Of course it isn't always in us to be positive about a situation, and it isn't always something to strive for anyway--Jesus wept.
And we have hope. Given Who promised, it can be joyful hope. So, at least in theory, we can, paradoxically, mourn in joyful hope.
It makes "Accentuate" sound kind of tinny by comparison.
Speaking of tinny, at Christmas we hear "A thrill of hope--the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn", and, "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas just like the ones I used to know, where the treetops glisten and children listen to hear sleigh bells in the snow." The one acknowledges pain and hope, the other is a curated memory.
2 comments:
I heard the phrase "toxic positivity" for the first time yesterday and thought immediately of some Christians who will not acknowledge difficulty and pain because they have a pagan superstition that this somehow makes it happen and invites the vampire over the threshold. We have not only the examples of Jeremiah and the prophets, but of our Lord himself against this.
A good distinction about the Christmas songs versus carols, BTW.
And I get the distinct impression that Irving Berlin did not have to shovel the walks.
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