Thoughts to Build On

Perhaps, life's being a miracle explains our
inability to describe its terms. But even if we do not know
what "misfortune" is and what it is not, for chameleon-like,
it can change from bad to good, depending on how we
view it, we would do well to "wisely assume" and "Be
Prepared".
Being prepared for the inevitability of what we
assume to be misfortune does not mean that we must dwell
on it, be preoccupied with it, nor dread its certain coming.
We should simply recognize the fact that: "This, too, will
change", and be reconciled to that eventuality so that,
should the inevitability of change lead to less favorable
circumstances, we shall be neither overwhelmed nor even
surprised. And being neither overwhelmed nor surprised
by misfortune, we shall respond as we have prepared to do,
with calm acceptance and serenity.
Thus having prepared for the ineVitability of
such misfortunes as we shall meet along the way, we can
continue our journey through life with poise and confi-
dence.
"To be forewarned is to be forearmed" is not
just a physical thing; it is, in the context of this chapter:
mental, emotional, and yes, especially, spiritual. To know
in advance that "not enjoyment and not sorrow, is our des-
tined end or way", is to "Be Prepared" with a realistic
attitude toward life which is not based on the "utopian
hopes", which Malcolm Muggeridge warned: "must in-
evitably be disappointed, soon perish".
So let us be forewarned and therefore fore-
armed-mentally, emotionally and spiritually-to "meet