"We have a saying..."

With Connecticutistan feeling some of the effects of Winter Storm Hercules (again, why, WHY, WHY are these storms being named?), we chose to stay close to home this weekend. After watching a few rounds of English Premier League Football, I stumbled upon a movie I'd seen when it was first released a couple of years ago, 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.' I won't rehash the plot here but will say it was an enjoyable film.

There are several lines from the movie that are worthy of repeat. I liked this one in particular when it was uttered by Sonny, the hapless, maniacal manager of said hotel:

We have a saying in India, 'Everything will be all right in the end.

If it's not all right, it is not yet the end.'

Flower Market, Kolkata, India - I loved this place!

I'm drawn to that quote as it helps me better articulate some of what I felt when I first traveled to India. It was an experience that nearly defied description, but that line helps to express the spirit of the people I encountered there. In a cacaphonous, uncertain world, I found a spirit of hope.

Now whether that quote is actually Indian, I cannot say. Regardless, I like it. It also embodies the outlook I'd like to further embrace. In its simplicity, it makes a great deal of sense to me.

I tried to put it into practice today. Due to some bad scheduling on my part, I wound up teaching back-to-back classes at Church today, so that meant for some folks they got two hours of me. At the end of the first hour, I told people I was also teaching the second hour and they had my permission to flee. No one appeared to take me up on the offer (their funeral). So they got me for some Old Testament and then a session on teaching in general. During the first lesson, I found myself invoking Sonny's above-referenced positivity in my head when the trailer from Cecil B. DeMille's train wreck opus, "The Ten Commandments," failed to work. I mean am I the only one that thought it would totally awesome appropriate to have Edward G. Robinson crowing, "Where's your Messiah now?' as a kick-off to a year of studying what can be a very daunting text, the Old Testament. Come on!

During the second round of my teaching fiesta, I found myself with about 50 minutes of material that needed to fit into about 35 minutes of class time. I had to punt and trust that it would turn out all right in the end. I think it did. I mean no one got up and left and there was good discussion in the class. That's a good sign in these kind of all adult classes, if you ask me.

So I'm looking forward to seeing things turn out all right in the end and remembering that if it's not yet all right, it's not the end. There's always more to learn, more to experience. Like I said, I'm looking forward to it.