Mourning to Dancing

From Psalm 30:
4 Sing praise to the LORD, you His godly ones, And give thanks to His holy name. 5 For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime ; Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning. 



A publication that I don't endorse has released a survey that has made news, and it includes some not-so-flattering statistics about a number of Southern cities.   In fact, Birmingham is at #94 of a list of America's saddest cities, according to Men's Health magazine.   Now, how did they come up with this?   The magazine states: "We calculated suicide rates (CDC) and unemployment rates (Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of June 2011). Then we tapped SimplyMap for the percentage of households that use antidepressants as well as the number of people who report feeling the blues all or most of the time."

So here are the "bottom 10": 
100. St. Petersburg, FL F
99. Detroit, MI F
98. Memphis, TN F
97. Tampa, FL F
96. Louisville, KY F
95. St. Louis, MO F
94. Birmingham, AL F
93. Miami, FL F
92. Reno, NV F
91. Las Vegas, NV F

Please note that 6 out of the bottom 10 are considered Southern cities, and since Missouri just joined the SEC, then you might as well throw St. Louis in, too.   Now, here are the top 10:

10. Plano, TX A-
9. Burlington, VT A-
8. St. Paul, MN A-
7. Sioux Falls, SD A-
6. Madison, WI A-
5. Boston, MA A-
4. Omaha, NE A
3. Fargo, ND A
2. Manchester, NH A
1. Honolulu, HI A+  

OK, as a native of the South, I would assume that we're pretty happy and content south of the Mason-Dixon line, but that's just my perception.   The point here is that we do all have opportunities and conditions for sadness.   Consider the life of a teenage girl from the town of Nazareth - pregnant at what we consider a young age; unmarried, which places here under a threat of losing her life; journeying with her husband by donkey 70 miles; and then arriving at their destination and finding they would have to spend the night and perhaps deliver the baby in a stable.  Indeed a recipe for sadness...But, consider the words of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in Luke 1: 46 And Mary said : "My soul exalts the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.   And, after the birth of Jesus, she is said to have treasured all the wondrous events in her heart.   


There's a prophecy in Isaiah 61 that indicates to us that God wants to bring an antidote for sadness, and it's found in Him:  1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted ; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted , To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners ; 2 To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God ; To comfort all who mourn, 3 To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.

As Denise Jones of Point of Grace shared on stage last night at A Montgomery Family Christmas, Mary and Joseph were relegated to spending the night in a stable, and that stable can represent for us the negative circumstances in our lives - it could be the loss of a spouse through death or divorce, perhaps the loss of a job, other events in our lives that could bring disappointment and weigh us down.   I believe as we think beyond that stable, as Mary and Joseph experienced, there is hope, there is God's love, and His joy and peace that can outweigh what can serve to weigh us down.


Here's the original version of a song recorded by Point of Grace on their "Home for the Holidays" CD... "Labor of Love" from Andrew Peterson and Jill Phillips from the "Behold the Lamb of God" tour (coming to Montgomery 12/13/11)...