"The world is a scary place right now," are the words that came out of his mouth as I stood at my front door with my hand holding my half-done hair-do in place.
It was a very busy morning, and I was rushing to fix my hair so I could get on with my day when the doorbell rang. Thinking maybe it was a friend of mine coming to say hi, I ran to answer the door, thinking the greeting would take just seconds. Instead, I was greeted by some kind older evangelists traveling door-to-door sharing the gospel and trying to give people hope.
I will not lie and say I was super excited to see them when I opened the door. In fact, I was annoyed and straightforward in signaling that I was half-dressed and hoping the hand holding my hair up was a sign enough that I didn't have time for this. But no, "here's your sign" did not work with these kind folks. They were on a mission and not taking no for an answer.
I stood for a couple of seconds and let them know that I do possess my own faith. The kind older woman in the duo started to take note of the fact that I was in the middle of fixing my hair when they came knocking, so she was strongly suggesting to her husband that I was good, and they should move on. That's when he said the words that struck me: "The world is a scary place right now, and we just want to give people hope." In that instant, I responded with "I don’t feel like it's a scary place, I think it's exciting!"
Startled by my response, he stepped back with a chuckle and said, "You're one of the few, then, who feels that way, so good for you." They wished me a good day, and I did the same, and I rushed back to the bathroom to finish my hair.
I thought on that interaction for days.
Do I feel fear? You better believe it. But I have learned to keep moving through fear. It may paralyze me momentarily, but never permanently. Do I feel fear about the state of our nation and world…yes, sometimes I do. Then I sit back, look at my life, and with a great deal of gratitude for all I have enjoyed, I acknowledge that “I want to be here!” I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now than here, in this life...at this moment.
I have often found myself discontented with my life, thinking if only I had more, I could do more. Yet, the most valuable lesson I continue to learn is that I must find the joy of where I find myself today in order to build toward tomorrow. With contentment comes peace. It comes with accepting that what comes my way today is leading me into a greater tomorrow if I will only “let” it. If I am discontent today with what I have, and life brings me more tomorrow, my discontentment will only be rewarded, and that, my friends, is not how life works.