How Can the Bad be Good?

Before committing ourselves to a journey of fostering gratitude, it is reasonable to enquire, “How can we give thanks for what seems like a loss?” For an answer to this we look at Nature all around, so perfect, balanced and pure. Every event in Nature, whether growth or decay, abundance or loss, contributes to this ideal scene.

The benevolence surrounding us is truly astounding, from the smallest event right up to the grand. Every breath of air that we take is a gift of another few seconds of being alive in this body. And consider this idea: the many billions of stars in the universe are all arranged in exactly the right way so that life can exist on Earth – such benefaction, beyond comprehension.

We are Nature too. As Henry Thoreau once wrote, “We are Nature’s way of looking at itself.” So the same beneficent laws which govern the universe must also apply to us. All is good or leading towards the good.

It has often been said that Nature is our best teacher, and also the best preacher. When we feel lost, battered, defeated and wronged, there is always an example from Nature which can remind us to keep the faith, hold on to hope and remember that our Higher Self is indestructible and ever content.

One of my favourite analogies goes like this: Look at the sugarcane, growing tall in the field. At the very peak of its existence, someone puts a fire through it, then hacks it down, so it can be crushed, boiled and then dried – a whole series of traumas it goes through. But then, what’s left? Sugar so sweet. In the same way, those who have suffered terribly and then come out the other side, each one will say, “I’m a better person”, or, “It taught me to believe in myself”, or some such words. That is, when all seemed lost or taken away, they began to realise a strength and sweetness inside. As Kahil Gibran once wrote in his beautiful book, ‘The Prophet’, “Your pain is the breaking of the shell which encloses your understanding.”