So Many Beautiful Things

Another Way for week of April 1, 2022

So, What’s Right with the World?

We lament and grieve all that’s wrong with the world, but there are many beautiful things that keep me inspired, thankful, and pushing forward. So, what is right with the world? What is worth celebrating for you? I saw this “writer prompt” on Facebook and thought it would make a good column. Here are mine:

Adult children caring for their aging parents.

Grandparents taking care of their grandchildren.

Parents adopting children that weren’t born to them.

Good soil in which to plant and grow some of our food each year.

Flowers to brighten the scenery.

Mountains which heighten the landscape here in our lovely valley.

Creeks and rivers which roll into bays and oceans—flowing almost endlessly all around the world!

My grandchildren going to schools where they are surrounded by children and teachers and languages from all over the world.

Kids with musical talent who find their way to Hollywood or Nashville or New York City to make their dreams come true, often cheered on by bigger stars than they’ll ever be.

Kids who stay in their hometowns or countryside near their parents and grandparents and cousins.

Our grandchildren getting to visit the amusement park where I once applied for a job after high school—a famous park in Florida which is now 50 years old—where I never ended up working.

Churches which have gone through the roughest time they’ve probably gone through in decades, coming back with new vision and outreach and love for each other.

A cat and dog both curling up on my husband’s lap or chair, keeping him warm on a windy night in late March.

Volunteers who sort donated eyeglasses that will spread to people all over the world, who will maybe clearly see their family’s faces for the very first time.

Firefighters who willingly go into burning buildings for people they don’t even know.

Police officers who walk into a mess where they don’t know how it’ll turn out.

Doctors and nurses and janitors who walk into hospital rooms and bathrooms without knowing whether they will fall ill next.

People praying daily for the safety of people they’ve never met in countries they’ve never seen.

People planting trees they won’t see grow to their full height.

Kids cleaning ditches and roadsides and creeks they didn’t dirty.

Hot water to bathe in. Cold, clean water to drink.

Men and women who work on cement warehouse floors all day for 20-40 years.

Maybe sometimes, columnists who write short lines instead of long complicated sentences and leave space in the newspaper for others!

The sun coming up every single morning, whether we see it or not.

A God who is there, whether we see or sense this presence or not.

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So what’s on your list? What is right with the world? Try your hand! You might surprise yourself.

Comment here or send to me at anotherwaymedia@yahoo.com or Another Way Media, P.O. Box 363, Singers Glen, VA 22834.

Another Way is a column by Melodie Davis, in syndication since 1987. She is the author of nine books. Another Way columns are posted at FindingHarmonyBlog.com a week after newspaper publication.