November 6, 2020
Silver Linings
What does the phrase "Look for the silver lining" mean? It means finding hope or finding the good in every situation. Mom used to say this to me when I was growing up, but I'm not sure she always practiced what she preached. It couldn't have been easy for her after she left home.
She got married at the age of sixteen, not because she had to, but because she ran away with my father and wanted to. They had three children by the time they were nineteen. She suffered the loss of a baby because of a stillborn birth at the age of twenty.
There were issues, and there were struggles with my parents marrying so young and the pressures of raising a family. Things weren't always full of glimmer and hope.
I'm not going to go into the specifics of how bad things got because the silver lining is, "I turned out okay." I survived, as did my brother and my sister. After Mom and Dad divorced, the silver lining was she remarried a good man who never raised a hand or his voice toward her and who took on her children and grandchildren as his own.
Our Dad wasn't the best husband or family man, but the silver lining is, he knew that we all loved him and forgave him on his deathbed, where he wasted away his body full of cancer. What is the silver lining in the horror of our Dad dying of cancer? We all got to spend quality time with him, that otherwise might not have been there. We got to do our part in caring for him, which builds compassion. The other silver lining is we will meet again in Heaven.
As for our mom, we got to be by her side as she gasped for air for three days before passing on, her lungs so severely damaged from smoking that it took her life. What's the silver lining there? For me, I know that she went to a better place, that she is in God's hands, and that she suffers no more. Another silver lining is she is reunited with my step-Dad, Frank, who passed away recently.
As far as what's going on in the world today, we all best start looking at the silver lining because it could get even more depressing as days unfold. The silver lining is, God is there – nothing is a surprise to Him. We are going to a better place eventually, and, for now, God is in control.
COVID has brought many of our families closer together, and at the same time, challenged us beyond what we ever thought we could bear, but guess what? We are making it. There is a light at the end of this horrendous, dark tunnel. The forest fires will die out thanks to the hard work of many. The hurricanes will subside, God willing. The United States will stand firm and again be united, regardless of who wins the election because we are resilient. We've mastered other horrors in our history, and we will master this current time.
There is hope. There is strength. There is an answer. That answer is God. I can't imagine how people who don't believe in God or a Higher Power or a Creator are coping. We all need to have hope in something. We all need to see the silver lining to keep from completely self-destructing. Due to a lack of hope, we will lose many people. Those who pass on because of this disease will pass more peacefully if they have faith. In some ways, they are the lucky ones. They no longer have to try to find the silver lining as they are wrapped in God's arms. They are now seeing streets paved in gold. They are seeing the face of our Father in Heaven.
