A few thoughts from a thoughtful lady who should be wallpapering her office this afternoon

Our Dream Home EntryWay 

I was feeling the holiday blues, an annual event in our household ever since life dramatically changed for all of us, ten years ago on Christmas Day. You don't realize your body keeps an internal clock, remembering times of loss, those significant events when your heart is broken. The approaching 'anniversary' can forevermore feel like an apprehension of something terrible yet to come; when in fact, the terrible already happened and you lived through it. You smiled again when you believed you never would. You continued loving people despite the risk. And forgiving them. As a matter of fact, you not only lived through the experience, you discovered meaningful lessons that enriched your life. Having faced your fears and accepted your pain as part of a greater plan you are not privy to, you accept that you may never understand the hows and whys and if onlys of your lifetime. 

During a particularly lousy day last week when feeling like a 'flop' with the fate of the Gods riled against me, I remembered a story about a miserable King whom counselors and doctors had failed to comfort. Their words were insufficient in resolving the Monarch's sadness because nothing had gone right in the King's life despite his careful planning. Nothing had been true in his life because numerous of his endeavors, while based on perceived rightness and moral goodness, had ended in failure; every risk he had taken in loving someone, had ended in loss.  His wife hated his guts and his kids were spoiled brats. Finally humble and desperate for guidance, the King gathered his counselors and prophets and spiritual leaders and philosophers into his royal living room with an elephant's head over the fireplace mantle, where he served hors d'oeuvres and orders. "Go out in world for one year's time," he requested, "and return to my kingdom when you are wise. When you can tell me what is right and what is true at all times in the whole of one's life."

The Library of my Dreams

Well, his collected sages left the throne room to ponder how they might capture the world's wisdom in words that would comfort the King in times of loss and protect him from disillusionment in times of great benefit. Some spent weeks in meditation caves contemplating what was right-and-true. Some spent days praying in temples, others engaged in philosophical discussions set in high falutin' universities with vast audiences attending the debates. Some even hung out at Starbucks shooting the breeze with community elders and n'er-do-wells. A few select individuals spent time in elite circles where only the well-schooled were allowed entry, initials and commas after surnames being required. Like Harvey Brainiac, M.D. for example.

Eventually, the day of reckoning came when the seekers of wisdom were commanded return, to speak to the King. Some delivered dissertations on the Philosophy of Life. Some read from holy scriptures about the doctrinal purpose of life. Stationary bicycling was recommended by Harvy Brainiac, M.D. as the secret to resiliency and happiness---accompanied by a low carbohydrate insulin resistance diet. Others had bullet-pointed checklists of ten things people must do to prepare themselves for a deeply deep understanding what was right and true about life at all times and in all circumstances. Then one guy, the guy who had spent his year talking with friends and family, listening to friends and family, comforting the weak, consoling the grieving, celebrating their successes and accomplishments, finally spoke up. 

He said the greatest truth about life that he had come to understand could be summed up in four words. He said those four words were equal opportunity truths and the King, or any of his minions including those without alphabet letters trailing their names, could frame and hang this splendid wisdom on the living room wall. Those four words summing up all that is right and true at all times throughout one's entire lifetime were these: "This Too Shall Pass." As long as the King would remember those words in the good times and in the bad, and in every situation in-between, he would be comforted and humbled and content with the full measure of his life.

I'm speechless...The fireplace mantle is nine feet tall!

"And this, too, shall pass away." How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction!" ~Abraham Lincoln

I have felt during several periods in my life, that everything I believed, hoped for, and worked to achieve, had been pointless. That every willing sacrifice so carefully considered, had been insufficient or foolish. That my suffering was intransigent; my happiness a perpetual state of bliss. For every misery suffered, or my fellow human beings have suffered, the resultant loss makes our futures appear miserable, our pasts meaningless. For every success, we qualify our lives in outcomes, in achievements. But outcomes and achievements pass, too. Take the picture of this living room as an example.

We want to believe we have control over our lives; that we can tick-mark a list of choices like ingredients in a recipe for a predictable result. That's grandiosity and arrogance. Acceptance of our imperfect lives imperfectly lived,  the sorrows of love unrequited, and life's vicissitudes as our destiny---that's the invisible intelligence of a life well-lived. 

Let happiness lead you. Let sorrow overcome. Let yourself cry for all the mistakes and unfulfilled dreams and broken hearts of flawed human beings expecting perfection from others and the self. Let yourself love imperfectly; yet dare to love despite the risk of outcome. Happiness passes. Sadness, too. All that is right and true at all times throughout one's lifetime is a truth worth living by: This Too Shall Pass.

"This Too Shall Pass"

In the middle of the turbulence surrounding you

These trying times are so hard to endure

In the middle of what seems to be your darkest hour

Hold fast your heart and be assured

This too shall pass

Like every night that's come before it

He'll never give you more than you can bear

This too shall pass

So in this thought you'd be comforted

For it's in His Hands

This too shall pass

The Father knows the tears you cry before they fall

He feels your pain, His heart and yours are one

The Father knows that sorrow's heavy chains are strong

But with His strength, you'll overcome

So set your eyes upon the mountain

And lift your hands up to the sky

And let His arms of love surround you

And take you to the other side

(If the video is not playable, click here to listen to her song on YouTube)

Love,

Carolyn

P.S. This quote was used in a less-imaginative version of the King's Story in one of Abraham Lincoln's speeches before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society. Lincoln said, "And this, too, shall pass away." How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction!" ~Abraham Lincoln