"Emmie, You're Bad Luck."

Bill was in his early 70s when the cancer hit in force.  He lost several pounds and found himself so exhausted from the treatment that he decided that it was time to let go of this mortal world.  Emily, his wife, stayed strong by his side throughout the whole ordeal and, although it was hard to her to accept his decision, she was supportive in the end.  The doctors had prescribed some painkillers to deal with the pain so he spent most of those last weeks in and out of sleep, all the while having Emily right there with him.

One day Bill woke up from his nap and turned over to Emily and spoke, "Is that you Emmie?"  He spoke so softly that she had to lean in to hear.  "Remember years ago when I was in the Veteran's hospital?  You were right there with me, taking care of my wounds.  Do you remember when our house went up in the fire and we lost everything?  Again you were right there with me.  And now, as I'm fading into death, you're right there.  Emmie, for over 55 years you've been right there through all the hardships."

She smiled and reached for his hand.  Bill smiled and looked right into his wife's eyes, "You know Emmie, I've figured something out: you're bad luck."

We all know people who deflect, who divert, who blame, and who are plagued by negativity.  Negativity is a poison that infects from the inside out.  It is highly-infectious too.  We have all found ourselves in those situations when just being in the presence of a particular person can make us negative, or blaming, or turn us into a gossiper.  Or, like in the situation above, the traumatic struggles of life can propel us into vertiginous states of negativity and blame.

This should not be so.  Instead, when we, as Christians, find ourselves inching towards negativity, we need to take a deep breath, make a short prayer, and remember all of the blessings God has bestowed upon us already.  Remember, it is thankfulness that should characterize our lives.  Therefore, although Christians face many of the debilitating life circumstances as un-believers, our attitude and posture towards them should and will be altogether different.  Let us then press into God for our peace and for our joy whenever we feel the creeping of negativity in and around our lives!