Stock Photo
Most mornings, I watch CBC news – mostly because I have little better to do and enjoy a good dose of depression first thing in the morning. Then there’s the “weather disappointer” (‘cause it’s always disappointing) who never has anything good to say: snow, freezing rain, more snow, and temperatures that swing more wildly than an entire troupe of Cirque de Soleil acrobats.
Padre (Major) Howard Rittenhouse – File Photo
If I’m not depressed after watching the latest litany of misery and wretchedness from around the world, I am after the weather report. I mean, come on! This time last year I was sitting on my deck enjoying the warm sun and a beer, but doesn’t look like it’s going to happen any time soon!
Sure, spring is here. It must be – the calendar says so. And yes, the days are getting longer (thanks be to God), and the sun is that little bit warmer, and we’ve had Roll Up the Rim (a more sure sign of spring than all the robins, daffodils, and I ’m-wearing-shorts-and-flip-flops-damn-the-weather! numptys put together). So, spring is here, apparently, so we’re told, I guess.
But when you look forward to some warmer weather on a March weekend (like last year) so you can sit on the deck for the first time, or clean out the garage (I know, I’m pathetic – that’s on my to-do list), or take a deep breath without searing your lungs in the Arctic air, it’s all very disappointing.
Like the Monkees sang in “I’m a Believer” (covered by Smash Mouth in Shrek), “Disappointment haunted all my dreams.” Disappointment is like a loose piece of carpet or stair tread: it sits there, waiting (the evil thing); and along you come innocently whistling Over the Hills and Far Away (or something – well, if you don’t like it, imagine your own song then!), and WHAM! You’re flat on your face, ambushed by circumstance. What just happened? Why did it happen? What did I do to deserve this monstrous come-uppance from fate? Well, often, the answer is: nothing. You didn’t do anything; you didn’t end up on fate’s hit list for any specific reason. It just is.
Jesus once answered a similar question from his disciples when they asked, upon seeing a blind man, what he or his parents had done for him to deserve being born blind. Jesus replied (and I’m paraphrasing), “If you picked Column A, you’re wrong. And if you picked Column B, you’re wrong. It’s not fate; it’s not karma; it wasn’t just desserts. It’s life.” Later he said that into every life a little rain must fall…. No, wait. Someone else said that. But He said something similar: “In this life you will have trouble.” And He was so right. And I don’t mean trouble with the weather. You know what I mean: financial problems, health scares or worse, marriage disintegration, postings to that nameless place, and all the myriad multitude of melancholy circumstances that make up most of our lives (cheerful, ain’t I?).
Life throws curve balls, sometimes it drills us right between the eyes. And yes, if we’re honest, some are self-inflicted, but often they’re not. And really, it isn’t about why you’re facing this disappointment or crisis; it’s about how you cope with it when it’s sitting on your couch like the last guest who won’t leave. Because you can count on getting drilled between the eyes; that’s just life. But you don’t have to carry the burden alone. Talk to someone: your best friend, your partner, a social worker, and if desperate, a padre (I kid).
We’ve got your six.