Sometimes That's Just the Way It Is

     It's been a while since I last posted, but we've been really busy with family matters. Chris's brother is in hospice care at the Masonic Home in Burlington. Her mom had a heart attack last week and was in Robert Wood Johnson in New Brunswick. On top of that, Chris has been handling all of the financial responsibilities for her brother's personal life and for his care in hospice. So we've been doing a lot of running around to the Masonic Home, to the hospital, to office buildings and, when possible, to the grocery store for our own lives here on the farm.
     I'm personally without a car these days since the one I was using finally gave up the ghost. But, hey, it was a great car in the sense that it got me to where I needed to be for the last year and a half or so and it made it to 260,000 miles. And considering the fact that I only paid a dollar for it, what's there to complain about?
     Also since I last posted, we've been to Maine once again. We never seem to have enough time up there to satisfy our spirits, but what little time we did spend was as enjoyable as usual. I managed to get to one of my favorite places--the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland,ME. They particularly feature the paintings of Andrew Wyeth along with some of his father's (N.C. Wyeth) and his son's (Jamie Wyeth). I am a major Wyeth fan and have also been to the Brandywine River Museum down in Brandywine, PA, and had a wonderful tour given by his granddaughter. I highly recommend that as a day trip for those of you who are in this general area.
     But life goes on in its inevitable way, doesn't it? We want full control over the circumstances and conditions of our lives, and sometimes we actually have it in a limited sort of way, but the key word there is "limited." The fact is that we can decide to be healthier by doing the things that make that possible. We can decide to pursue certain goals, and if we have the determination and persistence, we can usually bring about the desired results or something similar thereof.Yet no one is guaranteed a life of smooth sailing--not even the wealthiest, most intelligent, healthiest, most religious, or kindest people in the world.
     So what does this unpredictable nature of life mean? I think it means that we should go ahead and live life with a sense of joy and laughter when things are going well, a sense of openness and prayer when they are not, and a sense of thanksgiving that life overall is in the hands of a Divine Spirit whose wisdom and understanding far exceeds our own--even all of ours put together.

Sometimes that's just the way it is.