It all started on an elevator.  It was at a hotel next to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.  From the lobby of the hotel, one enters into a glass encased elevator car.  For the first three floors, you are rising above the front desk and the bland nondescript setting of a hotel lobby.

But, after the fourth floor, you are ascending above Baltimore’s waterfront: the cityscape of streets, bright lights, and tall buildings, the harbor of placid water and gently moving ships…, higher and higher.  Never a fan of heights but impressed by the vista before me, there was but one response to share with my two elevator companions at that moment.

I raised my hands above my head and exclaimed, "Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

This has become my philosophical catch-phrase which is getting me through my days.

It certainly works for those times of accomplishment and celebration.  Yet, it also reminds one to embrace the twists and turns of life with enthusiasm and optimism.  Finally, it is a statement that one is not in this alone.  We are graced by the gifts of friendships as well as a relationship with God.  Life does not revolve around "I" or "me;" it is truly best experienced as "WE!"

The Psalmist reminds us that regarding whatever it is that we face, it is "by the LORD has this been done; it is wonderful in OUR eyes. This is the day the LORD has made; let US rejoice in it and be glad." Shorthand for that could certainly be "Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!"