Look for the Silver Lining

LOOK FOR THE SILVER LINING

The song goes, "Look for the silver lining whenever clouds appear in the blue; remember somewhere the sun is shining, so the right thing to do is make it shine for you..."

But what if  tsunami  clouds, some ominous but rarely benign, have invaded your peace?  Sometimes, I find it hard to look  past my clouds to the vitamin D-enriched sun.   Where is the peace I subconsciously crave and often pray for? Do I feel there's a way to turn back the hands of time to my life before the grievous loss that shattered everything dear to me? What happens when  positive "self-talk" doesn't work? When well-meaning friends can't console? When the search for the "Balm in Gilead" appears to be a mirage, a dry splotch on the highway? What, then?

What if I'm stymied by lyrics that promise, "Remember somewhere the sun is shining, so the right things to do is make it shine for you. .." .but may try as I might, I do not know what the right thing"  to do is, because it certainly seems to be beyond my reach, much less my grasp? Well, while it may sound cliche-ish, I've learned to "count my blessings, name them one by one.  Count my blessings; see what God has done. " I use to disregard that advice from my Mother as "old fashioned" or as something that didn't, wouldn't, or couldn't work.

After all, what did she know?  All she did was to stay at home.  Admittedly (if grudgingly sometimes), she cooked bowls of Old Fashioned Quaker oatmeal with brown sugar and oven-browned toast every fall and winter morning for breakfast before we went to school.  Yes, and we always had a stick-to-your-ribs dinner, and for Sunday dinners, fried chicken, smothered cabbage, okra, corn bread, and jello with peaches.  Or that she washed, ironed, and folded our clothes. Or served as a bus monitor on field trips.  Or attended school awards ceremonies, smiling proudly and clapping enthusiastically.  Or a dozen other Or's." What did she know about real life?

My problems were real and current. How do I get over this painful shyness that haunts me? Why do the eighth-grade boys never asked me to dance at school-chaperoned events? Why couldn't I have the pleated skirt and white blouse with the Peter Pan collar and Penny-loafer shoes outfit to inaugurate the September back-to-school opening. Why do I have to go to Sunday School (where Daddy was Superintendent) and  then stay for Eleven O'Clock Service? Why can't I wear makeup until I graduate from high school graduate? What was so magical about graduating? Why couldn't I go to the "Dime Store"  buy a Tangee-Orange lipstick and Nut-brown pancake makeup? Why did I always have more questions than answer for so many things?

Well, I still have more questions than answers, but what I've come to understand is that while my glass may appear to be half-empty, it's always overflowing.  Depends on my perspective. And choice.  It's always what I choose, which depends on my perspective.  The glass is whatever I choose it to be! And, why limit it to just a glass? What if it's a Number 2 tub, (You know, the one your kinfolks used to take baths on Saturday night)? Kenny Rogers sings,  "You have to know when to hold them, know when to fold them.  Know when to walk away. Know when to run..."  Things aren't always pitch-black.  Nor are they ever snow white.  It's the nuances, the shades of gray and cream colors that reveal.  Quincy Jones tells us in song that "Every thing must change.  Nothing stays the same.  That's the way of time, and nothing goes unchanged..."

Ask the Holy Spirit.  The One Jesus promised to send to to the world after He ascended into Heaven. "However, when He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth; For He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears  He will speak: and He will tell you things to come." (john 16: 13).  He will help you count your blessings by bringing to your memory the good times  in your life,,and teach you how not to embrace the false images that bombard you  Yes, it's easier to dwell in the negatives, because we know how those things turned out. When we do that, we're living,  re-living, and enlarging  what's already happened.  AND making them stronger and bigger in our present lives, our Today. It's a choice.

 "A heart full of joy and gladness will always banish sadness and strife.  So always look for the silver lining and you will find the brighter side of life!"is how the song ends."  It's also a new beginning.