2009.01.29 Thursday
Every cloud has a silver lining
As Oscar Wilde said, “No man is rich enough to buy back his past.”
Last Friday in one of my adults’ classes we were discussing our favourite proverbs. I explained the meaning of mine, “Every cloud has a silver lining,” by drawing a picture of the sun shining from behind a big black cloud and creating a silver shimmer from inside the darkness.
How often the worst things that happen to us end up bringing with them some kind of benefit. How often do you find yourself saying, “That was a terrible experience but if that hadn’t happened I never would have…” Something lost, something gained. Often a long time has to pass after a painful experience until we can finally seal the wound and say “Yes, even that cloud had a silver lining.”
After my class, I was out cycling around my local pond feeling rather blue. I was pondering something I had said that I shouldn’t have said, something I had done that I shouldn’t have done. I was battling these thoughts because I knew there was no use. What has been said or done is the past and can’t be changed. As I stared at the serene surface of the pond I felt a tear roll down my cheek. At that moment I saw the reflection of a big, black cloud in the water, the edge was ablaze with silver light from the sun’s rays from behind. It was the exact scene that I had tried to convey to my students earlier. Just as I stood motionless, open-mouthed in awe at the beautiful sight reflected in the water, the image of an early afternoon moon appeared in the water in the middle of the reflection of the cloud. At this point the tears streamed down my face.
How great to be alive, with all its joy, all its pain. And as long as we can still feel, however painful it may be, we are still alive.
Last Friday in one of my adults’ classes we were discussing our favourite proverbs. I explained the meaning of mine, “Every cloud has a silver lining,” by drawing a picture of the sun shining from behind a big black cloud and creating a silver shimmer from inside the darkness.
How often the worst things that happen to us end up bringing with them some kind of benefit. How often do you find yourself saying, “That was a terrible experience but if that hadn’t happened I never would have…” Something lost, something gained. Often a long time has to pass after a painful experience until we can finally seal the wound and say “Yes, even that cloud had a silver lining.”
After my class, I was out cycling around my local pond feeling rather blue. I was pondering something I had said that I shouldn’t have said, something I had done that I shouldn’t have done. I was battling these thoughts because I knew there was no use. What has been said or done is the past and can’t be changed. As I stared at the serene surface of the pond I felt a tear roll down my cheek. At that moment I saw the reflection of a big, black cloud in the water, the edge was ablaze with silver light from the sun’s rays from behind. It was the exact scene that I had tried to convey to my students earlier. Just as I stood motionless, open-mouthed in awe at the beautiful sight reflected in the water, the image of an early afternoon moon appeared in the water in the middle of the reflection of the cloud. At this point the tears streamed down my face.
How great to be alive, with all its joy, all its pain. And as long as we can still feel, however painful it may be, we are still alive.