The Challenge is to be Hopeful

If you came here looking for a fight, keep rolling. I am so tired of the fights on the internet and am equally tired of the carefully crafted posts and meme’s designed to prove someone’s opinion, even if that opinion is supported only by carefully-selected portions of the truth  I’d like to talk about hope for a bit, so have the courage to be kind and able to compromise for a bit. You can always go back to being an uncompromising, social-media warrior after you get done here.

During the shutdown of traditional public gathering places, we have watched church on the television. When we first began watching, there was just the pastor and camera operator-maybe someone to add pre-recorded music. As restrictions were eased, people began showing up. There were just a few at first, but the congregation began to grow. The growth of attendance to me is like a barometer of the courage of the people. It is also a clear demonstration of how important it is for us to be near God.

We are like little kids in that we are so bold until we get a little scared and then we want a parent to be near. Maybe this little scare is a good reminder that we are not kings on this planet but only servants to  God.

We are given a beautiful world, skills and abundance but this is a savings account, not a drawdown account. If we are not busily adding to this world and only find ourselves making withdrawals-then we are doing it wrong. Maybe, the slow return to the church is a metaphor for our return to the basics of life. It’s a good lesson that show how a person should value those things that don’t require monthly payments and are infinitely more rewarding.  I don’t know if the lesson is worth the loss however if there is no lesson then all there will be is loss.

I always remind myself that in adversity lies opportunity. In this case, the opportunity is to grow your own character. I’ve always noticed that the harder I try when things are tough, the better they go when things get better. It’s almost like adversity is a slingshot and the harder you pull against it, the further you’ll go when it finally releases. It’s similar to some martial arts that take an opponent’s energy and redirect it in the way most beneficial to the fighter-it’s kind of “character Kung-Fu.”

There is energy out there right now, although it is negative. The only way to productively use this energy is to understand why it is negative and fix it. I guess this is the point at which I should reveal the big secret to make that change however it’s different for every situation. Unraveling the problem is your challenge-and your hope-for the future.   And we all need hope.

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