The Certainty of Uncertainty

If these last five months have brought any single thing to all of us,  it's been....uncertainty.

There's the uncertainty of how long the pandemic will last,  and if it will kick up again, and if it does,  how bad will it be?  Yes, in many places it's waning,  but we have those disturbing questions of what will happen if and when restrictions are lifted.

There's the uncertainty of its effect on the economy,  on people's jobs and government benefits and mortgages and investments,  and most important, on their health.

There's the uncertainty of  our necessary visits to supermarkets, banks, pharmacies:  even now,  with masks and social distancing and better statistics,  how safe is it?

There's the uncertainty of the heroic essential worker who must brave the virus and arrive at his or her job, hoping that this will be another day free of infection.

And for those who still work the front lines as first responders and health care personnel, there's the dreadful uncertainty of wondering if and when the illness of the patient will become the illness of the caregiver.   In many places numbers may be down,  but in some places, not so!

Recently, a sister stopped by my office to chat about a few things, and we ended up discussing the fact that really,  all bets are off.  Almost all the aspects of our lives that were predictable,  that we could take for granted in the best sense of the word,  have been turned upside down by a microscopic entity,  that no one even heard a year ago,  the coronavirus COVID-19.

Can we count on anything at all?    That's got a one-word answer:   GOD.   The Holy One never leaves, never takes a vacation,  never has a busy signal, never  puts you on hold.  A call to God never goes to voicemail.   And you never hear "Sorry, that mailbox is full."

And yet,  if we have experienced tragedy or uncertainty or loss of essential income,  as so many have in the last few months,  we may be wondering:   so where was God?   Why did this happen?  And how come I'm not feeling encouraged and consoled, if this God is supposed to be so faithfully attentive?

Those are all good questions,  questions that have echoed down through the ages.  In the Jewish Scriptures,  they make up the basic plot of the Book of Job, in fact.   And we know that Jesus Himself,  the night before his crucifixion,  asked God to spare him if possible, although He ultimately committed Himself to whatever God asked of Him...and God asked everything of Him. The path that Jesus walked led him, in the mystery of God's providence,  to suffering and death,  but it didn't end there.   It never does.  

So,  when we are not so sure of this faithful God, we have a companion in our loneliness and uncertainty:  Jesus Himself.  He's there to talk to.   And if He seems distant, that's our perception but not a fact.   Feelings can sometimes overwhelm what are simple facts, and the simplest and most basic fact of all is God's ever-present love for us.  Yes, we stand in mystery these days,  but we can count on Paul's words to the Romans,  that for those who love God,  everything works together for good.  Everything:   not just most things,  not even 99% of things, but everything.  We may not be seeing it right now,  but that's the greatest certainty there is.   It's a fact that we can at least carry with us as we continue to travel together down these strange and uncertain paths.  

And there's a related fact:   that word together.   We are, more than ever, sisters and brothers, children of a loving God who who asks us to share  Divine Love with one another through our daily contacts of kindness, of listening,  of compassion.  We are not alone, we have never been alone,  and this is the time to demonstrate that to one another in conversation,  in the good deed done for another,  in those daily tasks that are always there,  in the call or e-mail or note or social media outreach that lets someone else know that they too are not alone.

So, with the certainty that God's love and God's victory are guaranteed,  let's begin this new week and this new month in peace....together.