Two days stand out as having some of the bluest, clearest skies in my memory…
Saturdays have a way of making you feel like a time-millionaire. Although that dreaded Sunday night is just a mere 36 hours away, Saturday mornings feel like we have all of the time in the world. What extravagance!
On one such Saturday, I was driving through the scenic rolling hills in rural Bucks County, Pennsylvania to pick up some fresh milk from a dairy farm. I remember thinking that I must have died and gone to heaven. I could have sung Oklahoma’s “Oh, What A Beautiful Morning.”
When I got back, tragedy struck. Meagan, our dear cuddly cat, was killed by a car. The contrast of the relaxing, carefree weekend with the pain from sitting next to my wife as she sobbed and cradled the cat in her arms is something I’ve never forgotten. It seems that life can be so good one moment and then…
The pain was ours alone as I dug her grave out of the stubborn earth up on the hill above our home. It was still a blue sky to the rest of the unknowing world.
The second blue-sky-contrast day was September 11, 2001. Waking up to that picture-perfect day and then…
This time, however, the pain was owned by our country.
Life can change in an instant.
PORTAL TO HEAVEN: Our blue skies can contrast with overcast souls and vice versa. May our suffering be used as a spiritual antibiotic for an individual or community - no matter the momentary weather.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."
2 Corinthians 1:3,4 (ESV)
