This Is the Day the Lord Has Made
This Is the Day the Lord Has Made
“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24 ESV)
“Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10 ESV)
Ma had a saying that trouble comes in threes. She usually said this when the second trouble came to our doorstep, though I suspect she thought it with the first. I’m not sure where she heard it but it has become one of those “family sayings” that every family has.
And so it was earlier this year. In April, my brother Rob called from the hospital. He said he had a perforated colon, the doctors were treating it with antibiotics, he wasn’t in pain anymore, and if this happened again it meant surgery. In May, my son Jack was diagnosed with a rare form of melanoma. In June, my wife Barbie developed a case of gout, which is stupidly painful. Thank goodness Ma’s saying held true and the troubles ended there.
Some days I greet the morning with my favorite call to worship: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” But when days bring trouble, worry chases away any thought of celebration and the day doesn’t feel like a gift (even though it is).
Quite often, trouble will bring opportunity with it. Rob changed his diet and dropped over 50 pounds. Barbie changed her diet and has been gout-free since. Jack’s cancer gave the doctors at University of Michigan Hospital an opportunity to heal another person. Thankfully Jack’s surgery was a success and the subsequent cancer screening came back negative. He’s still on the mend and it looks like he may not need a skin graft.
After washing around in the surf for a few months, it felt good to be riding the wave again. I guess this put me in a fey mood and a poem was born. This is how poetry is with me. I don’t write poems; they find me. Fortunately, pen and paper were nearby and this was the result:
And Everything Is Good
I watered the plants
Then it rained
Everything is overgrown
There’s still a critter under the porch
And everything is good
I moved everything
Out of the laundry room
The drain stack is old
It needs replacing
And everything is good
The physicality of
A cast iron pipe
Over one hundred years old
Moving our waste away
And everything is good
But it is old and rusty
And has barnacles
I didn’t even know
A cast iron pipe could have barnacles
And everything is good
Tomorrow the Brothers Hanger arrive
With a solution
I hope it doesn’t involve
A jackhammer and smashed concrete
And everything is good
I had my blood test
The level is high
I don’t know if a biopsy is in my future
I’ve had one and they are not any fun at all
And everything is good
Tomorrow is my son’s birthday
My sun, moon and stars
It’s a miracle how well he has turned out
I can’t see him because of the stupid virus
And everything is good
My wife Barbie, I call her Sam
She visited her sister
And brought her Christmas presents
Even though it’s August
And everything is good
Barbie’s sister is very sick
But Barbie said she was comfortable
And she loved her presents
Maybe Christmas should be in August
And everything is good
I am here
In my home, my sanctuary
With my Sam
With our cats Stewie and Rikki
With our leopard gecko Spex who is fourteen
And everything is good
The world has gone crazy
But here I have quiet
I know how fortunate I am
To have quiet in my life
And everything is good
French author Georges Bernanos wrote, “You owe it to everyone you love to find pockets of tranquility in your busy world.” To do this, you have to give the gift of quiet to yourself first. It has been my experience that it’s only in the quiet where I find God. It’s in the quiet that I know that I am never alone and I always have help from the source of all life. A fey mood where you rediscover your sense of humor helps too.
Prayer
This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Joe Bulko