Sometimes you can be at the right place at the right time. Although not a frequent occurrence for most, who can say we should not be glad when such times come to pass? Yesterday, Easter Sunday, was such a time. The place -- the services celebrating Easter held at the Metro Calvary Church in Santa Monica. Why? Because a randomly chosen few individuals had the courage to share pieces of their lives with the rest of those in attendance that allowed us all to be made more aware of the fact that obstacles and even tragedies in our lives can be used to serve a greater purpose. They can be used to permit others around us to appreciate that no matter how bad the events of our past may seem, we all have been given the opportunity to embrace in our soul a hope that a brighter future is a divinely offered entitlement we should not overlook.
It has been my observation that most people, including myself, have the tendency to become self-absorbed with their own problems to the exclusion of others. And, as another general proposition, we also tend to just assume that the lives of most others we encounter have been somehow more graced with good fortune. Both are mistakes we would do well to resist making, however. Take for example, a strikingly attractive woman who presented herself to the assembly yesterday morning. Because our culture incessantly suggests that beauty is success, one’s first impression would most likely be that this woman was one of the “lucky ones”. Certainly she could not possibly have any problems of any significance, much less any problems that would even remotely approach the gravity of our own. But, then she began to speak, and in the telling of her story, she revealed to us all how so very shallow such preconceptions we are prone to make can be. When she finished, I’m sure many in the audience were stunned, as was I. On one level, I was taken aback by some of the tragic events that had occurred in her life, including having lived through a violent sexual assault at gun point along a jogging trail by a man with a nylon stocking over his head. In the aggregate, they made whatever problems I think I may have had in my life flee in embarrassment due to their insignificance. But on a deeper, and I think more important, level I was left encouraged by the shock that an individual could live through such experiences and still come out on the other side filled with the abundance of peace, comfort, hope and joy that she radiated yesterday before us all.
To me, and I think to many others who were in that room with me yesterday, her message, along with all those presented by the others who spoke as well, was a tremendous encouragement. It one sense, it told us that none of us are alone in our struggles. Life throws us all some curves, but there is always hope if we seek it. After listening to people like this woman, we were enabled to conclude that no matter how bad our problems may seem at the time we are having to work through them, we can cling to the belief that they are rarely, if ever, insurmountable. More importantly, however, we were made to appreciate the fact that frequently adversity serves the invaluable purpose of making us better people; especially in those instances when they result in calling an individual to place their life in service to a higher and nobler purpose than may have been originally pursued prior to the adversity entering their life. And, when that happens, yesterday we saw the result manifested by such people who have demonstrated the character and integrity to endure: peace, comfort, joy and hope.
Yes, I know some of you are cynics and may be thinking, “Isn’t it coincidental that that just happens to be the very message that is claimed to have been delivered by the man whose life Easter celebrates?” Well, I have to admit, yes, in fact, it is. But, in case you happen to be one of those cynics, before you discount everything that has been said so far for that reason alone, I would urge you to not take my word only. Before you disconnect, hear from a friend of mine who, although she is of another faith, graciously accepted my invitation to accompany me yesterday. As we left, she told me that for her the most encouraging part of the service were the testimonies presented by the people I have described. But, then she shared with me something that I found even more significant. She said that after hearing their stories, not only did the message about the meaning of Easter that followed their testimonies make more sense to her than ever before, but that, for reasons she couldn’t put into other words, she found herself “amazed.” She said she had never attended anything of its kind before that had left her “feeling so clean.” By that, I took her to mean that everything that had been said yesterday morning had allowed her to put things that had happened in her life into perspective and to have emerged from the experience with a hope that her future could be bright if she chooses to make it so. To me, that’s a good beginning. After all, isn’t life all about the choices we make, and if after yesterday she is led to make better choices, it gives not only her hope. It gives me hope as well. Who knows? We may all end up being the better for it. At minimum, in the future we will certainly have a better appreciation and love for our fellow sojourners as we travel this highway of life. To me, that’s a good thing.
© 2006 Clifford C. Nichols, Esq.
Cliff Nichols is an attorney practicing criminal defense/entertainment law in Santa Monica, California. He may be contacted regarding this editorial at either (310) 917-1083, cliff@cliffnicholslaw.com or www.cliffnicholslaw.com and you may join his blog at www.thedailystand.com