Don’t Cry, Smile
Over the course of writing Common Sense 4 Uncommon People, I’ve quoted several individuals. Today I’ve wandered down that path again. “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” Though generally attributed to the popular author Dr. Seuss (Theodore Seuss Geisel), this is most often regarded as an anonymous (non-biblical) proverb. It has also been attributed to the Spanish writer Gabriel García Márquez. Regardless of it origins it carries great wisdom and for that I bow to the author. This is where wisdom and common sense once again share an overlapping footprint. Most of us emotionally attach to those connections, which make us happy. Others attach with much more friction to one or more less pleasing connections, which results in a continuos source of upheaval. It’s the pleasing attachments rather than the inevitable separations which we should carefully stow in our backpacks as we continue our trek after separations. Back in the 60′s there was a popular TV series entitled Rt. 66, named after a single highway that ran across the continent. Two pals traveled this road in their sports car, temporarily stopping and working along the way. This was a popular theme, reintroduced in a later series called “Then Came Bronson”. In both cases, the main character’s encounters (or connections) were the evolving storyline for the series. These characters chose to connect and detach, to and from others on a weekly basis. That would be a tough assignment for most of us, yet this is, in many ways a routine, even healthy part of our lives. Here-in lies the overarching global expansion story of the historical inhabitants of this world.
Even for those who have never been schooled in it, the Holy Bible has been a long standing inspiration for creative minds. Example: “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” (James 4:13, 14 ESV). James (on behalf of God) touches on the caravan nature of our lives and our gypsy desires, highlighting the brevity of life we all constantly face. Although this life is temporary, wise choices along the way guarantees smiles. A short life is not divine penalty for Christians, it’s early admission to the big theatre, the ultimate theatre of great connections. The more adept we become at “smiling because it happened”, the more familiar we’ll become with our Lord’s thinking in His eternal theatre.
JC Calkins with COMMON SENSE 4 UNCOMMON PEOPLE (share)
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Very interesting points. Thanks!