From the book of Psalms
By Elita Sohmer Clayman
Weeping may remain in the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. What a lovely phrase, line, saying or whatever you want to name it. I heard this on my soap opera the other day and say what you may about soap operas, they come up with some excellent expressions among the provocative story lines. This is from the Book of Psalms.
How can we as mortals explain this saying? I think of it this way. Many times we have sadness and it seems to escalate in the evening hours. Sometimes in the early morning when we awaken and are refreshed from our sleep, we take time out to rejoice in our blessings.
Many people on their answering machines will end their message to the caller with, “Have a blessed day.” That sentiment is particularly relevant in this rush-rush society we live in. Times are tough now for many people without jobs or losing their homes, etc. So we who are blessed with having these things can look upon ourselves as being particularly favored and fortunate in our good happenings.
I myself some days wake up and think, “This will be a special day.” I sit down at my office desk in my home where I write these articles for magazines and online websites and blogs and write a list of my blessed things that we all take for granted. I also write down what pleasant things I wish to happen today. Pleasant could mean receiving a package I have waited for or going to get my hair done. It can mean writing a new and inspiring article. It can mean getting a good report about a test I may have taken for medical reasons. It can mean thinking about going back to my ballroom dancing and maybe competing next year with my professional coach. It could mean going to see my grandchildren or taking my two older grandsons to dinner. Lists can be important in making the day happy and anticipating a good many hours.
So if there is weeping in the night, then certainly we shall rejoice in the a.m. hours when we count our blessings and anticipate our good happenings for that day. Good friends and delightful family members are what we have to rejoice about and if we can feel the happiness and celebrate and revel in these moments then we are surely having a blessed day. That day will be remembered when maybe something goes wrong on another day.
Dear friends of mine via the email and reading my dance columns in dance magazines made me two glass paintings. They painted on thick glass with acrylic-type paint pictures of dancers dancing the Waltz and the Samba and shipped them to me along with special hooks to hang them. They appear in a place of honor on my living room wall and every week when I dust them off during cleaning time, I rejoice in their friendship.
So peace and tranquility and rejoicing can be had in many ways. Another thing we do that gives us pleasure and joy is our ballroom dancing that we have done since November 2, 1977, which is almost thirty-two years now. The happiness I derive from competing with my coach, to doing showcases in the studio, to keeping my mind active and functioning and to just plain social dancing is certainly a plus for happiness. Ballroom dancing gives me a boost and makes life interesting and happy. I could not imagine my life without it now.
Weeping may remain in the night, but rejoicing surely comes in the morning and, may I so boldly add, it comes in all day long too.
Elita Sohmer Clayman
Baltimore, Maryland August 1, 2009
Weeping may remain in the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. What a lovely phrase, line, saying or whatever you want to name it. I heard this on my soap opera the other day and say what you may about soap operas, they come up with some excellent expressions among the provocative story lines. This is from the Book of Psalms.
How can we as mortals explain this saying? I think of it this way. Many times we have sadness and it seems to escalate in the evening hours. Sometimes in the early morning when we awaken and are refreshed from our sleep, we take time out to rejoice in our blessings.
Many people on their answering machines will end their message to the caller with, “Have a blessed day.” That sentiment is particularly relevant in this rush-rush society we live in. Times are tough now for many people without jobs or losing their homes, etc. So we who are blessed with having these things can look upon ourselves as being particularly favored and fortunate in our good happenings.
I myself some days wake up and think, “This will be a special day.” I sit down at my office desk in my home where I write these articles for magazines and online websites and blogs and write a list of my blessed things that we all take for granted. I also write down what pleasant things I wish to happen today. Pleasant could mean receiving a package I have waited for or going to get my hair done. It can mean writing a new and inspiring article. It can mean getting a good report about a test I may have taken for medical reasons. It can mean thinking about going back to my ballroom dancing and maybe competing next year with my professional coach. It could mean going to see my grandchildren or taking my two older grandsons to dinner. Lists can be important in making the day happy and anticipating a good many hours.
So if there is weeping in the night, then certainly we shall rejoice in the a.m. hours when we count our blessings and anticipate our good happenings for that day. Good friends and delightful family members are what we have to rejoice about and if we can feel the happiness and celebrate and revel in these moments then we are surely having a blessed day. That day will be remembered when maybe something goes wrong on another day.
Dear friends of mine via the email and reading my dance columns in dance magazines made me two glass paintings. They painted on thick glass with acrylic-type paint pictures of dancers dancing the Waltz and the Samba and shipped them to me along with special hooks to hang them. They appear in a place of honor on my living room wall and every week when I dust them off during cleaning time, I rejoice in their friendship.
So peace and tranquility and rejoicing can be had in many ways. Another thing we do that gives us pleasure and joy is our ballroom dancing that we have done since November 2, 1977, which is almost thirty-two years now. The happiness I derive from competing with my coach, to doing showcases in the studio, to keeping my mind active and functioning and to just plain social dancing is certainly a plus for happiness. Ballroom dancing gives me a boost and makes life interesting and happy. I could not imagine my life without it now.
Weeping may remain in the night, but rejoicing surely comes in the morning and, may I so boldly add, it comes in all day long too.
Elita Sohmer Clayman
Baltimore, Maryland August 1, 2009
1 comment:
Very excellent article on Book of Psalms saying.. Go girl with these inspiring stories...
Lucia from Arizona
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