When Things Get Under Your Skin

A poem called "The Oyster" has been floating around the Internet. It challanges us to consider the kind of attitudes we have toward life:

The Oyster

There once was an oyster whose story I tell,
who found that some sand had got into his shell.

It was only a grain, but it gave him great pain,
for oysters have feelings although they're so plain.

Now, did he berate the harsh workings of fate
that brought him to such a deplorable state?

Did he curse at the government, cry for election,
and claim that the sea should have given him protection?

No - he said to himself as he lay on a shell,
since I cannot remove it I shall try to improve it.

Now the years have rolled around, as the years always do,
and he came to his ultimate destiny, a stew.

And the small grain of sand that had bothered him so,
was a beautiful pearl all richly aglow.

Now the tale has a moral, for isn't it grand
what an oyster can do with a morsel of sand?

What couldn't we do if we'd only begin,
with some of the things that get under our skin?

Having the right attitude toward life is shown by the attitude Joseph learned to have in Genesis 39:19-21. Even after being thrown in prison for a false accusation, Joseph did not allow his poor circumstances to destroy his relationship with God. Even in prison the LORD was with Joseph. Might this have something to do with Joseph’s attitude toward life (cf. Gen. 50:20)?
We must learn the art of making lemonade when life hands us lemons.