Welcome to the second BlogFlash event! The first (#BlogFlash2012) was so well received that we decided to run it twice yearly. It’s a great opportunity to get creative, meet other bloggers and get a new audience. Whether you join us for the full month or just a few days, the main aim is to have fun and be inspired. Anything else is a bonus. Worried about word count? Don’t be! It’s a guideline so the month doesn’t feel overwhelming but if you feel inspired to write more, feel free. Good luck!

#BlogFlash2013: Day Seventeen – Water

#BlogFlash2013 (March): Day 17 - WaterIn Dexter, Season 6, a criminal is baptized by reformed ex-convict-turned-preacher, Brother Sam, who devotes his life to helping criminals turn their lives around. In Baptism, water brings the promise of new life. In a parallel episode, Dexter drowns a murderer, making water the instrument of death. We come into life in a flood of water, up to 60% of our body is water, water promises new life-and May flowers-and water causes disaster and death.

This morning, an essay in the Boston Globe extols the power of negative thinking. “It’s [life is] sometimes really quite horrid, and the light at the end of the tunnel is often the oncoming train. To label it otherwise is unproductive,” writes Jennifer Graham. Unrealistic optimism-enjoying the beauty of the sea while ignoring tsunami warnings-leaves us vulnerable to disappointment. But is “Life best when we see it as bad,” as Graham writes? I don’t think so.

Yes, ignoring reality makes us vulnerable to disappointment, even danger, but discontent and pessimism, in obscuring possibility and promise, destroy hope. Even as he lay dying, shot by a man he’d baptized, Brother Sam continues to believe in redemption. This belief, this abiding faith in the power of good gives his life meaning. “If the snow ever melts, let this be the Spring of our Discontent, our Pessimist Spring,” Graham writes. To which I say: when the snow melts, and it will, let this be the spring of our reality. Prepare for floods, yes, but let’s celebrate the melting snow, the power of water to restore and bring forth new life.

Next prompt: Money (26th March)

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