About fifty years ago, a song made popular by the Carpenters went something like this: What I've got they used to call the blues Nothin' is really wrong………… Rainy days and Mondays always get me down Many will admit to being affected by days of rain and clouds and there are studies that show the lack of “light” really will affect our moods plus kick up our level of anxiety. When that SUN pops out after the storm, so many find their smiles again, take walks, and generally feel so much better in the LIGHT. I admit that I don’t understand the logistics of how humans came to be. Through faith, I believe in the Bible that tells us that God breathed His own life into humans after He created us. I know that we are basic plus, not just animals. I got it: God made us to reflect His image. And, we are prone to a myriad of frailties, emotionally, physical, psychologically, every which way including up. Emotions are part of who/what we are. God gave us these emotions but we are to channel these in the right way.
Dark clouds really can shake us up. Rainy days and the drudgery of Mondays in jobs that are not, well, exciting or rewarding every day get us “down” in the dumps. Or, maybe, there is no job on Monday. Dark days can bring dark moods with hope clouded over. Dangers loom with increasing frequency and intensity these days through thunderstorms, pandemics, presidential elections, job insecurities, disharmony in the family, and uncertainty about our futures, today and our tomorrows. While we understand why we feel what we feel on days when it is raining cats and dogs, concerns about when someone will find enough value in our skill sets to trust us with a job, whether we should manage the uncertainty of sending our kids to school during a pandemic and the flip side of trying to teach them in virtual classrooms and a set of presidential candidates saying our country as we know will collapse immediately if their opponent wins…….STOP! Rainy days and Mondays always get me down. Anyone who has every shelled enough peas to cook a pot for dinner knows that every single pea has to be removed from the pea pod. One at a time, we begin to shell one by one to get a full bowl of peas. And, we might peel potatoes; slice and dice carrots, tomatoes, squash and broccoli. We might also roast some beef or chicken or pork loin. Pretty soon, we are feeling a lot better just from the doing. We are preparing a feast (or at least a dinner) for our family. One little bit or one pea at a time, we see the light and we feel a more positive. Fact: times are hard right now. There is something we should consider and something for which we have to accept responsibility in hard times. I will be the first to admit that sometimes I find it a hard to pill to swallow that “I” am responsible for “rainy days…” getting me down. So, here are some truths regarding fat ugly pills: I can choose to focus on the light that God has provided. I can choose to be thankful for that bowl of peas (even if that is all I have). I can choose to accept change as a reality even if I hate the change. I can choose to make new to-do lists on ways to achieve a means of living bountifully and take one step at a time to check each off the list, no matter how big the list. I can be thankful for the peas and move on, one step at a time. It’s not all about me. It’s not all about you. Key word here: ALL. It is some about me and some about you and some about everybody else. We are each valued equally in God’s eyes even if we have very different skills, intellect, talents and shelters (houses and cars). Regardless of WHOMEVER we are, we have equal value even on rainy days and Mondays. John 3:16** 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
We are also supposed to live bountiful lives one pea at a time. Read Genesis. Maybe wrapping up in an afghan on a dark day for a short spell is a comfort we need so that we can then get up and turn to the Bible for light. One peas at a time, we can shell the peas, fill the bowl and take one step toward adjusting and dealing with the dark days. God can help us to get the light turned back on no matter how dark it is around us. John 1:3-5**Everything was created through him; nothing—not one thing!— came into being without him. What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by. The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out. 2 Corinthians 4:5-6**Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful. 2 Peter 1:19-21**[The WORD is].. the one light you have in a dark time as you wait for daybreak and the rising of the Morning Star in your hearts. 1 John 1:5**This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there’s not a trace of darkness in him.