A day at a time in an Uncertain World
How are you doing? Really?
Does it seem like what next? What else can happen?
There is anxiety.
There is anger.
There is exhaustion.
There is deep weariness.
The covid plague hangs on; for many it feels like we have been living under an oppressive cloud, which never completely lifts and seems to deepen with winter’s shadows.
Never have family relationships been so tested, work places often understaffed and stressed, polarizing views threatening the very fabric of how we live and share life with others.
And then you add to the mix natural disasters, fires and now catastrophic floods; people are fleeing their homes, livestock dying, infrastructure destroyed.
I’ve thought back to the great wars, where humanity suffered years of insane ness… followed by plagues and economic upheaval. How did they forge their way forward, through grief and uncertainty?
Of course, they didn’t have social media to spur them on, to fan the flame of discontent. Sometimes we are on information overload, and yet we want to know. We want to connect.
Like many today, some were sure back then it was the end the end of the world. Who could blame them? And we really don’t know!
And yet…. Even in the unknowing, in all the uncertainties. . .
There are the helpers, the encouragers, the ones who step to the challenge.
As I lay awake praying and thinking and wondering, hundreds of people were slogging through the night building dikes. Others were building mountains of sandwiches which others took to the air to deliver them.
People gave opened up their homes, went on rescue missions, and made soup.
I’ve watched staff and volunteers continue to show up at the hospital, day after day, doing their jobs, compassionately, in spite of the challenges. They smile, through their masks and carry on.
I believe we need to lament at times, to weep over the suffering, to grieve over the losses we are experiencing in every way.
And then we look for the good, we take a deep breath, and give thanks for another day. In the meantime, practicing kindness and living simply seems like a good way to live. Letting go of what I can’t control, and trusting God who sees a far bigger picture.
Here’s to another day!
Be strong and take heart, and have no fear of them: for it is the Lord your God who is going with you; he will not take away his help from you. – Deuteronomy 31:6
Endurance
