Sunshine and Shadow

I am ashamed to say how irritated I get with petty complaining. There seems to be a lot of it lately on my Facebook wall and it is incredibly tempting to lash out and cyberly slap certain people smack across their face in hopes of waking them from their numb, self centered state. My goodness it is days before Thanksgiving. What would it take to move us on from our continual attitude of "it didn't go my way and this Country, government, company, person, individual, human being is a piece of crap because of that"?

I can't help but wonder if pondering on things such as these would help.

From my Facebook wall the last two days:
From Congo: Helicopter gunships, tanks, artillery just north of Goma. Very grave situation. Pray 4 wisdom 4 @WorldRelief staff serving Goma.
URGENT: M23 rebels have advanced to the eastern DR Congo city of Goma. Our staff there reported heavy fighting, and thousands of families are streaming into the city for protection. 

From any news media you choose to read:
At least 95 Palestinians have been killed and more than 740 wounded in five days, Palestinian medical sources tell NBC News, as rockets continue to hit Jewish state.

A video my daughter asked me to watch this week to help understand what her coworkers (Burmese refugees) have lived through: The Road a Journey into Burma's War Torn State

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iholvIClPM

I love art, Renaissance being my favorite. I, not being an artist am amazed at what the Masters were/are able to do on a flat piece of canvas to bring perspective, depth and beauty.

This is probably my favorite painting, it's extra special that I stumbled upon it one day in Florence in a church, not even realizing beforehand that it was there. I cried, I was touched to my core that I was standing in front of it live, a masterpiece from hundreds of years ago.

The painting is called, Adoration of the Shepherds, painted by Domenico Ghirlandaio 1482-85.

I read this this morning:

"All the masterpieces of painting contain both light and shadow. By them the artist highlights certain features of his subject, and they provide contrast and harmony to reveal beauty or character."

"A happy life is not one filled with only sunshine, but one that uses both light and shadow to produce beauty."

I understand that hard times happen, conflict comes, life and people can be irritating.  I wholeheartedly believe how you respond, handle, deal with the challenges in life is what greatly molds you into the soul you will become and grow into in your later years. 

What is our desire to be known for as we age? A witch on a broom or a person of integrity and grace? 

As we live each day and every step of our journey of life here on earth it's our choice how we respond, that response is who we become.

Don't despise the shadows that are brought into your life, they can be used to produce a masterpiece.