Hi everyone,
So I’m feeling a bit off today. Not really in a physical way, but I seem to be really distracted (like more than usual). Maybe it’s because I’ve been having this pain in my shoulder for like two and a half weeks now. Maybe it’s because our kitchen faucet isn’t working properly and I just spent the last hour and a half trying to fix it to no avail. Or maybe it’s just because it looks really nice outside and I’d like to go out but I might of missed that window of optimal “going out” time.
With all that going on, it’s easy for me to be down about my situation and think that life sucks. It’s easy for me to be angry and think that nothing ever goes my way. It’s easy for me to point my finger and blame others for my so called plight.
It’s easy to do all that, so I have to remind myself not to. I have to intentionally tell myself to see how things aren’t that bad. Shoulder hurts? At least I have a working arm. Faucet not working properly? We still have clean, running water. Can’t go out? I have that option to do so again.
As I’ve said before in various different contexts: Life is good.
It can throw some serious curveballs at us, like I mean more serious than not having the chance to go outside, but life remains good. That can sometimes be really hard to believe, but we can intentionally hold onto the fact that we’ve seen better times than what we’re in now, and that we will see good times again.
Here are the readings for next week:
Acts 3:12-19
Psalm 4
1 John 3:1-7
Luke 24:36b-48
I admit that my problems seem minuscule compared to the disciples. I might be having an off day and this pain in my shoulder is really irritating, but I’m not fearing for my life or anything like that. Nor did I just watch my mentor and teacher die while I just stood there helpless. Nor did I have a ghost show up scaring the living daylights out of me. So already life is a lot better for me than for them.
But that ghost of course turns out to be Jesus, but that doesn’t sound like any comfort to the disciples at all. Not at first, anyway. They were happy to see him, to be sure, but they still weren’t completely convinced. Even after this ghost ate what sounds like a delicious fish in front of them, they still sound a bit skeptical.
In their fear, in their doubts, in their “bad-day-ness”, it probably would have been easier to just dismiss this strange entity in front of them. It probably would have been easy to deny what was happening and claim PTSD or something. It probably would have been easier to stay doubtful and chalk this experience up to a psychotic episode of some kind.
But instead, Jesus opened up the scriptures to them. He helped them understand. He opened their eyes to be witnesses of God’s love and mercy, and so they could collectively come to the conclusion:
Life is good.
Thanks be to God! Have a great week!
Photo by dominik reallife on Unsplash