Difficult times can oft lead us to be better people—stronger versions of ourselves.

Bishop Delano Ellis bent over the front of his cab and wiped the windshield as he waited for the reverend and the doctor. Then he heard it. *Bang*

His eyes searched above, where the sound came from. Eventually he saw two legs on a balcony.

"He's been shot!" someone yelled.

"Who is that?!" Bishop Ellis asked.

"Dr. King."

Everything was haze. Anger and confusion clouded his mind until the police came—the white police. After he, and other black men and women on the street, were beaten mercilessly for their mere presence, he got in his cab and drove away.

But he could never drive away from the memories.

BEAT DOWN FOREVER?
Then, Bishop Ellis led a small congregation in Memphis. Now, he is the head of the Joint College of Bishops in Cleveland, Ohio. The biggest thing that struck me when I met him was that his memory of the event (from almost 50 years prior) was clearly etched into him.

Over the years, Bishop Ellis had allowed God to use the atrocities he had witnessed to grow him and teach him, making him more and more like Christ. He also used what he had learned to teach and mentor others. Those benefits were apparent. But so were the pains.

How do you go through a tragic event and not live with it forever? The short answer is: you don't.

I lived long enough to see my father die, and have experienced many other hurts and pains that have shaped my life. Those don't go away.

REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS
Some might suggest that a Bishop, or a young lad, who trusts Christ should get over their pains because that is why Christ died. And while those people are right, they also misunderstand what life on earth is about.

He died for our hearts, yes, and our bodies, our spirits, and everything good about us—who we truly are. While on earth, we are still imperfect, sinful, even in spite of our new standing.

With that sin come ramifications from our life experiences: "positive" and "negative" repercussions that come from our decisions and the decisions of those around us. We are held to those things, married to them, while we live.

We make the best out of them or we let them devour us—sometimes a little of both. Many of us let ourselves get eaten. But we don't have to.

THE REAL THANKSGIVING
How do we make the best of our circumstances? Not with self-help books or easy steps towards living a better life, but through remembering Christ—His life, death, and resurrection. Yes, simply remembering.

Whether you've been beaten by hate or lost someone you've loved or anything has happened to you that has had a major impact on you, remember that Christ took those beatings too, Christ lost His Father too, Christ suffered everything.

For our future. For our present.

And while the future is set, continue to think on his actions on the cross as a reminder in your present that though we may be hard pressed on every side, or struck down, we are not destroyed. In Him, we have hope in something greater, in someone greater...someone who has done incredible things. For us.