What a ride!
As an Ohio State Buckeye I celebrated Monday night the victory of OSU winning the college football national championship. I was moved by the Ohio State players who thanked God for the victory. I was also moved by the interview with the coach of the defeated Notre Dame team who spoke of the focus on God his team exhibited, in his words, and the amazing love and sacrifice exhibited by his team members.
Acknowledgment of God in these ways was not just surprising and wonderful, but it also reminded us viewers of God’s Presence. In so doing, it made the game not just a game, but also an opportunity to acknowledge gratitude to have God in our lives regardless of the outcome of the event, itself.
Some of you may remember the show “The Wide World of Sports” from the ‘70s which had as its opening scene “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat”. It showed a winning boxer (victory) alongside a crashing competitive ski jumper (defeat) evidencing the two extreme outcomes in competitive sports. The viewer weekly could experience these polar opposite experiences so common in the sports world.
Such also is life outside the sports world. Sid and I like to catch the evening news. Inevitably, the emotional experience of each day’s coverage runs the gamut, as nationally and internationally, societally and politically, even the weather provide a roller coaster of joyful and tragic, light-hearted and worrisome, samplings of life.
The Israeli hostages are being released! What wonderful news after months of uncertainty and suffering since that fateful day in October of 2023. The next news story brings an update on the LA wildfires and the increased risks with this week’s again high Santa Ana winds. Part of the joyful story of the Israelis returning home is the backstory of the many who were killed, Israelis and Palestinians. Part of the tragedies of the losses in the LA fires are the backstories of wedding rings found in the ashes. The both/and of life is so emotionally challenging.
At the macro level, those realities frame our daily experiences. Our personal lives, too, often in the same hour, can have us on an emotional roller coaster. We can be making dinner or working at our computers, driving a car or writing a Shabbat encouragement, when a phone call will immediately transport us to a place of pleasure, or pain in that same moment. One call, or one email or text can transform our emotional environment in an instant, not to mention how we may suddenly have a health surprise that can change the course of our plans for the unforeseeable future.
How do we manage such volatility, unpredictability, emotional dissonance and still enjoy life? Or is it even possible to do so without hiding our heads in the sand? How do we stay grounded and still connected to life’s exigencies, experience the ones we choose (watching the news) and the ones we don’t choose (illness of ourselves or others)?
It’s a challenge. We’re only human and being so, we have feelings and opinions. Personally, I’d rather suffer the pains than avoid them since they’re part of life. I’d rather know than not know the hard stuff. Conversely, I love enjoying the joyful which feels all the moreso after suffering since we can see good times, good people, and good health are not to be taken for granted. Gratitude is an amazingly uplifting state of being that bolsters our ability to withstand the harder times which are inevitable.
I really have to start my days with the Daily Davar and prayer. Lately, if I awake in the middle of the night I listen to the Daily Davar to help me fall back to sleep, better than any bedtime story. This practice not only helps to put life into perspective, but also, fills my brain with the Word instead of troubling thoughts that can naturally take hold – long to-do lists, work deadlines, illness of loved ones, world events, personal disappointments.
In addition to the support of loved ones, relief lies in reminding ourselves that Yeshua is walking with us in everything we do, in every concern we feel, in every troubled thought. No matter what, whether in the dreadful headlines or the hurtful words of a loved one, we are soothed in knowing God’s got this, even when we don’t see how it is possible.
We can see a situation as hopeless while He knows the resolution before the problem even started. He can see the beauty of defeat when we can only see the value of the victory. We can feel the awesomeness of His Presence in it all when we remember to have gratitude for His Presence. He is fearless, and so, makes us so as well when we lean into Him no matter what.
I love roller coasters at amusement parks. In life, however, I’m grateful when I can remember that the coaster I’m on in life is driven by the One who is all powerful making every dive and curve always safe. When we trust in Him we are riding on a track with a sure course and blessed ending even when we can’t see it, a course designed to allow each of us to rest in Him – and enjoy the ride.
Shabbat shalom.
Diane