Good Grief

Good Grief (Photo credit: Camps)

It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better (Eccl 7:2-3
KJV)

Good Grief. Sadly, despair hits us all, and when it does, we think, "What a stupid term good grief is. How can it be good?" Apparently, God believes this to be true.

Wait a minute, you state (Yes, I know I'm schizoid and you didn't say anything), God wants us blessed. And that is exactly why grief is good. How? Let's consider.

1. Death comes to all of us. When someone we love or know casually dies, we will grieve. Therefore, we learn to not put off until tomorrow the encouragement and love we need to share today.
2. Discouragement plagues us all. We work hard, only to fail. But what happens because of failure? If we do nothing, it defines us. If we work harder, we will produce the good product we desired. J.K. Rawlings is renowned for stunning success after repeated failure. Colonel Sanders had his chicken recipe rejected 1,009 times before someone saw its merit. (http://www.onlinecollege.org/2010/02/16/50-famously-successful-people-who-failed-at-first/)
3. It makes us humble. Think about the braggarts you know, famous or not. Does anyone like them? 
4. It heals us. My Ecclesiastes' scripture clearly states sorrow's healing qualities. What niggles our mind? Where have we failed? If we correct those, the weight the devil heaves at us dissipates and we become truly free in the Lord.

Beauty Like a Goose: Ps 139:14

I thank you, High God — you're breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration — what a creation! (Ps 139:14, THE MESSAGE)

Geese. Flocks of them vee overhead and awe us with their magnitude. Here in Malone, they congregate at the local pond, sometimes making the water appear to be a solid gray mass.

Millions undifferentiated by millions more. I tried to capture that proliferation in my photographs, but instead caught one in flight. And the beauty of the individual captured my imagination more than the bounty of the flock.

The round body captured the dim afternoon light and displayed his plumpness. Each feather is delineated, the curve of the wing fans like a flamenco dancer.

An ordinary goose is intricate, beautiful, vibrant and alive. And if a goose has such beauty, what about us? Travel to any city and see our proliferation. Those mobs annoy us, bump us, delay us. But God looks through the masses and see the individual. Intricate. Beautiful. Flawed. And His love blazes for each being.

How awesome is that?