He settled comfortably against the wood and took his suffering as it came and the fish swam steadily and the boat moved slowly through the dark water. There was a small sea rising with the wind coming up from the east and at noon the old man's left hand was uncramped.
"Bad news for you, fish," he said and shifted the line over the sacks that covered his shoulders.
Bad news. It comes in many forms. These past weeks, as all my faithful disciples know, I've been struggling with some blue feelings. That's bad news coming from the inside. Then there's bad news at a job. Today, I spent a good portion of my time rescheduling a concert that was supposed to happen at the library. It was a series of miscommunications between myself and the musician. So, bad news--concert doesn't happen tonight.
Wherever bad news comes from--inside, outside, on the job, at home, in a classroom--it's tough. It can knock you on your ass. In fact, that's the first thing that any bad news does. It lays you out flat. It's the seconds and minutes following bad news that makes the difference. You can stay on your back, staring up at the ceiling in a daze, or you can get back on your feet, say to yourself "that sucked," and do something about it.
Now, some bad news if more difficult to deal with than others. The concert reschedule today was easy bad news. A poster, four or five emails, a social media post, and personal notifications later.--Voila! Bad news changed into a minor inconvenience. The bad news of my blue funks are a little more problematic. It knocks me down and takes me time to get back up.
After I took care of rescheduling the concert this morning, I played catch-up from my vacation. Answered my emails and messages. Talked to a few performers to schedule new programs. At lunchtime, I stepped outside, sat on the steps of the library, and enjoyed the blue sky and smell of the flower gardens. Watched clouds drift past the spires of the Methodist church across the street. Let the sun fill me with vitamin D.
For a few minutes, I felt free and happy.
Saint Marty's blessing of the day: sun, blue sky, and a church.
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