When All Is Well with the World

Some days, it just feels right. I had one of those yesterday.

By that, I mean the kind of day where it seems that the moon, and stars, and planets converge (or whatever -- I'm not really an astrology kind of guy.) I know the weather was absolutely fabulous: temperature right at 70 degrees, sky a vivid cerulean, gentle breeze stirring the trees. I remembered why it is great to live in Florida during this time of the year.

I was able to finish off my week of work with a few morning tasks, then have the afternoon to spend with my oldest son on his birthday. Twenty-eight years earlier, I drove like a madman from Louisville, KY to Union City, TN to be there when he (not so gently) entered the world. When it was all said and done, I held this 10-pound bundle of joy (yeah, he was a big one) nervously in my arms and remember that my first thought was not, "Wow, how cool" or anything like that -- but rather, "Oh my God, what happens if I drop him?"

We have come to enjoy a wonderful adult relationship, my boy and I. I am enormously proud of him and the life that he is building. He has wisdom beyond his years sometimes, and a heart that absolutely pounds with the rhythms of compassion, integrity, and love for his family and for God.

That's a lot to be thankful for, and on this day, I am just that. Profoundly thankful, grateful, and humbled by the goodness of life on days such as this, when all is well with the world.

This blog is not really my "preacherly" side, but the words of the Bible are part of the rhythm and rhyme of my life; I can't really think any other way-- and I don't think I want to. I like what David, the poet/king of Israel, said around 3,000 years ago about days like this:

Psalm 103

 ¹ Praise the LORD, O my soul;
       all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

 ² Praise the LORD, O my soul,
       and forget not all his benefits-

 ³ who forgives all your sins
       and heals all your diseases,

 ⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
       and crowns you with love and compassion,

 ⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things
       so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. 

Yeah. My day was just like that.