Wednesday Wonder

While counting books at the end of Lent for the Lenten calendar, I came across a book I knew was there, yet didn’t know was there. If you have ever seen the number of books in my house, that statement will make sense.

The book is called, “Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day!” by Kate Bowler. It is full of little meditations. I am using it to begin each of the Bible study sessions this spring. It sparked some ideas for me as I flipped through it. Given the state of our world, the wider one or just our own little ones, the idea of a beautiful, terrible day makes perfect sense.

Every day can be a beautiful day. It isn’t dependent upon the weather, although sunshine does help a day feel more beautiful. Any day can feel beautiful depending upon how we spend it. A snowy, rainy day last week was still beautiful to me as I put my feet up and read a novel all day. Being able to do something like that on a week day that is usually a work day, felt beautifully decadent. Yes, I love reading novels that much.

There is that old saying that every day this side of the sod is a good one. So true. However, we often forget that is the case when going through hard times, or not having a beautifully decadent day. Even the little things can take a day from beautiful to terrible, if we let it.

That is a bit like what our world is like these days. We wake up, look out the window to find the sun rising, sigh and think “It’s going to be a beautiful day.” Then, we take a look at our news feed or turn on the radio or tv to see what’s happening in the world, and the day goes from beautiful to terrible in a heartbeat.

When you think about it, sometimes the opposite is true. We can have a terrible, beautiful day. What does it take to turn a terrible day into a beautiful one? Only a moment.

A moment of intention can turn terrible to beautiful. A moment to focus in a new direction, on a new thing, can make all the difference.

A moment in a garden at dawn turned a terrible time into something with the possibility of being beautiful. The first Easter was tinged with both beautiful and terrible. Until there was true understanding it would have been hard to decide if it was going to go one way or the other.

And yet, it was still both. There was grieving and there was laughter. When Jesus began appearing to his followers, starting with Mary Magdalene, what had been a terrible day started to change. It was now a beautiful, terrible day. Jesus was not with them in the same way anymore, but he was with them. Things had changed, but all was not darkness anymore.

The funny thing is, it was still fifty days before the followers of Jesus came out of hiding and truly began to live again. At Pentecost they began their own ministries of sharing the good news of God’s love. What had happened one day had, in fact, become a beautiful, terrible day.

We too, have those days and times. The promise of Easter is that there can be found beauty in every day, with God involved.

And so, from this interesting book that is meant to help to get through all the beautiful, terrible days, I offer this blessing:

Blessed are we, the anxious,
with eyes wide open to the lovely and the awful.
Blessed are we, the aware,
knowing that the only sane thing to do in such a world
is to admit the fear that sits in our peripheral vision.
Blessed are we, the hopeful,
eyes searching for the horizon,
ready to meet the next miracle, the next surprise.
Yes, blessed are we, the grateful,
awake to this beautiful, terrible day.
(Kate Bowler in Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day!)

We are an Easter people, ever hopeful, ever grateful.

May you have a beautiful, terrible day.