Just look on the bright side of life.

I’ve heard that admonition all my life. I suppose that was the mantra before we were all encouraged to have a ‘half-full’ instead of a ‘half-empty’ mindset. I thought I might tip toe around these profundities on this Wednesday morning, February 11, 2009. A fellow I know used to say that if you are flying in an airplane through stormy weather it’s always nice and clear somewhere up in the atmosphere. Yet, we know from the recent heroic landing of a huge jetliner into the Hudson river that getting the plane into that clear space can be difficult when a flock of birds show up. One account I read said everyone in the cabin became a prayer warrior before they hit the water. I guess that would be a great example of ‘just in time’ religion and it was certainly warranted as far as I can tell. Many come away from that type of experience with a ‘why was I spared?’ attitude that most likely will lead them to ponder life with a renewed focus on seeing a fulfillment of their purpose. I’ve had a few of those near misses in my life and it is sobering when you try to make sense out of what it means as you make your way forward.

That mortality thing is at work whether we experience a seemingly miraculous survival or just go about our business each day. I’ve mentioned before about a preserved prayer of Moses found in Israel’s official songbook, The Psalms. In the 90th division, verse 12, Moses is recorded as a recommendation to those who would read his pleading to God: “So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.” (New American Standard Version) That inspired text came from a man who knew what it meant to live a full life and one filled with many near misses, challenges, and seemingly impossible assignments. Looking on the bright side Moses would say is doing what Solomon gave as his conclusion to the finding meaning in this perplexing life: “…fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.” (NASB) Wow! You don’t get to where you need to go by coming up with a slogan approach to life, you get there by recognizing God and living out your life based on that recognition.

One of the things I noticed in the instances where I appeared to have ‘dodged a bullet’ as they say is how temporary those feelings of intense concern about life and its purpose seemed to be. I was really going to make some changes because of what had happened. I was going to make sure that from that point forward things would really be different. And, they were. I most likely even made some very loud promises to God and to those near and dear to me BUT soon the busyness of life and the screams of the urgent drowned out those now whispering recollections of that fervor once so dominant and strong. Yeah, that’s the human condition and we all know what it’s like to suffer from the human condition. What Moses wanted us to know after all he went through, and what Solomon concluded after years of study, experimentation, and searching was simply to live life before God with Him and His ways as our pursuit. I close with a prayer that each of us will be able, with His help, to follow the lead of Moses and Solomon in looking on the bright side of life! Amen. ……More later.