There are many things that qualify as the BANE of my existence but I’ll just share a few in the hope that you can relate and I’m sure you have some of your own that you’d like to add to the list.

First of all PASSWORDS (they are needed for anything and everything it seems and using the same password for everything seems to defeat the purpose of protecting me from whatever it is I need protecting from, which would be hackers, I presume?)

ROUNDABOUTS  (no explanation needed I assume?)

CHILD PROOF CAPS on medicine containers, (or on anything else for that matter),  litter boxes; (this one is self explanatory),  commercials during sporting events or any favorite TV program, (the commercial’s whole purpose is to interrupt my viewing at the precise moment when the action or dialogue is at its peak and my interest as a viewer is at its’ highest so that I will “stay tuned” of course),

ONE WAY STREETS,  when I urgently need to go the opposite way and my desired destination is even in sight but I can’t get there and must journey away from it rather than toward it.

AUTOMATED PHONE SYSTEMS,  where you cannot get a real, live person, even by pressing zero,  but are consigned to an infinite labyrinth of choices within the confines of the system, none of which will ever lead you to a real, live person should your reason for calling not fit into any category allowed (or maybe you just crave human conversation and the personal touch?  you want to know you’ve been heard)  warning: this particular “bane” may leave you frustrated, exhausted, screaming into your phone and regretting the time you’ve spent without a result to show for it.

STUDENTS WITH EARBUDS in both ears during class,  students on their phones during class, students impersonating other students

TAILGATERS (not the sports kind,  the kind in a car in traffic)

There are also many things in life that don’t BODE well and we would do well to take notice of them and spare ourselves, if that is possible, from their results.  Examples of these things abound, surrounding us at every turn, calling out to us, serving as a warning to the more discerning among us while blithely ignored or tragically unnoticed by those of us less aware.  Consider some of the most obvious;

the words RECALCULATING, RECALCULATING

the “road construction ahead, delays are possible”  sign  (meaning get off now, before its too late)

any statement prefaced with “now don’t take this the wrong way but . . . ”

flight delay due to mechanical difficulties

the words  “let me put you on hold for just a second”

sign  “not responsible for lost or stolen items”

the words, “don’t call us, we’ll call you”  or “the check’s in the mail” or “some restrictions may apply”  or “no returns, refunds or exchanges”  (buyer beware)

new, never before heard noises coming from your refrigerator, your furnace, your car, your washing machine, your hair dryer (basically any unnatural noises from any machine you depend on to fulfill a necessary function in your daily life)

and then there’s the BEAUTIFUL,  surrounding us at every turn, if only we had the time and the inclination to notice.  Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but there’s plenty of it to go around for everyone to see.  “He (God) has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men;” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)  The beauty of God’s creation surrounds us despite anything man has done to mar that perfect beauty which existed at creation.  With every sunrise and sunset we behold a glimpse of the beauty God has in store for us.

“How BEAUTIFUL on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!'”  (Isaiah 52:7)    Yes, God’s gospel, (good news) of salvation is beautiful to each and every one of us who receives it,  so beautiful in fact, that the very feet of those God uses to proclaim His message are beautiful to those who hear His life giving message.

“We can search the world over for the beautiful, but unless we carry it within us we will find it not.”  This is one of my favorite quotes.   And we do carry the beautiful within us when we have “Christ in us, our hope of glory”.  Our Creator has surrounded us with beauty so out of character amidst the brokenness we have brought into this world that we can’t help but behold it and have our breath taken away.  From the majesty of the mountains to a sky filled with stars, we can experience beauty simply by opening our eyes and our hearts to its presence.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.”  (Psalm 19:2)

sincerely,        Grace Day