"I could see for a moment how if you ever took truly to heart the ultimate goodness and joy of things, even at their bleakest, the need to praise someone or something for it would be so great that you might even have to go out and speak of it to the birds of the air."(F. Buechner "Listening to Your Life" p. 18)
I've never actually bottomed out. I certainly have had moments where I could see the bottom approaching faster than I would like, but I've never actually hit it. I will have to admit that on the descent downward I find it very hard to imagine saying thank you Lord. Certainly when the metaphorical bungee chord stops the descent and we start heading back up it becomes easier to say so. And when the up down, up down cycle ends, even briefly, I can see some of the goodness in the descent.
Often we are told to look even in our worst moments and seek the goodness and joy in them. Usually we're able to do this only in comparison to someone else's troubles. I don't know if that is all that helpful actually.
Perhaps there is some goodness and joy in the bleakness in helping me to stop doing whatever is causing the problem for me. There is a joy and goodness in the presence of God that let's you go only so far. That there is a goodness and joy in Christ, that says things like "fear not," and "neither do I condemn you."
Blessings,
Ed
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