April 8, 2022
Another dark set of readings are presented to us by the Church for today. Jeremiah is once again beset by those wishing to trap him. In the midst of such terror, he still has complete trust in the Lord, his ‘mighty champion’. The Psalm for today is filled with the assurance that the Lord is our rock, our strength, our place of refuge. The Lord will hear our cries for help. For me the hardest part of this is that knowing there will be hardships. I will suffer. The challenge for me is to have cultivated a faith strong enough that, in the midst of my suffering, allows me to trust that in the long run I will be okay. The conclusion of my trial may be unwanted, or at least unsatisfying, like my inability to have children, but it must be for the best. I have to remember that I don’t have the long view of things. Only God can put things into a perspective encompassing eons. My life is only a blip. Yet, what I do can and will affect the outcome of others’ lives. The wisdom I gain from my trials may aid someone else. I may be the answer to someone’s cry for help. No, we are not getting out of this world unscathed. The trick is to cultivate faith in the good times, so it bears fruit in the bad times.