the Apostles for soul, heart, and mind nourishment. We want to remind ourselves of the constant Presence of Jesus, the direction of the Apostles after his death, and looking for ways to fill ourselves with the Holy Spirit, our Source of Wisdom, Comfort, and soul energy.
This bubble encounter seems to have been, strange as it seems, a spiritual moment for me as it took me down paths to refresh my conscious awareness of the natural and human life that surrounds me beyond my occasional self-imposed barriers. The world of our Trinity ~ Creator, Redeemer, Sanctifier ~ has always held deep meaning for me and this little bubble opened a new fascination for my continuing exploration into what is Spiritual and under that canopy, what is Spirituality? I will continue to seek more. What and when are spiritual bubbles that rise up for you? Let’s talk….
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Every week, Christina Brennan Lee writes the Prayers of the People we use in our worship services on Sundays. She also leads weekday prayer services and serves on the SsAM Vestry. Click here to see her People’s Prayers website.
