{"id":2736,"date":"2012-04-25T09:26:04","date_gmt":"2012-04-25T16:26:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/?p=2736"},"modified":"2012-04-25T09:26:04","modified_gmt":"2012-04-25T16:26:04","slug":"good-times-and-bad-a-considered-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/2012\/04\/25\/good-times-and-bad-a-considered-response\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Times and Bad\u2014A Considered Response"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"Boots on Dock, mixed media, 46×27, Click for larger view.<\/a><\/h6>\n

Following on from accepting things as they are,
\nhere’s more counsel from the\u00a0Ecclesiastical\u00a0sage:
\nWhen things are good, be happy;<\/strong>
\n but when times are bad, consider:<\/strong>
\n God has made the one<\/strong>
\n as well as the other.<\/strong>*<\/p>\n

Accept things. Also accept your emotions.<\/p>\n

Be happy and don’t feel bad about it.
\nSmile when things are good.
\nAnd when they aren’t, don’t resent the smiles of others.<\/p>\n

Easy times and hard, God has made them both.<\/p>\n

Note that it doesn’t say, \u201cWhen things go bad, get mad, sad, or like you’ve been had.\u201d\u00a0Ecclesiastes passed up all those chances for (English) rhymes.\u00a0Rather, it says, \u201cconsider\u201d (and where’s the rhyme in that?)<\/p>\n

Consider what? For starters, that God made one as well as the other.<\/p>\n

Job said, Man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.<\/strong>**\u00a0It’s part of life since the fall . . . and the spring, summer and winter, too.<\/p>\n

Whatever comes, take your bat and swing.\u2028Hit, strike or foul, you’re still in the game.
\nOr walk . . .
\nYou’ll find great grace in a walk.<\/p>\n

Happiness, a wonderful emotion. It’s good for the bones; it helps the face. Be happy as much as you can and as often as you can.<\/p>\n

But when things are hard, accept it, reflect on it, learn, deepen faith.<\/p>\n

Don’t put on a false smile; God doesn’t expect it and it’s not honest.<\/p>\n

Depth is one of the values He wants . . . and we want.<\/p>\n

Good times and bad.
\nBoth are of God.
\nTry and be happy.
\nAnd when you can’t, face it, learn from it, and move on.<\/p>\n

Either way, things will change.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

___________________<\/p>\n

*Ecc 7:14
\n**Job 5:7<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whatever situation we’re in, easy or hard, it’s bound to change. Here’s a word on how to respond to each.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2736"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2736"}],"version-history":[{"count":41,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3182,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2736\/revisions\/3182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}