I arrived at my 7 a.m. meeting, wearing my sweater inside out. The wifi was down at church. The printer was jammed. The school nurse called; my daughter came home sick. The church credit card denied. The only person with the combination to the safe where we keep the church’s other card is out of town. The network at the college denied my password. The projector bulb in the lecture hall is burned out. A mosquito bit the back of my leg in three places in the time it took for me to read three verses of the Book of Isaiah where I was turning to try to get my bearings again.
It was terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
Or not.
No loved ones died. No airplanes fell from the sky. No life within my grasp fell apart. At least not nearby, at least not today.
Was it rightfully a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day? No. What then can we say about these things?
We turn to the Word of the Lord, with its annoyingly true reminder in Psalm 18: “This is the day the Lord has made, so let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Really? Have you seen the swelling on the back of my leg?
Let’s consider:
I arrive at my 7 a.m. meeting with a sweater to wear. Praise the Lord.
The wifi is back up now, and the IP address restored. God is good.
My daughter is feeling fine now. The Lord is our redeemer
Two people have offered to let us use their credit card until someone can crack the church safe. God be praised.
The students and I all got to come home early when I couldn’t access my account or use the projector. Yea, God!
The mosquito bites still itch, but, at this point, I don’t care anymore.
From Reinhold Niebuhr, the lesser known, second half of the Serenity Prayer:
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.
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