Life really is all about perspective, isn't it?

I was thinking this morning about my mom.  She left her home and her parents to live in abject poverty with her newly minted husband and their infant baby girl.  She went from using disposable wipes to a washcloth, from having a well insulated home to wind blowing through the walls.  And this is no reflection on my father.  He worked hard and built a prosperous and beautiful life for his family out of ashes.

But what is it about her that allows her to float through life, unscathed by her circumstances.  I think it must be the peaceful awareness that:  This too shall pass.

This life is so temporary.  And all in it inconsequential.  Beyond is the true measure of our existence.

My mother should be a dark cloud.  She has been through enough grief in her life to make anyone fold into depression.  She could be walking around, feeling sorry for herself, saying, "Woe is me, I have had such a hard life."  But she doesn't.  And she WOULDN'T.

She is happy.  Always happy.  Sometimes mockingly so.  It's almost like she wakes up and subconsciously says, "What's the worst that could happen today?  I die!  Hooray!!!  Then I would get to be in paradise with my daughter, mother, grandson, sister, etc..."  If the worst that could happen is death, BRING it ON!!

And therein lies the perspective.   How would we look at our day if we can look it, and all the trials in it, and say, "HA!  You don't matter in the long run!"

This must be what Paul means when he says, "Death has lost it's sting."  We should have constant joy, if only in knowing that an eternity with our most loved ones awaits.  Can you believe that Jesus made that kind of peace available for us.  Thank you Lord.