It is God’s will that we do all in our power to keep
ourselves strong, for happiness is everlasting and pain is passing and will
end.
Julian
of Norwich
For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for
an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure,
Paul
(2 Corinthians 4:17)
________________________________________
they come to me at night
they sneak, unbidden, into my mind during the day
those ruminations
about what has been
what is
and what might be
it is so easy to dwell on the bad news
on the traumas of life
on that moment when you made a decision that would alter
the trajectory of your life
that moment when planes crashed into the twin towers
that moment when hate won an election
it is important to face such moments
for while “not everything faced can be changed,
nothing can be changed until it is faced” (James Baldwin)
we must face systematic racism
we must face a looming nationalism
we must face the pandemic
we must face our own flaws and failures
but to make the bad news the focus of our lives
will wound us
cripple us
there are lessons to be learned from “the bad”
lessons about God
lessons about ourselves
but to ruminate on ill
to turn it over and over in our heads
until it dominates and controls
is to let it define us
we must face the bad
we must pick it up, examine it, prod it
and then we must lay it down
and find what is good
and pick it up, examine it, prod it
embrace it
ah there is it
that fawn, teetering across the pasture
those two calves, cavorting and flirting with Finn the
dog
the sun, peeking out above the Seven Devils
the smell of lilacs
the intrusive affection of a cat
it is the good that gives us strength
God in creation
God in us
all the good gifts of heaven
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