O God of mercy and compassion, thou art circumcising the hearts of a little flock, that they may endure through patience, faith, hope, perseverance, and daily sacrifices of forgiveness amidst the quagmire and madness of life.
It was a bright day full of great possibilities and joy. A family from the shores, with branches clinging to the east, had received great news that would later see the only mother celebrated for witnessing a shoot from the family reach a height they could only imagine. The celebration would release dopamine into their bloodstream, momentarily forgetting the atrocities from comrades and kinsmen of the past and present—whether wolves or wolves in sheep’s clothing, I don’t know; only God knows.
From the land of Uz, a man remembers the days of his youth when young men saw him and hid, and the aged arose and stood; the princes refrained from talking, and put their hands on their mouths; the voice of nobles was hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths. When the ear heard, then it blessed him, and when the eye saw, then it approved him.
O nobles from the land of Uz, who refrained from talking to him, now despise him? You who blessed him for his zakat, now see him as a curse? Will you, old men who arose and stood, now sit and pronounce human judgments on something you know nothing about? Will you abandon your kinsman because he lost his seven sons and three daughters in a day? Will you call him cursed because he received from four messengers an evil report which, by extension, will affect your daily bread, received from his zakat?
Madness! Madness! Madness! The quagmire and madness of life. O Lifter of men who looks with pity upon us, may your rod and staff continue to comfort us. Now, young man from Uz, remember the days of your youth and carefully pursue only the weightier matters of life, for all that we see isn’t all there is.
“Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem, a firm and tested stone. It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never be shaken. The quagmire of life is such that all men, after the fall, are designed to have their houses fall when the winds and rains come. Exposing the truth of the matter, which assures us that nothing lasts, we ought to build on firm foundations because as far as the earth remains, the rains and storms will visit both Jews and Gentiles. The only assurance for the safe house after the winds and rains is when it’s built on the rock.
Follow only the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., I come to assure you that, “however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, because truth crushed to earth will rise again. Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne, Yet that scaffold sways the future, And, behind the dim unknown, standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own.”
We have an anchor that keeps the soul steadfast and sure while the billows roll. The quagmire and madness will always be a thorn in the flesh of all men, both great and small, but it’s not meant to destroy us but unveil our weakness and remind us of why we ought to trust and gaze not at men but at Christ, who was killed on the cross for our sake; this is the hope we have in him.
