There are plenty of down moments in these lives we are living. There are bills to pay, family troubles to obsess about, a divisive political climate to put up with, the certainty of death and taxes, and the fact that no matter which line you enter at the grocery store, you will choose the wrong one seven out of eight times.
Negativity is easy. It’s something we humans specialize in.
But positivity is possible, and there are people around to show us.
My friend Vella is one of those people. She’s a member of my church and Sunday school class. She acts like she can’t figure out why everyone is so darn depressed. You get the feeling that Vella has trouble focusing on the gray clouds in life because she’s blinded by their sparkly silver linings.
On a Sunday morning not so long ago, she described her behavior on a Walmart parking lot the week before.
As she headed out to the car to unload her groceries, her attention was drawn to the sky, where a blazing sunset was painting brilliant colors across the firmament. It seemed to Vella that no one else was paying attention. Heads down, intent on the tasks at hand, people were plodding to their vehicles, one dreary step in front of the other.
Vella said she couldn’t take it. She hollered out – “Look up! Look up! It’s beautiful and you’re missing it! You’re missing it!”
It’s pretty easy to imagine that many on that parking lot were wondering if they needed to call 911 about the loonytunes woman who might need to be carted away. But I like to think some did look up, basked for a moment in the beauty of God’s world and felt better for it.
I get discouraged sometimes about the divide in our nation in year 2017. People seem so stratified into mindsets, so inclined to call names and assign labels.
Can we agree on anything these days?
I tried to come up with a list of core American beliefs and ran into trouble immediately. There’s contention about education, how to fight terrorism, the economy and trade issues, the press, world relations, immigration, health care, abortion, the climate, which lives matter, on and on.
For every position a person takes, there’s a corresponding, “Yeah, but,” and
you can just about count on a raised voice, no matter which side is doing the talking. The divisiveness seems unprecedented in our country’s history.
But, of course, that’s not really the case. Go all the way back to the birth of our nation, when our founding fathers argued viciously while they hammered out the blueprint for federal government. The Civil War was a textbook example of unchecked extremism and horrific consequences. In more modern times there were so many issues that rocked our foundation– Vietnam, the civil rights movement, assassinations, Watergate, Sept. 11.
America came through it all.
And when you peel it back, you realize that Americans actually do agree on what we want – well-educated children, goodpaying jobs, protection of the freedoms outlined in the Constitution, safety and security. It’s when we start talking about how to achieve these goals that we suit up
and jump into the Sea of Negativity.
Maybe we could all try a little harder for civil discourse. Maybe we could think a little differently, and try to pull together instead of apart. Sounds like impossible-to-achieve platitudes, especially from someone who is paid to analyze government and often criticizes its performance? Acknowledged.
But Vella has something to say about impossible things, too.
Her daughter and son-in-law have been married for 18 years and tried to have a baby for nearly all that time, while Vella and her husband, Dale, kept hoping for a grandchild. The young couple went through all their medical options and couldn’t make adoption work, either. They grew older and
it seemed the hope had to die.
Baby Brianna Lilli, Vella’s first grandchild, was born five months ago.
“All those years, the door was closed,” Vella said. “But God sent a miracle, in his time. She’s such a special baby. My daughter thinks they had to wait for this particular baby at this particular time.”
There’s plenty wrong with this world, and there always will be. We have to talk about it and try to fix it. But wouldn’t it be great if we could do it in a way that doesn’t damage America’s soul, and if we would try to notice and savor the joyous moments, like that sunset Vella was so wild about?
We wouldn’t want to miss it.
