Friday Reflection- 14th November 2025
Sandra’s Soliloquy
GREETINGS FRIENDS
How are you? Today, I have been enjoying the beautiful sunshine, making a huge difference to how I feel. No need to put my winter SAD light box on, although I have not actually got into the habit yet.
SAD Seasonal Affective Disorder…we first heard of it 30 years ago, when a Dr suggested my eldest daughter aged 17, had it. When I researched it, and bought her a light box, I found it made a huge difference to how I felt in the dark months, and helped me cope better. Years later, my youngest daughter was diagnosed with it too. Knowing this, makes it easier to understand ourselves and try to help ourselves.
Today, whilst resting (which I have to do nearly all the time) I found myself thinking about feelings. They can be momentary, fleeting, or may linger, depending on the circumstances. We can feel many different things in one day, one hour.
Emotions-a strong feeling deriving from one’s circumstances, mood or relationships with others.
This was not something I grew up discussing or even understanding anything about…I think it was not of my generation? There may be exceptions, but I believe it was discouraged (forbidden?) to express anger, disappointment or even sadness within my family, or it may just be how I perceived it. I understood them to be wrong, and bad, and led to burying them. Only to affect my life even as an adult, having long buried many things.
Fortunately for me, I started a job in my 40s, working for Mind and studied psychology and counselling and began to learn many things about emotions, feelings and myself. This definitely helped me with my teenagers too at the time. And others.
This Reflection started when I acknowledged to myself, I was feeling sad about how some of my friends are treated; sad about how many people are treated in society; our country and the world.
Whether this is due to race, poverty, gender, status in life, and even ignorance, I was reminded how God does not appreciate or condone ill treatment of others. There seems to be more racism than ever, and due to political stances, even wars across the world, some people feel at liberty to indulge themselves in awful behaviour or speech towards others. Some politicians and world leaders are to blame and need to be held to account.
I have always had wonderful friends of many races, but I was shocked many years ago, when a very close friend (we are like sisters) said to me
‘Sandra, you cannot understand or know how it feels to be on the end of racial abuse,’ which was a challenge to me and upsetting.
My friend, of similar age, is educated, had a very good job, was a Mum and had similarities in her life to mine. But she was the only family of race in the village, and her children at their schools.
Sometimes I despair of humanity and the cruelty inflicted on each other. As does God.
God needs us to be the light in the darkness. Jesus, went about helping the sick, the poor and rejected, of different races.
I am also feeling very grateful for my life, my faith and a slight build up of excitement and joy.
How are you feeling?
Dear Lord, we thank You that You always know how we are feeling and love us always. Help us to turn to You seeking support and encouragement to act more like Jesus in the way we treat others. We pray for enlightenment in political parties and world situations. Guide us to where we can make a difference. In Jesus’ Name we pray-Amen
God Bless everyone -Sandra
Everlasting Arms-Lou Fellingham
Everlasting Arms | Lou Fellingham | National Methodist Choir of Great Britain | Virtual Church Choir