Seasons change... eventually. Spring gives way to Summer which surrenders to Fall that descends into Winter only to resurrect into Spring. I think that's why I love living where I do - we experience every season in its fullest. It's a stark contrast to where I used to live in Florida which has only two seasons - hot and hotter. No, thank you. I'll take a taste of every season if only to make me appreciate the season before or the season coming all the more.
I've given up complaining about the seasons and the weather. Be it hot or cold or the unpredictable days when you need a snow boots in the morning and sandals by the afternoon, the weather is just the weather. It's not my fault nor my responsibility. I can't change it by prayer, nor hocus pocus and certainly not by whining about it. I don't find it a terribly valuable topic of discussion unless I'm planning something outdoors. Weather is just the scenery of a life. It's a non-negotiable part of every day, and I can't believe I've already talked this much about it! It's just the weather! I find a much more suitable attitude to be that of our Jewish friends, zeh mah she-yesh: this is what is; or in our common vernacular it is what it is.
As resolved as I am to live in whatever climate I'm given, I'm often unable to find that same mindset about the seasons of life. I fight them. Life just isn't fair. It's not right. This shouldn't happen. I did everything right, so why is everything so wrong?! These are questions at the core of the suffering conundrum. Questions come naturally. Acceptance... far less easily.
But isn't that where we have to start? Accepting what is? Like the map of a shopping mall that shows you where the Vera Bradley Outlet is and how far or near you are to brightly-colored bliss, we must first find ourselves on the map. "You are Here" is the point of reference for every other place you want to be. And accepting where you are, voicing the 'this is what is", is not resigning ourselves to our plight. It is simply a vital reference point.
Surviving our downturns and painful seasons start with this - finding where we are on the map, admitting and accepting the circumstance in which we find ourselves. The Psalms are a textbook for this. There is no sugar-coating some of the angst and anger and depression in those verses is there? Those songs are raw and real and they are a glory to God. Did you know in the first Testament one way of charging someone to be honest with you was to tell them to "give glory to God"? (Joshua 7:19)
So go ahead... give glory to God. Tell Him where you are. Your "You are Here" could be something like this...
This is what is.
You are Here
Now we can get somewhere.
I've given up complaining about the seasons and the weather. Be it hot or cold or the unpredictable days when you need a snow boots in the morning and sandals by the afternoon, the weather is just the weather. It's not my fault nor my responsibility. I can't change it by prayer, nor hocus pocus and certainly not by whining about it. I don't find it a terribly valuable topic of discussion unless I'm planning something outdoors. Weather is just the scenery of a life. It's a non-negotiable part of every day, and I can't believe I've already talked this much about it! It's just the weather! I find a much more suitable attitude to be that of our Jewish friends, zeh mah she-yesh: this is what is; or in our common vernacular it is what it is.
As resolved as I am to live in whatever climate I'm given, I'm often unable to find that same mindset about the seasons of life. I fight them. Life just isn't fair. It's not right. This shouldn't happen. I did everything right, so why is everything so wrong?! These are questions at the core of the suffering conundrum. Questions come naturally. Acceptance... far less easily.
But isn't that where we have to start? Accepting what is? Like the map of a shopping mall that shows you where the Vera Bradley Outlet is and how far or near you are to brightly-colored bliss, we must first find ourselves on the map. "You are Here" is the point of reference for every other place you want to be. And accepting where you are, voicing the 'this is what is", is not resigning ourselves to our plight. It is simply a vital reference point.
Surviving our downturns and painful seasons start with this - finding where we are on the map, admitting and accepting the circumstance in which we find ourselves. The Psalms are a textbook for this. There is no sugar-coating some of the angst and anger and depression in those verses is there? Those songs are raw and real and they are a glory to God. Did you know in the first Testament one way of charging someone to be honest with you was to tell them to "give glory to God"? (Joshua 7:19)
- I'm in a loveless marriage.
- I have a terminal illness.
- I'm alone and I'm lonely.
- My heart is broken.
- I'm afraid of losing everything.
- I never got to say goodbye.
- I feel like a failure.
This is what is.
You are Here
Now we can get somewhere.
(This series is based on an article from My Jewish Learning. Click the link for the full article.)