One of the most joyous and jovial men I know is deaf and blind, and one thing he certainly doesn’t do is sulk or bemoan his lot. He also has a profound faith in the God of Jesus. This is for you Cyril…
There are times when life knocks you flat,
And then it kicks you when you’re down.
Are we then to live in fear, our faces set
In a constant and debilitating frown?
Life deals some folk a dismal deck, and
Misfortunes queue behind misfortune.
And for those of us who bask in sunlight,
Dark clouds can scud most inopportune.
Was man made to mourn? The butt of
Sadistic gods desperate for more sport?
Or is life intrinsically cruel, with nature
Quick to spawn, and quicker to abort?
For some broken folk, there are no words,
No quick fixes, and, seemingly, no hope.
When the future is fraught with dread,
Release may beckon at the end of a rope.
And for you, brother mine, what of you?
Has life’s tide crashed down relentlessly,
Or do you float proud above the flotsam?
Is life a beach, or a quicksand of cruelty?
Maybe its not what happens, so much as
How we respond, that dictates our state?
While some overcome severest hardships,
Others, trifling things well may exasperate.
Mayhap we feel justified in our sulking,
We who have drawn the shorter straw?
Life’s bitter experience compels us to
Hold religiously the truth of Sod’s law.
And what of You, dear but distant God?
What hope, what comfort, what good news,
Can You bring to bear on our despair?
Or are You as empty as the rows of pews?
We have to raise our game? To gaze upon
Higher vistas, and a far wider perspective?
This life is brief, barely a tick compared to
Eternity’s tock, where we will come to live.
Pie in the sky? Comfort crumbs for the weak?
Or solemn gospel covenant of the only One
Who can be trusted? Risen life given by the
Real Life who died: God’s beloved only Son?
An eleventh commandment? Thou shalt not sulk?
For sulking, like hating, is a dead end lane.
Human? Yes. Childish? Yes. Life enhancing? No.
We have nothing to lose, but everything to gain.