This too shall pass. It might feel like a Kidney Stone, but it will pass. - June 20

In 2000, a television show came out on HBO called, Curb Your Enthusiasm. I remember watching some of the first few episodes and telling others that it was the funniest show I had ever seen. But the more I watched the show, the more uncomfortable I became. The general premise of the show was based on the exaggerated life of Larry David, the creator of Seinfeld. Each episode felt more and more like watching a trainwreck unfold as David’s awkward faux pas would lead to some horrible embarrassing moment in his life or the life of his family. The more episodes I watched, the more anxious I became. And then I just gave up. “I can’t watch this anymore. Nothing good ever happens to him!”

But I was in the minority. Most people loved the show and Curb Your Enthusiasm ran for 10 seasons with an average rating of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. For those of you who are not TV buffs, that is pretty darn good. As I read the Psalm for this morning, specifically Psalm 90, I have been thinking about my own antipathy with discomfort. Why couldn't I handle this great show? I want everything to resolve into a beautiful and happy ending, but that is exceptionally naïve. The best meme I have seen about 2020 is “This too shall pass. It might pass like a kidney stone, but it will pass.”

Psalm 90 begins by giving thanks to God for being our strength and refuge and naming all the wonderful things that God has done, but then it gets real. “In the morning, it is green and flourishes, in the evening it is dried up and withered (v.6).” Later, “The span of our life is seventy years, perhaps in strength even eighty; yet the sum of them is but labor and sorrow, for they pass away quickly and we are gone (v.10).” I am struck at the remarkable clarity of the Israelites to name life as a combination of labor and sorrow. They know better than anyone that life is not easy and not everything resolves with a beautiful and happy ending.

And yet, the psalmist asks for God to “make us glad by the measure of the days that you afflicted us and the years in which we suffered adversity (v.15)” and my absolute favorite, “May the graciousness of the Lord our God be upon us; prosper the work of our hands; prosper our handiwork (v.17).” Even when life is incredibly challenging, the Israelites were asking for their work to be the work of God, and to be glad in the life that they had. They weren’t scared of discomfort.

I don’t know about you, but 2020 kind of feels like watching Curb Your Enthusiasm; there seems no logical way this is going to end well for anyone. But if I really believed that I would be discounting the beautiful tradition that has been passed down to us. Instead of being anxious about where this story will go, Psalm 90 is asking me to be a little more faithful, and to see God as a part of the work that we all are doing in the midst of it. This too shall pass. It might pass like a kidney stone, but it will pass.

--John+

Questions for Self-Reflection

• What parts of this year make you the most anxious?

• Can you see God blessing your handiwork in the midst of this?

Daily Challenge

• Read Psalm 90. Try to give thanks for the challenges you have faced this year, including things that have been lost.