The Sun and the Rain

A fun fact about the Wings of a Dove video is that it opens with a few interviews with people in North London asking if they know the song. I recognize one as a Jewish guy who used to come into our coffee bar in Covent Garden Christian Centre in the summer of 1983. We used to play the radio, and that’s probably where he first heard the song.

Anyway, let’s get to answering the question. I suppose right now I feel fine, physically, mentally and spiritually. But that can vary throughout the day. To quote the Madness song,
“I haven’t a doubt, that this is what life is all about,
The sun and the rain.”

The key thing is not to let troubles engulf you. A couple of years ago, I looked into feeling tone meditation. Now, I don’t see meditation as a religious thing or a magical thing. I just see it as something that people discovered that can prove helpful at times. We’d probably all discover it, but sometimes we are so busy in life, we don’t take the time to sit back and reflect.

To put it simply (and perhaps inaccurately), I sometimes view my thoughts as bubbles. As they come and go, I gently classify them as good, bad and neutral.

This doesn’t instantly make me feel perfect, but it gives me a sense of control.

Spiritually, the Bible has many verses that encourage trust in the Lord. For example:

Isaiah 26:3
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.

But if you look closely at the life of Isaiah and all the great heroes of faith in Scriptures, they didn’t sail through life with their feet above the ground. Even in the life of Jesus, apart from the cross, you can see that he had plenty of difficult times.

Heb 5:7
During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.

And the Apostle Paul does speak about the peace of God that passes understanding, but again, this was not something that came easily to him at all times. Throughout his epistles, he does sometimes touch on his physical, mental and spiritual anguish. Here are three examples.

Galatians 4:13-16
¹³ As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you, ¹⁴ and even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. ¹⁵ Where, then, is your blessing of me now? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. ¹⁶ Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

1 Thess 3:4-5
⁴ In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. ⁵ For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter had tempted you and that our labors might have been in vain.

2 Tim 4:14-16
¹⁴ Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. ¹⁵ You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message. ¹⁶ At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them.

These were just trials that were relevant to whatever he happened to be writing about. I’m sure that he had many others that he might not have mentioned. But it’s important for us to realize that being a Christian might help us cope better with troubles, but it doesn’t remove them in this world. That all happens in the world to come.

To conclude, I think that it’s good to be aware of how you feel and to take steps to improve your physical, mental and spiritual health. But it’s not good to expect or demand perfection and to get frustrated when you don’t achieve that. I remember as a child, I’d sometimes have a pain, and my parents would tell me that it might be a “growing pain”. I haven’t really researched that, but perhaps, as the body changes, you might get pains as it adjusts. That even happens nowadays. But now it’s about growing old 😀. It always lifted my spirits to hear the term “growing pain” because I was very keen to grow. And I think that most people, religious or otherwise, would agree that troubles often do help you to be a stronger, more empathetic person.

To close, here are two hymns that focus on our dependence on God in troubled times: