And So It Goes

“And so it goes.”  That quote was made rather ubiquitous in some circles by Linda Ellerbee, journalist and writer.  It’s similar, I think, to the “It is what it is,” thing that so many people are so tired of nowadays.  I know people don’t like to hear things like that, but the more I become involved in the lives of my church family, the more I believe that the truth of sayings like this are pretty much the norm rather than something unusual or infrequent.

I’ve talked about this before.  We like to think we’re in charge and that we make our own way and we are, as William Earnest Henley says, “…the master(s) of (our) fate: …the captain(s) of (our) soul(s).”  the reality is, it seems, much different, at least in my circle.

Our bodies, minds, and spirits have an amazing ability to cope with physical, mental, and emotional upheavals.  God has given us great and powerful tools to do everything from kill germs and heal wounds to learn from our mistakes and manage our emotions to our benefit.  However, there comes a time in everyone’s life when those coping tools are overwhelmed and the burden just seems too great to go on.

Sometimes, when that happens, the body dies or hurts badly.  Sometimes, the mind is twisted into something that is not normal or productive.  And sometimes, the spirit is crushed to the point that crawling out of the emotional hole seems like a hike up Mount Everest.

Paul says to the Corinthians that, “though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.”  We know that eventually, the effects of the fallen creation will get us.  We’ll become ill and not recover.  We’ll suffer a mental breakdown and never be the same.  We’ll have an event happen to us that will change us emotionally as long as we live.  But if we take Paul’s words to heart, we know that inwardly, where it really counts, God is renewing his creation each and every day.  Every day we start off with a newness and freshness that cannot be dulled or sullied.

And that renewal is just a foretaste of the renewal of the creation, our bodies, and our beings on that Day when Christ will again appear and complete the process begun on the cross.

Soli Deo Gloria