" I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name for ever and ever.
Every day I will bless you,
and praise your name for ever and ever.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.
One generation shall laud your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts.
On the glorious splendour of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed,
and I will declare your greatness.
They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness,
and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The Lord is good to all,
and his compassion is over all that he has made.
All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
and all your faithful shall bless you.
They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom,
and tell of your power,
to make known to all people your* mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendour of your* kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
The Lord is faithful in all his words,
and gracious in all his deeds.*
The Lord upholds all who are falling,
and raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
You open your hand,
satisfying the desire of every living thing.
The Lord is just in all his ways,
and kind in all his doings.
The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfils the desire of all who fear him;
he also hears their cry, and saves them.
The Lord watches over all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.
My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
and all flesh will bless his holy name for ever and ever. " Psalm 145 NRSV
Carpe diem. When the movie "Dead Poets' Society" hit the scene in the late 80's, that phrase came back into more regular use. It is a powerful phrase-- carpe diem-- sieze the day. Being the smart aleck that I am, back in college when someone would refer to this phrase, I'd act dumb and say "Oh! I love that! Fish of the day!" As all of this came to mind this morning, I chuckled, and it got me thinking :-D...
Fish of the day has a different meaning here in the mostly land-locked Midwest than it does along the coasts. They actually have fresh catch of the day that is predictable, and plentiful. Unless you live right on one of the Great Lakes, our fish is shipped in. Fish of the day around here can mean "you take what you get".
When I go through long spells of feeling poorly, it can become easy to start believing that every day is the same, and it can also be discouraging... like having old, smelly fish every day. But once in a while in this journey there comes a day when I wake, and for some reason unknown to me, I feel good. Yep. I said it! I feel good~ (reality check: feeling good is still relative for me, as I still have pain and light-headedness and all the rest-- I don't feel like I used to, but I can still say I feel good...for me.) The day feels fresh and full of possibilities.
What do you do when you get a good day? We talk often about preparing for the rough days, but how do you approach a good day? That may sound odd, but I think to those who have often more rough days than good ones, it is a valid question. What do YOU do with a good day? Do you celebrate? Do you go about the day as usual? Do you brace yourself for what will come? Perhaps all of the above? I'd LOVE to hear your thoughts on this one.
As for me, today I will not look a gift fish in the mouth. I'm going to sieze this day to the best of my ability. That may mean doing a few more chores, or just enjoying a book that I haven't had the concentration and brain power to read for a while, or playing with the kids and dogs, or running that errand I've been putting off. Whatever I do, I'm grateful for a day that feels good--at least for now, and I'm going to sieze it and give thanks.
Lord God, you give us each day as a gift. Some days may be rough and harder to see the gift within. Other days we may feel energetic and strong and praise comes easily to our lips. Whatever we face, help us to know that today is a gift from you, and help us to see your presence in it. Amen.
1 comment:
Its interesting how we define what a good day is now that we are in this wilderness. It is never what a good day used to be. For me the baseline is forever changed. A good day now would certainly qualify as a bad day to me several years ago. Sometimes it makes me sad that I will most likely never experience those type of good days again.
For me, every day has the possibility of good, bad, or both. All it takes is a spontaneous panic attack to turn a better day into disaster. So, because of this, I have to look at the present moment instead of the day as a whole. I take advantage of the moments as they come, not really able to plan out an entire day if I wake up feeling "good". In one way I think this is good because I am forced to live in the present and not put off for another day things that are now very important to me. Before I got sick I would put things off alot, telling myself that I will always have time to do it some other day. I just don't have that luxury anymore.
On the other hand, being able to do things and go places that require planning is so difficult. For example, this morning I had the chance to spend some time with my Dad. I enjoy his company immensely and treasure the time I get to be with him. He asked me if I wanted to go up to Detroit with him for the Cruisin Downriver Car Show. I wanted to go sooo bad, but when I woke up this morning I was already sick to my stomach and my anxiety level was high, my back was sore and I knew I would have a very hard time driving in the car for an hour and then siting upright for two or three hours. I just can't plan for something like that. There would be no place to lay down if I needed to and since I already felt anxious I knew that a panic attack was very possible. I had to say no to my dad this morning, and it made my stomach wrench up in a knot. Then I beat myself up all morning because I didn't just go, even knowing that I wouldn't have been able to handle it.
For the most part, I just take the moments I feel good, whether its three hours or an entire day and play it by ear. During these times I enjoy going outside with my son and sitting at the picnic table with our neighbor and her daughter. I enjoy being able to cook for my family and clean and organize our home. I enjoy taking photographs and making bulletin covers for church. Some days just a nice shower is bliss.
I just take it as it comes, moment by moment, trying to live life as full as I can in each one. The difficult part is being gentle with myself when I can't do something that I want to do, or think that I should do.
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