Except for when the due date for my firstborn was grossly miscalculated, I don’t recall there being such an uncertain time such as we have now, at least in my 69 years. In just the last few weeks alone, there’ve been multiple toxic train derailments, fires that have destroyed egg production and food manufacturing facilities, Chinese spy balloons, and just recently, banks going belly up. Even the weather has been a mess, especially where snowfall has exceeded 100 inches in some places, causing roofs to collapse, houses to explode and consternation both in the air and on the ground.
I haven’t watched television for several years and pay little attention to the mainstream news, but I know that our country’s in moral decline, too many people are dying from drugs, homelessness and crime are rampant, and World War III wouldn’t be a surprise. Sometimes I wonder What’s next? Or, How much longer is this going to go on?
I’m grateful I’ve learned to take each day as it comes, not take any “news” seriously, and make the day as best I can. My “making the best of it” includes beginning each day with first saying “thank you” to God for a good night’s sleep and waking up soberly, because my entire rest of the day depends on just that. That’s the truth. I’ve had the same daily routine for years that starts as soon as the coffee’s ready which includes Bible reading and praying, practices that give me hope and peace in the moment. I know I can’t control anything outside of me, so I do what works on what I can control—namely, my own thoughts and actions. It’s been a long haul, but I am sensing a major change within. I’m discovering what Peace feels like, and I like it! As the world and everything in it gets turned upside down, I’m more aware of getting the opportunity to be thankful in ALL circumstances. I have faith that this, too, shall pass.
Tough times never last, but tough people do. ~ Robert Schuller
