Life...It All Depends...

With all that goes wrong in this world, sometimes there are times and events and things that happen that give one a renewed sense of hope.  I have to believe that God in His mercy provides, at times, glimpses of the good, the honorable, the decent, and the right for us so we will indeed not become “weary in well-doing.”

We talk a lot, and I am guilty as well, of those things in life and this world that are not good, not honorable, not decent, and not right.  And we need to not only talk about those things, but work under the strength and provision of God to make changes when and where we can.  We won’t make this world a paradise…it just won’t happen.  But we can make it a better place to live, and we can give others a glimpse of the beauty and glory that is God’s.

I’ve just spent several minutes watching some videos on YouTube.  Yes, I know, there are all kinds of nutty, and even bad things on there.  But there are also some really, really good things too.  I watched the 1,000 voice Kentucky All State Choir sing the National Anthem in the 18 story high atrium of the Louisville Hyatt at 11:00pm, as they do every night they are there.  Hauntingly beautiful, heartfelt, and soulful it is.  Check out the 2013 version here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAEmpdSHC10

And regardless of what you might think of Wynona Judd or Bette Midler, you have to agree that The Rose, and this rendition of it, is one of the most powerful you’ve ever seen.  The words to that song should be, I think, memorized and sung by EVERYONE at least daily.  You can find that performance here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5q0KmjU0Qk

Then there are the various videos that record performances by such as Peter, Paul, and Mary, the Carpenters, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and others, depending on your age and your preferences.  Many of these performances are top-notch and bring back fond memories and a sense of well-being that is sometimes difficult to capture in life.

Whether these performers know it or not, they are displaying the creative glory that is God’s, and they are performing a real service to those of us who need to be lifted up from time to time.

Additionally, and separate from any YouTube stuff, we have the unique opportunity to surround ourselves with those friends and acquaintances who exemplify the best of humanity.  These people unselfishly serve, give, mentor, coach, discipline, train, protect, and a host of other things in their daily lives.  And they encourage others to do so as well.  I am blessed to be able to count as friends several of these folks who, daily, get up and get going in their day to make life a little better for someone else they probably don’t know.

Life is sometimes a grind.  Life is sometimes unfair.  Life is sometimes unkind.  Life is sometimes just the pits.  But I think life can be, and truly is, what we make it.  We can choose to see the dirt and the filth, or we can choose the beauty and the good.  Whatever we choose, it WILL affect our world view and how we see and react to life and living.

It all depends on what you want.

The Fall Garden

If I’m going to do it, I had better get it done soon.  What’s that?  My fall patio garden, that’s what.  I’m about 10 days past what I think is the ideal time to start a fall garden, but I’m hoping that if I can get it going today, I can still have some fall spinach, radish, and other assorted crops that I grow in my bag of Miracle Gro.

I don’t know why I’ve been putting it off so.  I enjoy doing it.  It’s just, I guess, that I haven’t had the opportunity to go by and get a bag of soil and seed.  But that should change today as I will whiz right by the garden center on my way to/from an appointment that I need to keep.  Now, if I can only remember to stop…

Do you catch yourself forgetting things that you really want to remember?  Or do you find yourself writing more notes to yourself or putting more things on your reminder phone calendar?  As you get older, are you finding it more difficult to remember where you’ve put something?  “It will be in the last place that you look, dear.”

Something seems to happen to our “rememberers” as we age.  They just don’t work quite as well, apparently, unless we’re trying to recall something that happened 40 years ago.  Then they work quite well.  It’s almost as if they want to go back to the past and live there when the body that they’re in is definitely living in the present.

I think, though, that having those kinds of issues with memory as we age is a blessing compared with those who suffer the effects of dementia of some kind.  There is something organic…something basic that causes some of us to pretty much not be there anymore.  Folks with dementia present in different ways, but the end result is often the same.  Dementia is one of the most hideous ailments known because it takes away the personhood of the individual and replaces it with a body that has no apparent soul.

On a spiritual level, I haven’t a clue whether the person is “still there” or not in cases of severe dementia.  No one has ever been cured of the illness to be able to tell us what happens during the period of dementia.  Do we perceive, but cannot respond appropriately?  Do we not perceive anything?  Is there any logical functional process during this time?  Or are we “not there,” as it seems to those on the outside?  No one knows.

So while I’m flustered by not being able to remember where I put those keys, I am grateful that at least for now, I have the “normal” forgetfulness of aging and not the beginnings of dementia.  That may come later…who knows.  Until then, I’ll do my best to remember to stop at the garden center to pick up my bag of soil and see if they have any seed packets left so I can get in that fall garden this year.

Revel In His Majesty

This time of the year, I like to go out and see what is flying around the flower beds and other flora in the yard.  We don’t have a lot of that kind of thing.  We have a small, mixed annual flower bed in the front, some rose bushes, a fish pond with some assorted plant life growing around it, and a few bushes that flower.  But the wildlife that comes around seems rather amazing to me.

I’ve seen several kinds of butter lies and also dragonflies.  I don’t know much about either species.  I just know they are beautiful to look at and can do some amazing acrobatics as they flit from flower to flower and plant to plant.  Nor do I know where they come from.  Maybe they come from the park behind our place.  Maybe they fly in from the neighbors.  Or maybe they are migrating somehow from one place to another far, far away.  I just don’t know.

What I do know is that there is an incredible diversity in animal life, whether butterflies or mammals or bacteria.  I know that each has a place in the ecosystem, and each has a job to do.  And I know that each was placed where it was by Someone who knew what he was doing when he designed things many eons ago.

You might try going out into your yard one day and just look around to see what you can see.  How many different kinds of grass and weeds are growing in your yard?  What do you see flying around?  Turn over a rock and see what’s under it.  Dig a shovel of dirt and look through it.  How many colors of flowers do you see?  What about those things that are flying around your porch light at night?  How many different kinds of them are there?  Do you see any spiders?  Toads?  Lizards?  Snakes?  They’re there…if you look.

Find some niche places in your yard and plant some things that attract butterflies, birds, insects, or other animal life.  The area doesn’t have to be large; nor does it have to be intensively cultivated, fertilized, etc.  Plant some milkweed and watch for the monarchs as they migrate. Plant some butterfly bushes, trumpet vines, or other eye-catching flora.

Set out a hummingbird feeder.  Feed the other birds in the winter when food is scarce.  You’ll see cardinals, juncos, and other winter birds flock to the feeder.  Buy a good bird identification guide and use it.  If you’re a photographer, get a camera with a long zoom and maybe an inexpensive tripod and take photos.  Use a free program on your PC or tablet to fix and enhance those photos, including cropping.  You can get some marvelous shots that way.

But above all, find some way to enjoy God’s creative glory.  Whatever you do and however you do it, revel in the majesty that is His for us to enjoy.