WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD
REPOST-
I really enjoy the song “What A Wonderful World” performed by Louie Armstrong. The authors of the song describe the good and beautiful in our world. The day and night, rainbows, friends, and children.
It’s interesting that Armstrong would have accepted the invitation to sing a song with those type of lyrics in 1968, the climax of America’s racial conflicts.
My guess is, by the age of 68 he had enough wisdom to know that the only true change in people would start in their hearts.
A changed heart is a changed perspective and a changed perspective is a changed way of thinking. I think of all the nasty things Armstrong must have witnessed in his life. The oppression, segregation, and hate. Yet in spite of all he knew about human nature, he knew there was hope.
We all know that pain and suffering is part of this world. We know that death is inevitable for all of us. Everyone has witnessed or lived through difficult times, some obviously more than others.
My sister-in-law has a friend who’s eight-year-old daughter died of Cystic Fibrosis. She was at her friends house when the little girls ten-year-old brother offered to carry his little sisters emaciated body to the ambulance. She watched him carry her out with tears in his eyes.
That family will never be the same.
There is a popular Christian singer/songwriter who shortly after he released a song about his adopted daughter, was accidently killed by another family member. How does one cope with that in this life?
We see pictures of little kids in various parts of the world who are dying of hunger and disease. There isn’t anything wonderful for the eyes to find in those circumstances.
Maybe you’ve heard someone say something like, “If there is a God, how come He allows so much pain and suffering”?
I marvel at the life of Louie Armstrong, his dad left him and his mom for another woman. His mom ended up as a prostitute and Louie lived part of his life on the streets. He picked up the desire to play the Cornet from listening to the live music in downtown New Orleans.
What if he’d been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, say in California? Do you think he would have had the same determination and spirit that motivated him to perform non-stop right up until his death in 1971?
I consider the verse in 2nd Corinthians 5:8. “We are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”
Those children previously mentioned, according to this scripture are at their real home.
What if the old adage has some deeper meaning than first meets the ear. “Only the good die young.” What if our human perspective is relegated to a brain born in this flesh, with less comprehension of the other dimension where God’s word tells us our souls live forever?
In those horrific things that happen in the flesh, what if God is showing mercy to the flesh? What if God is showing mercy to the ones He calls home?
What if an omnipotent God can use those negative things in our lives to bring about wonderful things in the lives of others?
What if God could use a simple song by a man who had been oppressed, and yet put forgiveness in that man’s heart?
Maybe that little song would give people a better understanding of how we’re to treat one another, regardless of what we look like?
Hmmmmm….. “I think to myself, what a wonderful world.”
http://theregoi.com/
lainey
Friday, September 24, 2010 @ 1:34 pm
Floyd-
You make an interesting point. As we grow older and experience pain & disillusion-
ment, maybe God is being good by taking the good ones young. Those of us left
behind certainly do learn valuable lessons when an apparent tragic passing happens.
floyd
Friday, September 24, 2010 @ 4:37 pm
That’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me in a long time! Thanks for your thoughts I truly appreciate it.
Holly
Friday, September 24, 2010 @ 1:43 pm
“Maybe that little song would give people a better understanding of how we’re to treat one another, regardless of what we look like?”
Yet they don’t…..and that makes me sad.
floyd
Friday, September 24, 2010 @ 4:39 pm
It’s better than it was in 1968 and the more we teach our children the better it gets at least in this regard. Thanks for the feedback!
Stefani Laub
Friday, September 24, 2010 @ 7:11 pm
“A changed heart is a changed perspective. A changed perspective is a changed way of thinking”
^^ that really stuck out to me because I have been trying to change many things in my life including my heart and the way I think. And I believe everything happens for a reason and I really feel in my heart that God is truly speaking through your words and making an impact on others lives, and mine is one of them.
floyd
Friday, September 24, 2010 @ 8:22 pm
You might be a little biased… I can always count on you to be on my side. Your words are well beyond your years. Maybe God is calling you to do something with a talent that seems natural because he designed it?
Stephanie
Sunday, September 26, 2010 @ 9:15 pm
I don’t judge people on their looks, to me it’s all about personality. And when you learn to give of yourself to help others that is a beautiful feeling. I know, because I have been working with the elderly for sometime now. They have so much to offer and appreciate the smallest things I do for them. One of my favorite patients passed away in August. I worked with him and his wife for one year almost daily. We became the best of buddies. They were both Holocaust survivors and told me some amazing stories about things that really happened to them I could not even begin to imagine. But through all those horrible things they suffered, they came to America had a beautiful life together.
I will always honor and love Harry for sharing his most personal thoughts with me. Even though he was dying he greeted me everyday with a huge smile and hug, I was his” Stefina” he had a wonderful German accent. I miss him, our talks, and his advice. I hope he knows how much I was blessed to meet him and his wife. Up until the end, when I was trying to help him, he worried about me hurting myself, trying to lift him I thought how even in his pain, he never complained, and worried more about me than himself. To me that was selfless! Not many people would be that way. Living the awful things he endured in his lifetime he could have been a bitter mean person. He was just the opposite!!! He even used to speak at High Schools and Colleges he was a true hero to me. He taught me to be selfless. And my HEART GREW BIGGER because of him entering my life. Iche leibe dich Harry, you taught me a great lesson!
floyd
Monday, September 27, 2010 @ 6:47 am
Thanks for sharing that with all of us, you have been truly blessed.
Jolyn Lamb
Saturday, October 9, 2010 @ 11:01 pm
There was a time in my life when I wondered if there was a God. Why would he cause me so much pain and suffering? In fact, I lost my faith all together. As long as I can remember, all I wanted to be was a mom. The fairy tale: White picket fence, dog and station wagon (the one with wood paneling on the side). My dream also included a tree house in the backyard where I would have tea parties with my four children. That dream was shattered when I wasn’t able to carry a baby to full term. With each loss, I wondered why God was doing this to me. Everyone seemed to be pregnant around me. Why not me? I just knew I would be a loving mom. Why wasn’t God answering my prayers? After three lost pregnancies and test results that weren’t promising, we decided to adopt a baby. Going through the adoption process I had doubts and fears. Wondering if I could love a baby I didn’t conceive. Little did I know, all of my doubts and fears would disappear. When I looked into the newborn eyes of my son Nicholas, the love I felt in my heart was like no other. It was at that moment I realized God was always with me. He just had a different plan in mind. “What A Wonderful World”!
floyd
Sunday, October 10, 2010 @ 7:49 am
What beautiful words to describe your blessed life. Your son and family are blessed by God through you as well, I’m sure they know that. Thank you for transferring what is in your heart into words that eloquently bolster all of us. I’d say God also gifted in this area as well.
Thanks for sharing part of your life.