Of Good Old Days and Balance

"Be well-balanced, be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring, seeking someone to seize upon and devour." ... 1 Peter 5:8 (Amplified)

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Remember how I said last time that springtime allergies had invaded my poor head? 

Well, two days later I'm thinking it's a horrible, terrible, very bad cold, instead, or rather, a combination of both. Bleh. I am so thankful you cannot see me as I sit here bleary-eyed, wilting, clad in my shiny-aqua robe. (You should feel thankful, too.)

I spent yesterday in bed in my Dream Room watching my Leave It To Beaver and Ma and Pa Kettle dvd's and thinking how terrific it is that nowadays we can customize our own tv watching habit. I mean, I've heard groups of people (myself, also) complain that today's shows aren't as clever/decent/funny as those from the past.

But at least today we have choices. We can buy dvd's of shows and movies we love and watch them at noon or midnight (the episodes we choose, not the tv exec.'s), something we couldn't do while I was growing-up in the 60's and 70's.

Yes, I was alive before home video recorders. Primitive times, indeed.

That sounds like such a minuscule thing, but it reminds me of something huge--namely, not to complain about how Today's world is not like Yesterday's. I so don't wish to be in the Only The Good Old Days Were Good crowd. You know, those whose heads and necks are always hurting because they're turned backward, facing the Past.

In fact, yesterday with my poor drippy head on my pillow I recalled how someone wisely wrote, "The news is the bad news." I mostly understood that when I first saw it, but now I get it more. Newspaper and tv news--generally--only reflect the world-gone-wrong and seldom who or what is going right.

Seeing today's world in only a negative, dark light is not being balanced--nor accurate. 

So I often remind myself, for the sake of balance, that not every teenager is a thug just waiting to rob or shoot someone. Not each person holding a steering wheel is a road-rage case in-waiting nor is every movie obscene nor every theater or video store a den of iniquity.

No, there still are millions of helpful, kind, compassionate teens and adults out there in our huge world. There are still excellent, peaceful drivers and hundreds of good, thought-provoking movies and tv series being produced. Most parents still love their children passionately and there are millions of happy, I'll-love-you-forever couples in the world as well.

I remind myself because, according to many newspapers and tv news reports, those things are gone. Phhttt. 

For the sake of staying balanced, rather than sliding toward the negative side? I'll remind myself that God is still God, He is still good and He still makes Himself known through people. Because He is and He does, you know. 

Sometimes we just have to hunt a bit harder to discover certain treasures, but we'll miss them when we resort to searching in dark places. Or if we stop searching altogether.

(She says as she crawls back up the stairs to bed to recuperate just one more day and where she'll watch a little tv from Today and a little tv from Yesterday, as well.)


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