Best of Times!

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. James 5:13

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way. Charles Dickens,  A Tale of Two Cities       

In this epic novel, Charles Dickens seems to point out a major conflict between family and love, hatred and oppression, good and evil, light and darkness and wisdom and folly.  It tells about a time of chaos, conflicts and despair as well as happiness. It tells about a time of direct opposites with no in between.

In the last months, it seems we have experienced the worst of times and tried to salvage the best from them.  We are dealing with a virus that has literally brought the world we know to a screeching halt.  We’ve seen job loss, economy weakened, death, separation from loved ones, church closures, sequestered folks, and the emotional stress which comes with it all.  Yet, we are  a strong people and are fighting our way back.  There will come a time when we will look back on this and find the best of times in the experience.

During my growing up years, our granddaddy owned a small house on Mexico Beach, Fla.  The house was two bedrooms, two baths, a loft, a kitchen, living room and screened in porch.  There was no air conditioning, no television, only three beds, one store and you had to walk a couple of blocks to the beach.  The kids slept on cots, the adults too if they lost out on the beds, and sometimes we complained that there was nothing to do.  

Regularly, we had over 25 people in that house with cousins, friends, and others.  The adults played bridge on the screen porch until the wee hours of the morning, and if you were lucky and the laughter had kept you awake, one of them might come in and grab you to take their place at the bridge table so they could go to bed.  No sleep, days in the ocean and the sun, nights of campfires and wiener roasts, s’mores, jeep rides, and so much more!  Yet, sometimes we felt it was the worst of times because we didn’t understand how lucky we were.

No matter how bad our times seem, there are always those who have it worse.  We just found out that in Honduras the folks only get to shop for groceries and water every 14 days.  There is not “curbside service”, or “take out” for them – they must live for two weeks on what they have.  If you haven’t had the virus or lost a loved one, if you have freedom, if you have  friends and family, then you are living in the best of times.  We can sometimes think we are in the worst of times because we don’t know how lucky we are. 

Many say the closings, the sequestering, the social distancing are God’s way of getting our attention and letting us know we should slow down.  Maybe, but maybe it’s the evil one at work to separate us.  What is our world without the fellowship and kinship of human interaction?  The kids and youth are desperate for school to start again because they miss their friends and teachers.  Most people I know are desperate to return to worshiping with their church family.  The many I know in nursing homes are desperate to see loved ones again.  The sick are desperate to get well.  Those who have lost a loved one are desperate to have some kind of closure.  

If you think you are in the worst of times, look back to World War I and World War II, and try to picture rationing of sugar and other items.  My parents lived through that. When the only thing you lack is toilet paper and clorox, it seems you really might be living in the best of times comparatively speaking of course.

In the above verse, Jesus seems to be calling those of us who think we are in the worst of times to pray and ask God to defeat the forces of evil which could be among us.  He also says that if we feeling blessed or cheerful, we should pray and give thanks.

In this best of times, worst of times, we need to remember that with God we always have reasons to give thanks and praise.  We need to remember how lucky we are!!  God bless us everyone!