Unfortunately Fortunate

This post goes out to Paige...

I heard the an old story today, which goes like this...

A man in the village found himself in possession of a new horse.
And all the villagers said, "How fortunate."
While riding the horse, the man's son fell & broke his leg.
And all the villagers said, "How unfortunate."
While the son was still recovering, the army came to the village
and took all the young men off to war, except the man's son.
And all the villagers said, "How fortunate."

Sometimes, all it takes is a little more info for bad news to transform itself into good news.

When I heard the recent report regarding the cancerous cells in her CSF, I didn't like God again. Sometimes I just don't get his ways. But then one day I was in the course of my usual routine and God met me in a unique way, as seems to be his MO. I was doing calf raises while standing on the edge of our hearth (this being the only step in our flat Floridian house). For balance I was gripping the bricks with my fingertips and for sanity I was distracting myself from the burning sensation in my legs by reading a piece of caligraphy Melissa created for me. As I read excerpts from Shakespeare's Henry V's St Crispin's Day speech, a phrase struck me: "rainy marching in the painful field." Now I've always been inspired by the honor and glory contained in that speech, by the victory, by the end result, but this day I found myself focusing on the events preceding the glory, honor & victory. If I want the glory (which if it be a sin to covet honor, I am the most offending soul alive), then the battle comes first and the rainy marching in the painful field precedes even the battle. Suddenly I found myself content to trudge (think a knight's tale) in the mud & rain & cold of life. I still don't understand the problem of pain, but I can trudge.