No news

This is a picture of my empty mailbox. (Technically, it was empty because it wasn't time for the postal carrier to deliver my mail yet. Hey, I wanted a photo for this post.) Sure, it's lonely. Yes, it's ugly. And yet, it's beautiful.

"Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness." (Psalm 37:3)

When I was in college about 20 years ago, many of us students would check our mailboxes between classes. On at least one occasion, I would overhear a student remark about his empty mailbox, "Nobody loves me." I'm sure this remark was mostly in good humor. But that was back in the days before texting or Facebook existed, long before smartphones were ubiquitous, and even before most people used email. So, getting a letter in the mail with news from home was a big deal.

In recent years, as loneliness has caught up to me, God has definitely been creative (as He always is) about cheering me up before I have any opportunities of crawling back into any pits again. I remember at my previous address, when I would get exasperated at the sight of an empty mailbox, God would tell me, "No news is good news."

Of course, it's an old adage. From what I can tell, it isn't anywhere in the Bible, unless you want to apply Psalm 37:3 to it. Well, OK, I'll apply it. One aspect of dwelling in the land is living with the day-to-day monotony of dwelling in the land. But I think "No news is good news" is some darn good wisdom. God is definitely right.

In this current season of unemployment, honestly, checking the mail is always the most exciting highlight of my day. Seeing an empty mailbox can be deflating, unless I remember that "No news is good news." In this particular season, I've been extremely blessed to be able to pay my bills on time and/or early.

But in my past, I wasn't always this fortunate. Years ago, checking the mail wasn't always a fun activity. Since I was behind in my bills, I would often get 2nd notices in the mail. I would get scary-looking overdue bills in the mail. I would get tempting "borrow money from us" offers in the mail, some of which I would apply for and get denied for. On top of all that, I would get phone calls from creditors who didn't like waiting for me to pay them. At the time, I had a landline, so I would also get telemarketing calls. If I remember correctly, I had a funny greeting on my answering machine that said something like, "Hey, friends and family, leave me a message, and I'll call you back. But if you're a telemarketer, uh, no hablo inglés." Beep. One creditor listened carefully to my greeting and articulated in her message, "This is not a telemarketing call. Please give us a call back so that we can discuss your account." That was operator-speak for "You owe us money; pay up." Back then, I had a very casual attitude toward debt, and God told me so.

But things are different now, and I think I'm finally starting to appreciate the peace and stillness that comes with it.

No news is good news. That means that if I don't hear from a bill collector, my account is current, and my creditor is happy.

No news is good news. That means that if I don't hear from a friend in a long while, she might not be mad at me. She might just be busy.

No news is good news. That means that if I don't hear from any of the companies that I mailed my unsolicited resume to, they may not have shredded it right away. Hopefully they filed it away for future opportunities like I asked them to.

No news is good news. That means that if I don't hear from my veterinarian, my cat's test results didn't reveal anything scary.

In yesterday's post, I talked about how beautiful boredom can be. Heck yes, it can be beautiful. Regarding my cat, I kinda miss boredom. A couple of years ago, when I took Macho to the vet for his annual shots, the vet looked at his chart and said, "Ahhh, boring," because he couldn't find anything wrong with my cat.

I miss those days. Now he has a bladder stone that will cost $2800 to surgically remove. Yes, of course God could definitely miraculously remove it Himself (which I'm praying He'll do). But I kinda miss the beautiful boredom of perfect feline health.

No news is good news. That means that if I don't hear Macho howling in pain or see him struggling to use the litterbox, his surgery can wait, and he's doing OK for the time being.

"Come, behold the works of the Lord, who has made desolations in the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah." (Psalm 46:8-11)

After I got out of the psych hospital nearly 14 years ago, I got stuck in Psalm 46 for a very long time, and I stayed in it for about 10 years. I don't think that's an accident. When you grow up in a house that doesn't sweat the small stuff, where everything is a big deal, and where a new crisis arises every day, if not every hour, being still and knowing that God is God can be a very hard thing to do.

But it's worth learning how to do, and I think I'm still learning it.

In a way, I think I'm reminded of it every time I check the mail and see an empty mailbox. No news is good news.

I mean, doesn't he look fine to you? I think he looks fine.