Big Bird, a Jewish Rabbi & crappy days.
Do you ever feel like Big Bird? "Sunny days, wishing the clouds away."
I want every day in my life to be a Big Bird Day. I want to be happy and have everything go smoothly. If I leave late, I want to be able to arrive five minutes early. I want my every single day of my life to be sunny and 75 degrees. I want to soak up the sun of life. How 'bout you?
The reality is that some days it is going to rain.
Some weeks the weather of life is going to be terrible.
Some days the weather of life is just going to suck.
How's the weather in your life today?
Can I remember that this too shall pass? The storms pass and the clouds eventually blow over. The sun even shines in Seattle, and when it does it is beautiful. The same is with life. Regardless of what I am going through this very day- good or bad- it will pass. This too shall pass.
There are 365 days in a year. If it storms for 65 of those days, I am still left with 300 decent daysÂ… if out of those 300 days, fifty are cloudy, that leaves me with 250 days of sunshine. I have to remind myself when I am down, that this will pass.
I can only live one day at a time. Today.
A famous Jewish rabbi and friend of mine is noted as saying:
"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers--most of which are never even seen--don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met."Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes."
Just for today. I can live through this day only. I can do something for 12 hours that would appall me if I felt like I had to keep it up for a lifetime.
This too shall pass.
6 Comments:
I needed this reminder today! Thanks.
Did you know that the first Matrix was designed to be a perfect human world? Where none suffered, where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program. Entire crops were lost. Some believed we lacked the programming language to describe your perfect world. But I believe that, as a species, human beings define their reality through suffering and misery. The perfect world was a dream that your primitive cerebrum kept trying to wake up from. Which is why the Matrix was redesigned to this: the peak of your civilization.I think that without the clouds, we'd never notice the sun.
It's super easy for me to slip on this poor me stuff, but I find it pretty hard when I consider the 2 broken hands that lifted 7 wounds and fought to stand to keep the lungs from caving...and he had me on His mind. Nothing like the illuminesence that the Light of the World brings, hunh?
I still don't believe that the sun ever shines in Seattle...
" What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving."
Rick, I like that line very much. That would do as my 100% RDA of inspiration for the day. Thank you very much! God bless you.
have you ever thought of putting some of your blogs (maybe the ones which receive the most comments) into a devotional book? one that folks might give as gifts to others, or just pick up for their own reading?
the Lord really has given you some insightful thoughts that have touched a cord in many believers (judging by the comments) . . . i know you have been used to cheer me along the way when i am having a dismal day . . .
keep typing and posting, it is much appreciated . . . s
Thanks for the quote from the rabbi - the problem (I believe) is that we are too prideful and ego-centeric. For those two reasons too many people have turned away from God. Afterall, it is MUCH easier to set our own values and live by them (with the ability to change them at our whim) rather than accept absolutes set forth by a power that we can't concieve.
There are times, when life seems to overwhelm us. I've always felt that I could stand up to most anything. However a little over a year ago I was ready to give this life up. It was as close, in my lifetime, as I've ever come to seriously considering suicide. God is there for us, but it does take our accepting this. Even when everything looks blackest to us, he is there. Even when there seems to be no hope and no use to keep stumbling forward - he is there for us, cheering us on to keep going.
Thanks again for those words, I liked them.
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