Circumstances

I'd like to take a moment this week to have a little think about circumstance. This may sound like a strange topic, or it may not even sound like a topic at all. So first of all, let me clear up a few things.

 

Circumstance is a noun which comes from Old French and Latin words meaning 'to stand around'. The way in which I am using the word belongs to the meaning 'a condition or fact attending an event and having some bearing on it; a determining or modifying factor'.

 

Now each of us find ourselves in a different circumstance, but it is not different peoples circumstances which I would like to talk about but rather choose a specific event or activity and how the same person may approach or view it differently depending on their current circumstance.

 

I was thinking about the stars tonight (can you believe that is how I came up with this topic?!) and how they look. Now the stars will look different depending on our location, visual capability, proximity to large amounts of light, cloud cover, and other atmospheric conditions but it is not these different circumstances which I would like to focus on.

 

What I find interesting is how our emotions, our current frame of mind, or thought process can affect the way in which we view things. Imagine if you will, a clear night sky, with a bright moon, and a handful of stars dotted across the dark expanse staring down at you. In some circumstances, say you have had a wonderful day, or perhaps you have not had such a great time and are looking for something good - a ray of hope, those stars will look sooo bright - they almost take your breath away. Where-as in other circumstances, maybe you are feeling quite lost in life, or are just wanting the sun and daylight to come back, those stars will look so insignificant and the sky so dark - you may even feel like hiding from it.

 

That's it for my contemplation on circumstance, but if you are the kind of person who feels like the sky is overwhealmingly dark - what would you say if I told you that one day there will be no more darkness like that, and because we know that this day is coming we do not need to hide from the darkness now?

 

Just a thought. Questions and comments welcome.

 

God Bless