Yesterday started out as a blue day. I was feeling overwhelmed by the many commitments on my plate. I even doubted that our Christmas tree would even go up this year. After I dropped my grandson off at preschool, I drove to the home of a friend. I don’t usually drop in on people without calling ahead, but she didn’t answer her phone so I decided to drive by her house to see if her car was out front.
My friend was delighted to see me and in minutes I had a cup of coffee in my hand and we were sitting in her living room. For 1 1/2 hours my friend and I shared our joys and our sorrows. When I left to pick up my grandson from school, we embraced, each of us full of the joy that friendship often brings.s
As I drove home with my grandson in the back seat chattering about preschool, I realized that my blueness had been lifted. I also realized that in the midst of my blueness, I had been irritated with him and my patience had been running thin. Home again, he played with my junk mail and pretended to be a mailman delivering my mail. I was not irritated in the least when I had to stop what I was doing to read the mail he was delivering. The serenity I felt continued throughout the evening until I fell asleep reading.
In the famous beatitudes, Jesus spoke about the characteristics of the Kingdom of God on earth. Among these he said, “Happy are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Happy are those who are merciful to others, they will know mercy. Happy are you who weep now, you will laugh!”
Those who say the Kingdom of God is some future place we go to after we die, don’t know what they are talking about.