This Too Shall Pass

This Too Shall Pass

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

- 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Emotions have a way of crowding out rationality. That is, when we’re in the throes of strong emotions, they color our thinking so much that we can’t imagine anything but the state we’re currently in. This is why it’s so important to not lash out in anger but to wait it out and see if cooler heads won’t prevail.

Likewise with depression and especially thoughts of suicide. Those who are feeling hopeless about their lives can’t imagine they will ever be happy again.

But just as anger passes, and often quite quickly, so too does anxiety and sadness. We rarely stay in one state for very long.

Our emotional weather is as fickle as the actual weather, sunny today and rainy tomorrow. Therefore, it’s important to take the long view, while doing our best to maintain positive emotions and an even keel. The short poem “Hope”by Langston Hughes expresses this very nicely: Sometimes when I’m lonely, Don’t know why, Keep thinkin’ I won’t be lonely By and by.

Abraham Lincoln suffered throughout his life with all manner of trials and tribulations, including serious depression, and it is said that his favorite saying was “This too shall pass.”

Wisdom for the ages.

– Christopher Simon