“This delightful dude has one fake eye and can’t see much from the other. But the 86 year old may be one of the happiest people in Polk County.

Really.

This is the story about how  legally blind Tony Catalano paints beautiful pictures at the Winter haven Senior Center.

But its also more,a story about a man who never stops smiling or moving,and never meets an obstacle he can’t deal with.

Don’t dwell on what you don’t have, appreciate what you do have,” Catalano says.

         -- News Chief, Winter Haven, Fl, March 23, 2015

A revelation jolted my spirit the other day while ministering in the prison.

The place was filled with countenances marred with lines of regret and disappointment- a room overflowing with so many forlorn and fallen faces.

Their spirits seemed so damaged –their minds worn down and discouraged.

Then it suddenly came to me that the malaise of being bad is a vicious, pernicious cycle that can only be broken or arrested by injecting massive doses of good into our psyches.

In a world festering with evil, governed by the prince of darkness, that is easier said than done.

That day, I discovered a new found appreciation and understanding for the preaching style of Joel Osteen, Robert Shuler and Norman Vincent Peale. There is something to be said about the power of positive thinking because God is always seeking to uplift us. Yet ninety percent of the sermons I have heard in churches across America remind us how bad we are and the terrible condition of things.

How can we pursue a balance so as to leave us in a mindset of always seeking , hoping and expecting better days. Enjoying Everyday Life per Joyce Meyer is the only reasonable way to approach it. You only go around once in life you might as well enjoy the ride.

Satan, the father of lies, has convinced the majority of us that doing and expecting good is a hopeless, futile undertaking.

Like in The Alamo, with deceit and falsehood he has sold us the Brooklyn Bridge and assured us the Golden Gate Bridge is a sound investment and has us anxiously waiting to bid on a prime piece of real estate in San Antonio, Texas.

We expect nothing and receive nothing.

After he persuaded the angels to abandon heaven for hell and Adam and Eve to forsake the Garden of Eden, it has been fire and damnation ever since.

Being born in sin and shaped in iniquity we have been conditioned to accept bad as normal and look with suspicion and terror upon good.

Hence, Egypt and slavery are preferable to the Promised Land of freedom and prosperity.

We have changed the vernacular so that “bad” means good, ”wicked” is a nod of approval and the phrase “good for you” - a statement of disdain and perverted expression of joy when someone is hurt or injured.

Truth and honesty are hard to find and justice and equity has been cast out into the streets.

You tolerate this uncertain existence as if under the sword of Damocles always expecting the next horrible shoe to drop.

So, to cope, you resort to drugs, alcohol and sex to counteract and dull this constant sense of dread to nullify your persistent sense of fear.

Everywhere you turn, from the pulpit to the politician, somebody is continually reminding you how things are bad.

Therefore, every year is a banner year for the fear merchants.

A few years ago, The Miami Herald published an edition with all good news. There was a drastic decrease in circulation that day and they have never repeated it.

The National Enquirer is the number one newspaper in America. Its pages are filled with lurid stories about adultery, lust, fornication, murder, eating disorders, cellulite, stars without makeup, celebrities coming out of the closet and sex changes gone bad. All tales that serve to depress the already weakened human spirit yet we cannot wait for the next edition.

Therefore Prilosec, Prozac and Propofol are consumed by the handfuls because our stomachs are in knots, our minds are twisted and out of whack and we are sleepless zombies. Emotionally scarred and wounded, we become frequent visitors to psychiatrists’ and therapists’ couches.

Why?

Because we are constantly thinking and entertaining mad, bad or sad thoughts.

Flowers of beauty and goodness cannot grow in a garden overrun with weeds of despair and darkness.

Expecting the worst in every situation, you suspect the optimist and consider the guy who smiles a lot to be an assassin with a knife behind his back.

You fully subscribe to the notion that nice guys finish last and therefore you feel obligated to be as nasty as you want to be.

Stop!

The life you save will be your own.

This is what you need to know and do.

 You are headed for a danger zone.

You must change the atmosphere. You must alter the equation.

Go back to the beginning and read it all over again. It says, “And God saw everything he had made and behold it was very good.” God was is and will always be good. God loves you and wants the best for you. His plans for you are for good and not evil so as to give you a future and a hope He wishes that you will prosper and be in good health even as your soul prospers. He demonstrated his total commitment to you by sending his only begotten son to die on a cross.

From this moment on, whenever the devil comes against you to tell you that it is all wrong, remind him confidently that it will be all right.

If he says bad, you say good

If he talks about failure, you think about success.

If he mentions sickness, you contemplate wellness.

If he brings to mind losing, you anticipate winning and victory.

Develop a habit of looking on the bright side.

So prison becomes a mandatory all-expenses paid retreat for a time of reflection.

If you are in the wilderness, you are on the way to the Promised Land.

If you are unemployed, you are between jobs.

If you are broke, you have a temporary cash flow problem.

If you single and unmarried, you are in preparation for Cinderella, Prince Charming and Mr. Right because who knows  if he or she is not waiting around the next bend in the road.

Always think good, plant and cultivate good, seek good and you will find good.

He will do all in his power to convince you that doing good is impossible because he realizes that the greatest secret in the world is—“once you have adopted the habit of doing good it is better, easier, less stressful and far more rewarding than doing bad.”

Just ask yourself this, how does it help you, how does it make it any better, improve a situation or elevate your spirit by thinking badly about a person, place or thing?

A final thought—the last card in satan’s nefarious deck of tricks.

If he threatens you with death, praise God and shout hallelujah for he will have ushered you into eternal life - the place of peace and joy everlasting where he can never touch you again.

And if you really think about it, that ain’t bad—indeed it’s all good.