A State of Sunshine

watch original V-Blog in Persian

I'm sure you've sat in the sun and enjoyed its warmth, soaking in the energy and enjoying the bright colors of the world around you. You've heard the sprinklers, smelled the grass and felt so alive you could split an atom. No matter how many tests you may have in your life, how much trouble may weigh on your shoulders, when you come across a sunny day that makes the colors jump out of their skin, nothing can stop you from smiling.

And then a cloud comes along. And instantaneously the world is dull and dark and horrid. You cannot believe your eyes, but you can feel it in your heart. It's like a lever is being pulled and you're going from elated to depressed. The colors fade, a chilly shiver runs down your spine and the very scene that so inspired you now looks depleted. Even hostile.

And then the sun emerges again and the lever is pushed back and you instantly forgive the clouds, for now everything is great and beautiful and good again...Have you ever felt this way?

This week a dear soul passed on to the next realm. She was a member of our community and struggled with cancer for many, many years. You would think cancer, illness, disease, war, hunger, poverty – these are among the worst things to befall any person or family. You would think it would have clouded and shrouded her sunny disposition. But far from it – she always had and gave plenty of light to those around her. So much so, that I, in fact, was among the few not ever to notice that she was even sick!

When death, or life after death came so suddenly to her it got me thinking. How was it, that in her life and in the lives of her dear husband and children one couldn't detect those large, dark clouds? And I realized that I was wrong. Illness, disease, poverty, misfortune – these things are not the clouds in our life. The clouds are when we don't have unity in our family. When we have unity in our family, it is as though the sun were shining brightly. When the sun shines I smile even though I have problems and life isn't perfect. And when your body is ridden with cancer, you still smile, because your family is coloring the world BRIGHT and beautiful.

But not all of us have unity in our lives. I'd say most of us don't. It starts with our families, but that sunshine or lack thereof continues in the reality that is our community, our nation – and of course – our world. We live in a world that is covered with clouds. Our world is a shadow of what it could be. We're a human family that is broken, estranged and divided. Our kids are rebelliously pubescent and our marriage is breaking up.

Just imagine: what chance could war, famine and disease have if we put up a united front? What chance would all the perils of the world have on us if only we strove for unity? How could those things ever defeat us and our sunny disposition if our human family was as united as my friend's family was?

Soar in peace, dear Debbie.