Half Full or Half Empty?

                                                                                                                                                         Would you describe yourself as a person who sees life as a glass half empty or half full?
At times we are quick to label others as either half empty or half full. Most of us are both, depending on the moment, the mood or the isssue. We are certainly tested in the world’s political climate today! Thomas and Jane Carlyle were husband and wife., marrying in 1826. Thomas was born near Dumfries (1795) in the Scottish Border area and studied at the University of Edinburgh and for several years was preparing for Ordination to the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) but eventually went in a different direction though never giving up belief in the Divine. Jane was born in Haddington, (1801) due east of Edinburgh. The poems below reflect a half empty and a half full approach to life! Take a moment to ponder both poems and how they challenge Hope, Life, and Mankind. Thomas Carlyle’s Latin title Cui Bono, poses the question – to whose benefit!

CUI BONO?
What is hope? A smiling rainbow
Children follow through the wet;
‘Tis not here, still yonder, yonder:
Never urchin found it yet.

What is life? A thawing iceboard
On a sea with sunny shore:-
Gay we sail; it melts beneath us;
we are sunk, and seen no more.

What is man? A foolish baby,
Vainly strives, and fights, and frets;
Demanding all, deserving nothing;-
One small grave is what he gets.       Thomas Carlyle 1795-1881

NAY, THIS IS HOPE
Nay, this is Hope: a gentle dove,
that nestles in the gentle breast,
Bringing glad tidings from above
Of joys to come and heavenly rest.

 And this is Life: ethereal fire
Striving aloft through smothering clay;
mounting, flaming, higher, higher!
Till lost in immortality.

And Man – oh! hate not nor despise
The fairest, lordliest work of God!
Think not He made the good and wise
Only to sleep beneath the sod!         Jane Welsh Carlyle 1801-1866

Prayer:
Holy God,
at times we ask –
What ‘s the point? What is life
about? At times
we question your presence
and at times we
wrestle with your apparent absence.
Rescue you us we pray,
from our hubris. At times
we have grown too clever to believe in
your mystery and wonder. Yet deep
within our being we yearn for reassurance
of both your birth and resurrection. Forgive
our demands for proof when all around us
in nature and in humanity we see the best
and at times the worst,
your presence and your absence.
Fill all that is empty within us
with a godly measure of your grace
and mercy as we go about
our day. Amen.