The stormy present
This poster once hung on the hospital door of a young man wounded in Iraq.
It was framed and now hangs on the Wounded Warrior floor
at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda.
I photographed it in May, 2013, and again in April 2016.
“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew.” –– Abraham Lincoln, Second Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862
In the years I’ve been writing and posting at this site, it seems that our family’s trials and challenges have paralleled the larger and more widespread difficulties facing the USA and the entire world. I withdrew from paying much attention to the news after Jeff’s diagnosis hit us in 2012, knowing I had to conserve my energy and stay as grounded in hope as I possibly could. But there is no way to isolate oneself from the calamities of the past few years.
These last twelve months have been especially fraught with personal crises for me, with Daddy’s death, Mama’s decline in health, Jeff’s brain tumor and subsequent treatments, and the overall worsening of his health as the cancer seems impossible to stop for very long.
Likewise, our country and world have been dealing with political turmoil, global terrorism, civil unrest (or outright warfare and genocide in some areas of the world) and the unceasing threats of disease and disaster. In the face of such oppressive realities, is it any wonder so many of us fall prey to despair?
As I’ve written again and again, maintaining faith and nourishing hope do not imply a withdrawal from reality, or a denial of profound sorrow. Grief and pain are inescapable, and we help no one if we try to wish or drink or argue it away.
Instead, we defeat despair when we comfort one another with support and understanding, resolving together that we can and will rise to the occasion. Sometimes, as Lincoln pointed out, this will mean thinking and acting in new ways, moving beyond habits of mind that are no longer useful to anyone, least of all ourselves.
The photo above depicts a framed poster that hangs in the hallway of the Wound Warrior floor at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. It’s just a few doors down from the room where Jeff spent so many weeks in 2013. The poster was created by a U.S. Navy Seal who was gravely wounded in Iraq in 2007. It hung on the door to his room before eventually being framed with medals and photos of him after he recovered many months later.
During the countless times I walked past it during our long, often discouraging weeks at Walter Reed, I often stopped to read it and reflect on the courage of the young man who first wrote those words when facing perhaps the greatest uphill battle of his life. No matter what else was going on, I always felt encouraged by reading it. I know it must have inspired so many others over the years, including the President, whose signature you may recognize near the bottom of the poster.
Maybe you are among those of us who have found many of the recent news stories distressing and depressing. Perhaps you are battling personal challenges too, leaving you drained and exhausted. If so, I can identify. Life seems increasingly piled high with difficulty. Nevertheless, I want to keep alive the spirit of “fun, optimism and intense rapid regrowth” that this Navy Seal pledged to uphold through his lengthy recovery.
I hope we can take heart from the words of our esteemed President Lincoln, and from many others who have given us an example of how to rise above trouble. I am encouraged by your presence here!
This post was first published seven years ago today. The original post, comments and photo are linked, along with two other related posts, below. These links to related posts, and their thumbnail photos, do not appear in the blog feed; they are only visible when viewing the individual posts by clicking on each one. I have no idea why, nor do I know how they choose the related posts. That’s just the way WordPress does things.
- Posted in: Uncategorized
- Tagged: despair, effort, encouragement, faith, hope, perseverance, renewal, resilience, sorrow, support, tenacity, trouble, turmoil
Defeat Despair 
Julia, I continue prayers for you and Matt. I trust you’re finding moments of contentment and peace.
This is an interesting post in that many would say that the “present” times are filled with challenges and difficulties as never before. As long as I can remember, that was a common sentiment for so many. And, it still is. The more I study the scriptures, the more I understand that this is the nature of humanity. It always has been, since Adam and Eve introduced sin. The good news is, for believers, that we are “in” this world but we are not “of” this world. A more perfect time and existence awaits us. I really liked Alan’s comment from 7 years ago. I paraphrase: we are born with two arms; one with which to extend and receive benevolence, and the other to hold firm the hand of the One who loved us into existence. For when this world forsakes us, He never will.
Sending loving thoughts and prayers your way.
Thank you, Chris. Yes, “there is nothing new under the sun.” I always liked the book of Ecclesiastes, though I found it challenging in my youth, when parts of it seemed a bit harsh and pessimistic. As I’ve grown older, its truths have become more and more obvious, and paradoxically, comforting. The other day I found myself singing a wonderful church song that I haven’t heard in years…”Hold to God’s Unchanging Hand.” The words of the first verse say it all: “Time is filled with swift transition; naught of earth unmoved can stand. Build your hopes on things eternal– hold to God’s unchanging hand.” Thanks for the thoughts and prayers. We need and appreciate both.
Great post Julia. Gives one pause.
I believe the “Serenity Prayer” fits well here:
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
Amen.
Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)
We cannot let ourselves be overwhelmed by the consequences of our present age. Today is no different than it was 2,000 years ago when on a hill the Son of Man and Son of God did what not one of us could ever do; reconcile ourselves to God. It took a God to do that, the very One who loved us into live and despite our self-inflicted faults was the only One who loved us enough forgive those faults.
There are those who see themselves as but, in this world, and not of it. Those who see it as a proving ground and not a playground.
The love of God has been reaffirmed in us. Why allow one’s frustration to turn to anger and then anger to hate. What a sad state to have been reconciled to God only to once again held captive of Satan. To have had everything and give it up for nothing.
-Alan
Alan, such a good point. But we– many of us, anyway– have grown up in such relative comfort that we don’t want a proving ground. We want a playground. And those who pursue their own inclinations relentlessly always seem to come up wanting more, more, more. Because more is never enough. Thanks for sharing Niebuhr’s prayer. The first part of it is well known, but I had never seen the end of it. In the turmoil, fear and exhaustion that has been my life for the past 3 months, I have clung to a verse that I understand better each day, and it’s a strength especially when I feel that no person could possibly understand my situation: Job 23:10 “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.”