Affirm the Good
Some weeks ago, the news that a nurse who worked in an aged care facility in Rockhampton had tested positive to Covid-19 was blazed across Australia. I heard from a friend in Perth. Last week, the facility was given the all clear. Not one other person had contracted it. Not a resident, not a visitor, not a staff member, not one. Now that was good, good news and it barely raised a whimper in the media. The protocols, which one resident’s daughter said were in place, worked. The staff ought to be congratulated. The trouble with public health is that when it works, we don’t notice: as with so many good things in our lives.
Being alert to what is wrong in our lives can blind us to the good that we have. Write a list of what is wrong with you, now write a list of your strengths. See, the first was easy, the ideas flowed, the second, well after a couple you stalled and had to think. The irony is that it is only from the good in our lives that we can change. God does not make junk. If we want change, we need to affirm and stand firm on what is good in us and in our situation.
Does this mean we will get the change we want? Not necessarily. Many of us are in situations or relationships that are fraught with difficulty and, often, they don’t look like they will change. But we can. We can affirm what is good in our lives, even if some things aren’t. That, in itself, changes us. We open our minds and hearts to a different horizon. We open ourselves to the ‘God’ possibilities in our situation. While we fixate on the wrong, we close ourselves down to the God at work in us and in the situation. But affirming the good gives us firm ground on which we can move forward.
Loving God, you have made me precious in your sight. Let me affirm your love so that your life may enter the dark and challenging places of my life. I ask this in Jesus’ name confident that you will hear me.
Sr Kym Harris osb
