(Post #5)—
Lo siento que no tengo tiempo hoy para traducir a espanol hoy.
___________________________________________________
And now to wax spiritual about our latest (political) event--
There we were, happy to finally, finally be moving forward toward the day that I can return to teaching because David will finally, finally, FINALLY have a roommate, so as to begin his Supported Living Services program. (On My Own).
We had even received a letter confirming which apartment would be ours.
Then, it happened.
Disappointment in an email. Through a complication resulting from housing regulations, our apartment was lost. So, here we remain, living in boxed-up Limbo. How disappointing.
Disappointment is impossible to avoid at times, isn't it? Yet Christians like me, and other followers of God, are supposed to turn our disappointments into opportunities to "bend one's will to that of The Lord".
Well, today, it's got me beat. I just can't get over it...
And now to show why it is that we really, really MUST find a way to get me back into my English-teaching classroom:
Let's cheer me up with a vocabulary lesson! Root words-- my favorite!
Ever wonder how spirituality relates to the root words in "disappointment"?
Well, here goes. Let's begin with the word "Dis":
Thanks, Virgil! This helps me forgive myself for having inadvertently wandered through Disappointment's Door, losing my normal optimistic composure. And, Virgil's poem helps me see how that ancient deity lives on in modern English. Today, the word dis is synonymous with not.
Some examples are:
So, when we discourage people instead of encouraging them; when we dislike them instead of trying to see something likeable; when we allow disappointment to distract us from counting our blessings, we are, in a sense, accidentally worshiping the God of Negativity.
Next, let's look at the other part of the word disappoint which is, of course, appoint.
No, not in the appointed office, governmental appointment sort of meaning, although English speakers have used it that way for hundreds of years.
In the word "disappoint", we mean appoint in the sense of setting an appointment- in David's and my case an appointment for 5:00 pm, July 16th, 2018 to sign a lease. Not simply for a new apartment, but for a new lease on life!
(To understand why it's more than just an apartment, please read my post of July 27 entitled"Will you need to cash out your retirement to help your adult son or daughter?").
Today's disappointment stings, but I also know that, as Teresa of Avila wrote, "All things pass".
Across a vista of nearly six decades, I look back on the journey of my life, at previous disappointments that worked themselves out in the long run, and I witness that the power of "Dis" was just an illusion. The God who is healing this world and all in it, the God of love- of tikkun olam- allows the breaking of appointments and other suffering for a good reason. Somehow, there's a better apartment than the one for which we got all packed up. Or, perhaps not. Perhaps the good God has other plans I can't see now because I'm merely human:
"Patience achieves everything." - Teresa of Avila
(Post #5)
Then, it happened.
Disappointment in an email. Through a complication resulting from housing regulations, our apartment was lost. So, here we remain, living in boxed-up Limbo. How disappointing.
Disappointment is impossible to avoid at times, isn't it? Yet Christians like me, and other followers of God, are supposed to turn our disappointments into opportunities to "bend one's will to that of The Lord".
Well, today, it's got me beat. I just can't get over it...
And now to show why it is that we really, really MUST find a way to get me back into my English-teaching classroom:
Let's cheer me up with a vocabulary lesson! Root words-- my favorite!
Ever wonder how spirituality relates to the root words in "disappointment"?
Well, here goes. Let's begin with the word "Dis":
- "Dis" is the ancient Roman name for that creature whom the Greeks called "Hades", the king of hell- the God of Negativity and Pessimism. In The Aeneid, Virgil wrote:
Thanks, Virgil! This helps me forgive myself for having inadvertently wandered through Disappointment's Door, losing my normal optimistic composure. And, Virgil's poem helps me see how that ancient deity lives on in modern English. Today, the word dis is synonymous with not.
Some examples are:
- like/ dislike
- encourage/ discourage
- ease/ disease
So, when we discourage people instead of encouraging them; when we dislike them instead of trying to see something likeable; when we allow disappointment to distract us from counting our blessings, we are, in a sense, accidentally worshiping the God of Negativity.
Next, let's look at the other part of the word disappoint which is, of course, appoint.
No, not in the appointed office, governmental appointment sort of meaning, although English speakers have used it that way for hundreds of years.
In the word "disappoint", we mean appoint in the sense of setting an appointment- in David's and my case an appointment for 5:00 pm, July 16th, 2018 to sign a lease. Not simply for a new apartment, but for a new lease on life!
(To understand why it's more than just an apartment, please read my post of July 27 entitled"Will you need to cash out your retirement to help your adult son or daughter?").
Today's disappointment stings, but I also know that, as Teresa of Avila wrote, "All things pass".
Across a vista of nearly six decades, I look back on the journey of my life, at previous disappointments that worked themselves out in the long run, and I witness that the power of "Dis" was just an illusion. The God who is healing this world and all in it, the God of love- of tikkun olam- allows the breaking of appointments and other suffering for a good reason. Somehow, there's a better apartment than the one for which we got all packed up. Or, perhaps not. Perhaps the good God has other plans I can't see now because I'm merely human:
- Does the Holy Spirit want me to quit feeling sorry for myself as the reason for this housing delay is that I have too much money in retirement set aside for David's Special Needs Trust? How many parents my age were unable to save anything at all for their disabled offspring?
- Or, is God using this "tribulation" to improve my plot for the book I'm writing? (one needs conflict to write a good story);
- Is God providing David and me an opportunity to pay our dues and earn our stripes, as we struggle alongside others fighting this final American Revolution? (... the Disability Revolution!!)
- This event is helping me to feel greater compassion for the too-many families running from nearby wildfires. After all, our stuff is in boxes; their stuff is burned.
(Post #5)
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