I said my prayers early this morning and asked for help and a return to a sense of gratitude and peace before I headed out to teach a bible study class alongside my dear friend Darleen to an incredible bunch of young people. That teaching opportunity went a long way to answering my prayer and put me in the right frame of mind for the day.
Later this morning my son and I were studying together out of a book that I purchased for us to use as a refresher course in the basics of our education. The work today was comprehension exercises. We read passages of classic works and then took turns asking each other the questions at the end of the piece. It was a great exercise for both of us. But the real gift came for me when the reading that came up was Sonnet 29 by my dear friend William Shakespeare. Here is that sonnet:
When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself, and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featur'd like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.
WHOA! I realize that this was written as a love poem but, in looking at in the larger scope of things, I got precisely the answer I needed. I spend far too much time comparing myself to others and seeing myself as coming up WAY short. But, if I take the time to step back and see all the great people that I love and that love me, I am reminded of my tremendous wealth and I can be like Shakespeare's car at the break of day and move through life with a song. The rest of my day has been ever so much better for this reminder.
