That's the Spirit!

      Twice today, rainy day that it is, I have been greeted with "Nasty day, isn't it?" To which I responded the first time as I flung my arms wide as though to receive the rain with joy, to accept it for the blessing that it is, "It's a wonderful day, and I am thankful to have lived long enough to see it!"  The interrogator smiled and said, "Have a great day!"  That's the spirit.

     The second time I encountered the question I responded in the same manner. I was not well-received. The woman said to me, "Look at you. All wet, that's what you are." Perhaps she is right. I may be all wet, but I am enjoying this day that the Lord has allowed me to have in my life collection. 

     When I was a lad growing up in Colorado, a funeral home in Denver had this little aphorism printed at the bottom of its advertising, "Into each life some rain must fall." I have remembered that for eight decades. The meaning of this little gem may well be subject to interpretation. We know that rainfall is essential to life, that without it none of us would be here. So, perhaps the advertiser sees their words as encouragement to those bereft of a loved one. Yes, there will be rainy days, but life goes on. 

     I try in my own way to see each day as a blessing, some with rain, some with wind, or snow, some with sunshine and gentle breezes. (Snow is the hardest one for me to get excited about, but then I reflect that even on the coldest, sharpest, wintry day I have been blessed with shelter from the storm and, God willing, there will be another day tomorrow. And someone out there lives for the snow!)  The weather does not make our days; we make our days. Each day will present its challenges. The spirit and attitude with which we face the day will determine the level of joy or the depths of disappointment we may derive from it.

     "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." --Proverbs 17:22 ESV