John Milton coined the phrase 'silver lining' in Comus: A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634
I see ye visibly, and now believe
That he, the Supreme Good, to whom all things ill
Are but as slavish officers of vengeance,
Would send a glistering guardian, if need were
To keep my life and honour unassailed.
Was I deceived, or did a sable cloud
Turn forth her silver lining on the night?
I did not err; there does a sable cloud
Turn forth her silver lining on the night,
And casts a gleam over this tufted grove.
Today, unexpected fortune rained down on me. It didn't arrive from the pot at the end of a rainbow but the unexpected source of a past dark cloud.
It made me think of the "silver lining" phrase and I've been pondering its timeliness. For all the missteps that I've taken and nasty trip-ups I've been given, I seem to receive much goodness. How can that be? How did I become so fortunate?
My mother's prayers? My friends' vigilance? My children's support? My dogged nature?
No answer from the universe comes tonight except this beautiful "silver lining." In the past, I would have been skeptical, somewhat angry that I was chosen to be so lucky, as though I wasn't worthy enough to be chosen. My questions don't have to be answered anymore. They're just thrown out there in wonder as I try to see my own "glistering guardian" who protects me.
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