{"id":4995,"date":"2015-02-24T15:59:07","date_gmt":"2015-02-24T20:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?p=4995"},"modified":"2015-02-24T16:04:18","modified_gmt":"2015-02-24T21:04:18","slug":"here-comes-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/here-comes-the-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"Here Comes The Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today in Boston, New York, Washington, D.C. and even Louisiana, COLD has gripped the nation. The sky is “a hazy shade of winter” (with nods to Simona and Garfunkel). We are locked in The Grey Zone\u2026those interminably dark days just before Spring.
\n 
\nAnd for some people, it\u2019s pretty darn depressing.
\n 
\nThe Beatles reminded us that when things look and feel the worst (when politicians battle instead of perform, when ISIS rages, when religion becomes a reason for persecution once again), there is still hope. They reminded us that even then, there is hope ahead:
\n 
\n“Little darling, it’s been a long, cold, lonely winter,
\nLittle darling, it feels like years since it’s been here!
\n 
\nHere comes the sun; here comes the sun,
\nAnd I say, \u201cIt’s all right!”
\n 
\nSure, we know the words. We all know the lyrics, but applying them to life is another story.
\n 
\nLast week, I visited New Orleans for Mardi Gras \u2013 something we Louisiana girls do as a natural part of our heritage. But this time, instead of doing the “same ole, same ole” thing, I sought out new sights, new inspirations to dispel winter\u2019s gloom. And I found the towering, breathtakingly lovely Church of the Immaculate Conception on Baronne Street, close to the French Quarter. After walking miles and miles, I finally located it, opened the immense, wooden door, and stepped quietly inside. This is what I saw.
\n 
\n\"\"<\/a>
\n 
\nOutside it was freezing: windy and raw. But inside, I discovered a haven of loveliness. For many minutes, I sat in silence and looked all around, taking beauty in. I sat alone and listened. I noticed.
\n 
\nTo my left was a window shaded sheltered in an alcove, set apart. I looked at it for a long time.
\n 
\n\"\"<\/a>
\n 
\nThen my eyes wandered to a second window farther down the wall, burning with light.
\n 
\n\"\"<\/a>
\n 
\nWhat a lesson was there! The windows were identical: constructed of the same stained glass and oak, designed by the same brilliant artist, created in the very same year. The single difference in these two works of art was that one shone in the sun and the other one sat in darkness.
\n 
\nThat afternoon, I began to think of the window to my own soul\u2026and how dark I\u2019ve been lately as I\u2019ve cared for my aging father, traveling miles upon weary miles each week, to be with him. I thought of how sorry I\u2019ve felt for myself as I\u2019ve had to sacrifice my writing and progress on The John Lennon Series to do the very uncreative but necessary tasks that care-giving demands. I thought of how gloomy I\u2019ve become as my life has taken an unexpected change.
\n 
\nOver the past year, without realizing it, I\u2019ve become that isolated window drenched in shadow. Darkened.
\n 
\nBut here\u2019s the thing\u2026unless you\u2019re an inert window \u2013 placed forever in an alcove \u2013 admitting the sun is a choice. Paul McCartney knew that when he wrote another set of Beatles\u2019 lyrics:
\n 
\n“Tomorrow may rain, so I\u2019ll follow the sun.”
\n 
\nA lovely bit of poetry? Yes. But it\u2019s more than that. In that closing words of that song, Paul was making a decision; he was consciously choosing to follow the sun. And whether we sing about it or not, we are also called to decide. Each day, we\u2019re given the option to turn our faces to joy, hope, and happiness\u2026.or to turn away.
\n 
\nI don\u2019t want to be an unlit window. I don\u2019t want to chill others with my “hazy shade of winter.” I want to shine again. And Shine On. Do you?
\n 
\nHere comes the sun. It\u2019s all right!
\n 
\n***Speaking of sun, Lanea Stagg’s e-book, Little Dog in the Sun<\/em> is #1 <\/strong>on Amazon e-books today. Lanea has been part of the Fest family for several years, and her book is all about choosing to live in the sun…and to live life in joy after the death of a loved one. It’s a gorgeous children’s book that really represents what the Fest is all about. HEAD HERE<\/a> to purchase a copy of Lanea’s book.
\n 
\nJude Southerland Kessler
\nhttp:\/\/www.johnlennonseries.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today in Boston, New York, Washington, D.C. and even Louisiana, COLD has gripped the nation. The sky is “a hazy shade of winter” (with nods to Simona and Garfunkel). We are locked in The Grey Zone\u2026those interminably dark days just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":5002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[51,100,98,101,39,117,30,99],"class_list":["post-4995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-baby-boomer-beatles-blog","tag-george-harrison","tag-here-comes-the-sun","tag-jude-southerland-kessler","tag-mardi-gras","tag-paul-mccartney","tag-the-beatles","tag-the-fest-for-beatles-fans","tag-the-john-lennon-series"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4995"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4995\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5005,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4995\/revisions\/5005"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}