A New Day

This past Monday, my husband and I celebrated our thirty-first wedding anniversary. During the good-natured banter which resulted from discussing the occasion with our friends, I was again reminded of how very blessed I am, in every way. I was also reminded of the importance of laughter and maintaining a good sense of humor, and it dawned on me I have been terribly serious of late. In this blog and elsewhere.

On the day after my anniversary, I had an opportunity to give a motivational presentation to a local group, and as I was sharing my thoughts with them about the choices we all make every day regarding attitude and happiness, I found I was in need of the same advice I was dishing out: Lighten up.

As the presidential race goes into full attack mode, more than a year away from the 2012 election, I am already weary of the nonsense ("I love God more than you!") and rancor ("But I hate you!") surrounding the process, as I'm sure many others are, as well. And yet, my temptation is to jump into the fray and add my two cents. Well, I'm praying, "Lead me not into temptation."

Most regular readers of this blog have a pretty good idea of where I stand on many issues which have become (sometimes wrongly) politicized in this country. In my recent days of enlightenment, I have realized I am most likely not going to change anyone's political opinion, and further, that has never really been my goal. Controversy is a good way to alienate and cause strife, and I don't want to do either.

My aim is to challenge us all to think about how our spiritual life and beliefs should be manifest in everything we do, every day. While I personally remain passionate about certain issues, in this forum I'm hoping to back away from what tends to cause division and steer toward that which unites and encourages. I'll do my agitating elsewhere. (I do reserve the right to challenge believers to be socially responsible, but will try to limit my thoughts to that which happens outside the political process.)

I claim to be an optimist, and I need to put that assertion back at the top of my list of priorities. I've been a little gloomy lately, and it's time for a change. Let's make a pact, what do you say? What if we try to find common ground even when we disagree, find joy even when things aren't going so great and love one another no matter what? It's a new day dawning on a new season, and I'm back on the Good News train!