Interpreting This Too Shall Pass
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Near Charleston, South Carolina, August 2022.
Tradition credits King Solomon with the four words that, in good times and in bad, are always true: This too shall pass. As I reflect on this past year and a half, I cannot think of any words that could be truer and is the sentiment of this delayed birthday message. The past eighteen months have been the happiest period in my life. Being happier than ever does not mean there haven’t been challenges. There have been, and there has been some sadness. But my outlook toward life, the future, and even King Solomon’s words have changed.
Legend has it that “this too shall pass” teaches that neither good nor bad times will last indefinitely. Life constantly changes, and we should enjoy every moment at the moment. Tomorrow is a brand-new day, and whatever yesterday brought may not be experienced in what our next today and tomorrow will bring.
Three years ago, I lived a stone’s throw away from the Monterey Bay coastline in California. Today I live a shorter stone’s throw from Tampa Bay, Florida. I have made numerous difficult decisions, reduced the chaos yesteryears, and reprioritized my life. Little did I know or even comprehend the storms that had developed over horizons in a multiplicity of directions and that some of the assumptions that had guided my life were inaccurate.
My birthday message this year, though, isn’t about turmoil. It is about wisdom that comes with age – and perhaps that the wisdom of Prophets, Saints, and our ancestors may be as mysterious as they themselves.
I once understood this too shall pass to explain that the change and risk that the future brings may not be as bright as today is part of the human condition that we all experience. It may be one interpretation, which is my recollection of teachings during my religious education. Let me suggest otherwise!
Nothing in the words this too shall pass suggests what comes next. This too shall pass doesn’t warn me that happiness cannot last. It just reminds me to enjoy today to its fullest, and that change is inevitable. This too shall pass has nothing to do with happiness!
While I look forward to calmer, more stable days and the beginning of a new year in just over a month, I know all too well that I may not always avoid uncertain times, challenges, risks, and difficulties. Life is not always kind and gentle, nor is life fair. But life can always be good. There is little that we actually can control. We do, however, have control over how we interpret and react to whatever comes our way. We can choose to be happy regardless of what comes next!
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present (attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt). For my part, I hope that everyone opens every future gift with the enthusiasm of a child tearing the wrapping paper from a birthday or holiday present and the gratitude of someone that has just experienced a miracle.