There is always Greater. . .

“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche

I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition.
Martha Washington

(a new spring pretty at the garden shop / Julie Cook / 2015)

Maybe it’s the sudden sore throat.
Maybe it’s the weight of so much crashing down at once.
Maybe it’s the frustration rising from bewildering encounters.
Maybe it’s watching those you love slowly disappear
Maybe it’s the commute
Maybe it’s the mountain of paperwork
Maybe it’s the realization that things will never be the same
Maybe it’s the uphill battle
Maybe it’s the feeling of being alone in all of this
Maybe it’s the intense sense of missing Mom
Maybe it’s attempting to meet the situation with kindness,
only to have malice spit back in return
Maybe it’s the feeling of defeat and the lack of strength. . .

Yet in the midst of the struggles,
the sorrows,
the frustrations. . .
the one single component which keeps drawing me back,
the one remaining constant in this shifting debacle,
the one ray of hopefulness which keeps me holding on
Is the fact, mind you,
not a thought,
not an idea,
not a theory,
but merely a fact. . .
That there is One who is greater then all things which now rest upon my shoulders
That there is One who is greater than anything that can come my way
That there is One who is greater than anything that walks upon this very planet.
And it is to this One, this single solitary entity, who I will call upon to carry me through.

On the day I called, thou didst answer me,
my strength of soul thou didst increase.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
thou dost preserve my life;
thou dost stretch out thy hand against the wrath of my enemies,
and thy right hand delivers me.
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
thy steadfast love, O Lord, endures for ever.
Do not forsake the work of thy hands.
Psalm 138:3 and 7-8)