It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of
wisdom, it was the age of foolishness...
it was the spring of hope, it was the
winter of despair...
in short, the period was so far like the present period...
from "A Tale of Two Cities"
~ Charles Dickens*
What has been is what
will be, and what has been done is what will be done;
there is nothing new
under the sun.
~ Ecclesiastes 3:19
O God of Yesterday,
Today, and Tomorrow ~
Just
about the time I get very discouraged about the world ~ which is pretty
much every day at the moment ~ I remember the piece from Ecclesiastes
1:9 which leads me to the piece that opens Dickens' A Tale of Two
Cities from 1859 ~ sigh, not much does change does it? Wars,
poverty, diseases that should be gone are coming back, squabbles and bitter
debates in governmental corridors over basic human needs and decent wages vs.
corporate greed and excessive profit...us vs them at home and everywhere
else and, O Dear God ~ the children ~ the terrible things happening to the
world's children. If I go on with those thoughts I would lose hope.
But then I remember there is Ecclesiastes 3:1-8: For
everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven...and
I can breathe again, while the storms of the world rage around me, even if only
briefly. I will step in wherever I can to rage back as productively as
possible, to help if only in meager ways but always striving to move past
what I think I can manage. And in the midst of all the terror, injustice,
anguish, and despair, there still is beauty, joy, goodness, and love. Help
me keep my jar of hope cleansed with faith and filled with the essence of
wonder. Grant me the strength of heart to love well, care deeply,
live in gratitude, and act with positive purpose, and, always in Your name,
to change any negative outcomes of que sera sera. amen.
*Charles Dickens [1812-1870], English-born Victorian author is still known for many of his 15 novels
but most popular today, among them, is A Tale of Two Cities and A
Christmas Carol. Many of his short stories, novels, and articles chronicled
the class distinctions and severe poverty and hardships of his day.
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