“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” – Psalm 118:24
I recall once asking my mother what it was like living through the war years, World War II that is. My question was not about the war itself, but domestic life during those times with so many young men, mostly, away serving in the military, not to mention the rationing and sacrificing required by everyone to support the war effort, and the dreadful fear people must have felt with practically the entire world engaged in bloody conflict. I’m a baby-boomer born after the war, yet not too long afterwards, but still close enough to have felt a connection to it, which raised my curiosity to ask my mom that question.
Her answer was surprisingly simple. “We just lived every day one day at a time,” she said. Over time I grew to understand what she meant in her brief response, that people still got up every day, sent the kids off to school, went to work, and tended to chores. Kids came home in the afternoon, played with their friends, families shopped for groceries, socialized with neighbors, maintained their homes, planted gardens, and lived ordinary lives as much as possible despite the efforts and inherent tragedies of war – simply put, living every day one day at a time.
In his book Run with the Horses Eugene Peterson poses a question we must all consider during difficult circumstances: “Will I focus my attention on what is wrong with the world and feel sorry for myself? Or will I focus my energies on how I can live at my best in this place I find myself?” Peterson goes on to point out that “it is always easier to complain about problems than to engage in careers of virtue.” Thinking back on my mother’s seemingly flippant response that day, I think she was using it as a teaching moment in terms of what Peterson wrote.
Peterson later added this: “There are two kinds of people: some look at life and complain of what is not there; others look at life and rejoice in what is there.” The Psalmist expressed it even more beautifully, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it,” for every day is a day the Lord has made, and we can choose to either complain about it or rejoice in it. Credit those courageous citizens back then living one day at a time and the impact they had on the outcome of the War. May we be inspired by that great generation to do the same in our own difficult and chaotic times.