When life Disappoints
Years ago Erma Bombeck wrote a book called “If life is a bowl of cherries, what am I doing in the pits?”
Funny, but true. For some, it seems as if life is a series of disappointments, even tragedy. Some seem to handle it well while others live in despair.
I love the Psalms, often songs of lament, which pour out cries for help in the midst of challenging times. I think many of us can relate in these last years where our world has been held in the grip of pandemic, grief, deep polarisation and differences, political unrest, racial tensions and war…. and more. Some of this we watch and listen to in the news, many of us know it far more personally.
How does hope triumph over despair? For me, it helps to write, to spend time in Gods beautiful creation, to be creative. And to choose to keep on keeping on, thankful we are not alone. I wrote this little lament this week, in one of those moments.
Disappointed.
Life not always . .
no, often not
how I hoped
the dreams
and visions
and plans
interrupted
changed or
shattered all together.
Life is a series
of adjustments.
It is good
to hope
to plan
to dream.
And then I am learning
(O such a slow learner)
to release
to let go
to trust.
God is with me
in the joys
in the sorrows
in the frustrations
and in the disappointments.
Such is the stuff of life
in this broken world.
So I wake up
thankful for breath
a new day
the reality that in it all
I am loved.
I am not alone.
gw 2022
Cherries
