Bring Me Sunshine

Yesterday I went to ‘Music for Wellbeing’. We sang and played summery songs with enthusiasm and volume… ‘Summer Holiday’, ‘I do like to be beside the seaside’… and ‘Bring me Sunshine’…

Bring me sunshine, in your smile
Bring me laughter, all the while…

Look for Sunshine… I watched the news last night. War, global warming, refugees, murders, court cases…

At a local level there’s sickness, anxiety, family breakdown, poverty… In all of life’s darkness of life I look for sunshine… the warmth of a smile and laughter, the light of ‘each brand new bright tomorrow’.

Encourage Sunshine… When I was teaching some thought that we needed ‘discipline’. When we must catch and punish naughty children. I preferred the ‘catch children doing something right’ principle – so that I could praise and reward them.

I recognise and encourage the places, the people who bring warmth and light. I seek out and am continually grateful for the happiness and joy in my world…

Bring Sunshine… Many folks want sunshine to be brought to them. They want to be entertained, appreciated, loved. Sunshine supplied on demand.

The alternative is to be a sunshine bringer. I may not manage a complete sun, but, as the old song reminds us, ‘This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine’, It’s a statement of intent, a promise, a determined action…

Sunshine through the Rain… Although it’s nice to think that it’s good to say ‘bring me laughter all the while’ the reality is that life’s a mixture of sunshine and rain.

Eric’s one of the most smiley men I know. Yesterday he explained that he and his wife have ‘terminal, but treatable’ illnesses… he’s had extensive treatment for his cancer; his wife has Parkinsons… ‘We’re determined to make the most of every day,’ he said still smiling but serious. ‘And I know where I’m going… I’m a Christian, you see’

And I remember that when the sunshine comes through the rain there is the rainbow of promise and hope…