{"id":59078,"date":"2024-02-28T20:05:35","date_gmt":"2024-02-29T02:05:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/?p=59078"},"modified":"2024-02-28T20:05:35","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T02:05:35","slug":"the-gorgeous-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/the-gorgeous-day\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gorgeous Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most of you know I write this blog a couple of days before you read it. So, as I write this, we have just experienced a phenomenally beautiful day. You could even say, without fear of contradiction, that it was actually gorgeous.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Even though February is not yet over, there were people wearing shorts and t-shirts outdoors, motorcycles swarmed the streets, there were reports of robins being seen, and I even stopped by the lake on the way home to verify that the ice is completely gone.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The sun is brighter and sky is bluer than it ever was and the songs on the radio (particularly “Child of Love” by We the Kingdom) sound better than they ever have.<\/span><\/p>\n

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It is as if, (as John Steinbeck wrote in “Cannery Row”) the world is spinning in greased grooves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Yes, yes indeed, it feels like this is the most amazing day ever in The Winter That Never Was.<\/span><\/p>\n

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What is not quite as amazing is that tomorrow’s forecast shows a high temperature thirty degrees lower than today.<\/span><\/p>\n

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With thirty mile per hour winds.<\/span><\/p>\n

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And snow.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Blowing and drifting snow.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Now, whenever something like this happens, it seems as if there are legions of Eeyores lined up to sing the “I told you so” chorus. (Eeyore is the pessimistic “Don’t blame me if it rains” gray donkey from Winnie the Pooh and the “I told you so” chorus is a fictional piece of music from a parallel universe I made up that serves as the antithesis to Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus.”)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Somewhere, deep in the DNA of every Midwesterner ever born, there is this gene that screams into our brains that every nice day we experience MUST be paid for with an absolutely horrible, nasty, no-good, worst-day-ever kind of day. It’s kind of like weather Karma.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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If you stop and ponder this deeply, that kind of thinking carries with it the theological assumption that God is not just malevolent, but (to some degree) sadistic. In point of fact, this kind of thinking actually assigns schadenfreude (A German word meaning “taking delight in the misery of others.”) to God Himself!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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And so now we are at the point of heresy, brothers and sisters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Shame on us.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Thankfully, I have a solution.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Instead of taking the pessimistic, gloomy, anhedonic view of weather events like this, what if we were to consider that today’s perfect, absolutely gorgeous weather was God’s way of making up for all the days He had to send rain and clouds and gray weather to sustain life on the planet?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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What if today was a sign and wonder and a miracle proving that God really does love us and He is good beyond our ability to think or understand? What if we were to actually allow ourselves to enjoy a day like today and share that joy with those around us? What if we were to consider all kinds of days gifts from God meant to be used for His glory?<\/span><\/p>\n

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Just a thought.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Today’s Praise<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

John 15:11<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

“I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” (NLT)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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