Pollyanna, is a classic piece of children’s literature about a young orphan girl sent to live with her grumpy aunt. Despite the situation, Pollyanna always seemed cheerful. Her cheerfulfness was the result of the “glad” game she would play with her father when he was alive. The point of the game was to look for for the good in every situation.
I have to remind myself that througout the ages people have had wars, starvation, disasters, and yes, plagues. We are faced with similar challenges, just like generations before us. We call these unprecedented times, but looking back throughout history they have faced similar challenges.
How do we get through these events? It is far too easy to look at all of problems, instead we need to look for the positive! As Pollyanna-ish as it may seem, I’m trying to mentally play the glad game. The game is actually very easy to play and after a while my attitude is upbeat. Just look at the scores of volunteers who help family, friends, neighbors and stangers. Countless number of volunteers are sewing masks and then donating, people are running errands for each other, helping distribute food, giving blood, and the list goes on. We can be glad…there is so much positive things going on around us if we just look and focus on the positve.
I am reminded that the fruits of the Spirit, “love, joy, peace, patiences, kindness, goodness, faithfulness gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22) all are traits in the classic novel, Pollyanna. I see the fruits of the Spirit all around me being demonstated everyday in a world that is full of chaos.