Friday's Ripped from the Journal: The Coming Storm

Everybody wants encouragement. I’m okay with making that sweeping generalization. In some capacity or another each one of us desires to be validated in what we’re doing or saying or where we’re going. In fact we’ve got terms specially designed to describe it when folks are “fishing for a compliment.”

But what about when encouragement comes and you’re not looking for it or fishing for it, what do you do then?

Isn’t it sweeter than those placid compliments you went digging for, to find encouragement in a place you didn’t expect? Or when the exact phrase you needed to hear is said, but you didn’t know you needed to hear it until it was said. Or even when there are no words at all, just a bird chirping or the rain falling or the rolling thunder – there’s encouragement in them too.

Maybe that’s the issue. We look to hard for encouragement, when the world around us is teaming with reasons to take heart and stand strong.

I’ve never thought about it like that. How would things change if instead of dying to find what I think I need I simply look at what is?

How would we be different?

If the bird can sing as the storm begins then perhaps a soul should still feel joy when the suffering starts.