Enough too much

How are you holding up, friends? It was about a year ago we started to realize the seriousness of the covid-19 pandemic. Places were bracing for a possible shutdown. Silly me, thinking it might be a couple of weeks. Little did we know just how much would change over the next 12 months.

And, geesh, as if that weren't enough... there was the election thing, attempted government overthrow, conspiracy theories, economic collapse (for some), church interruptions/changes, employment “hiccups”... Which doesn't even begin to touch on the 500,000+ extra lives that have been lost just this year, in just this country! 

Sometimes I wonder how we'd be doing even if covid never came 'round. Is it possible it may have actually helped some of us cope, or did it make it worse. I don't know...

Anyway, I've been contemplating this quote from Pastor/writer/theologian Brian Zahnd recently...

"We live in an age where the amount of daily information we receive that should enrage or grieve us far exceeds our capacity to bear it. Only God can bear all the sorrows of the world. We, on the other hand, have to choose what sorrows to bear. This is complicated, but true."

 

Yeah... there is a boatload of information we receive. It's incredible. And it's not just any ol' information. There is soooo much that SHOULD enrage or grieve us. Heavy stuff... and complicated.

I don't know about you, but more and more it seems like it's just too much. There's no way we can maintain. All is lost.

Or, like Brian says, maybe we need to learn to be selective in what sorrows we choose to bear. It's not all up to us, you know. We need help. In fact, maybe admitting that is where we need to start.

One of the best bits of advise/writing/musicianship I've heard to date is still the old song 'Hold Me Jesus' from Rich Mullins. It says it all as far as I'm concerned (though I hate this canned version compared to a live, raw one). Sometimes that has to be enough...

***

1 Peter 5:6-11

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.