I have often thought about the proverbial question of the glass of water that has half water and half air. For decades there has been a question as to whether the glass is half full or half empty. Indeed the answer to this question is very much a matter of perspective. To further illustrate this point, let me share a story.

Several years ago I was on my way back from my church office on a cool, crisp fall day with my daughter who was a young pre-schooler at the time. We had just driven through our small town and were passing a cemetery when my daughter’s voice rang with a sense of excitement saying, ‘‘Daddy, what is that over there?” Without really looking too closely I said, ‘‘That’s a cemetery and that’s were we bury people who have died.” I tried to be quiet and respectful and solemn in my tone of voice.

Apparently I had not looked intently enough for her, so she called my attention to the cemetery once more saying, ‘‘No Daddy, over there; what’s that?” Her voice still rang with a sense of excitement. I looked to discern what she saw and noticed that there was a graveside service taking place with a fairly large crowd gathered by a graveside. Once again in my solemn adult voice I said, ‘‘They are burying someone who has died. We call it a funeral.” I thought that would answer her question, but she continued her excited questioning.

‘‘No Daddy, look. See all the pretty flowers. Aren’t there a lot of pretty flowers?” Looking more intently at what she had been seeing all along, there were at least forty different flower arrangements of different sizes and a multitude of colors. I told her that people would often send flowers to the family of one who had passed away. They would be at the funeral home, brought to the graveside, and laid on top or to the side of the grave once it was filled back up.

We talked for a few more minutes about what we saw, but the lesson that I learned has stuck with me to this very day. How is it that we looked and saw the exact same scene but came up with two totally different pictures? I saw the solemn side, and she saw the beauty of the flowers. I saw the sad or tragic side, and she saw the brightly colored floral arrangements. I vowed to myself that when I encountered the challenges that life would often throw at me, I would try to maintain a positive focus and ‘‘see the flowers.”

Every day, we seem to face a greater multitude of challenges. It seems that we have more work to accomplish with less time to do it. We have more projects to undertake with less funding. The phrase ‘‘doing more with less” seems to be the theme of the day. In light of such overwhelming odds, it is easy to develop the ‘‘glass is half empty” mentality.

At the times that I wrestle with this question, I think back to that cool, crisp fall afternoon and the lesson that my pre-school daughter taught me. Life is a matter of perspective and it is a matter of choice as to how I look at things. If I look hard enough, with divine intervention, there is some positive in any situation. It is just a matter of perspective.