Bumper Stickers

So, I'm dropping off kids at school today when I read a bumper sticker on the car in front of me:

ALL IS NOT WELL!

Maybe I'm just getting old, but that bumper sticker seriously caused me to think. (Like, I literally paused in the drive-thru lane, thinking. Next thing I know, I'll start preferring AM radio to FM. Eeek!)

So here's what I thought about (while the crossing guard hollared for me to "move along."):

1. That bumper sticker is an interesting play on the LDS Hymn, "All is Well."
Clearly the person who put the bumper sticker there was making a statement about the "faithfulness" or "pollyanna-ness" of Latter-day Saints.

2. That bumper sticker promotes a completely different life-philosophy than my own.
Yes, I think there are horrible and difficult things going on in the world--and at times in our very own personal lives.

I agree, on the surface "all is not well."

But, in my heart, in my core, I actually think a statement like "all is not well" reinforces fear/negativity/hate/fill-in-the-blank.

And I would rather not blanket my thinking or my life with fear/negativity/hate/fill-in-the-blank.

I guess what I think about that bumper sticker is--that it's important for me to learn how to act in love--when everything around me, my natural instinct, tells me to act in fear/negativity.

And you know what, it's not easy.

It's SO not easy.

I think it's 2 million times harder to act in love.

For example, when my bank account is low and it's my own fault, what I want to do is blame someone else.

But, my heart tells me I shouldn't.

And when the yellow bus driver yells at me, "MOVE YOUR EXPLETIVE CAR," I want to say, "Up yours you big fat yellow bus driver."

But, my heart knows I shouldn't.

When the kids forget to clean the catbox for the 2,305th time, I want to say, "WHY am I the only one who does anything around here?"

But, my heart knows I shouldn't.

And when I hear about someone really hurting another human being, what I want to do is kick their big bahookie. Really. Just a slap. Maybe some soap suds in their sprinkler system. Something to have them FEEL the pain they just caused.

But, my heart knows I shouldn't.

All around us we can see examples that validate how the world isn't great. (Or, how someone else's world is great--when they seem so undeserving.) But, I don't think that is the world we live in.

I don't.

I think we live in a world filled with love. A world filled with good people. People trying their best to find their place, their way in the world. People trying to overcome pain and hurt. People trying to share the best part of themselves with others.

I think, and I really mean this, at the end of the day, "all is well."

Love does prevail.