Well. To be honest, it hasn't really happened to me either, at least, not literally. But figuratively? As an overachieving college student...yes. (Which is why I'm sitting here in the library...not studying...) Projects, papers, work. Then there's the balance of prayer life and being social. Not that I find being with friends a nuisance - just the opposite! Somedays that's all I wish being here was about! But work has a sneaky tendency to pile up rather quickly, and well....I feel sheepish when I forget and keep God waiting at the Tabernacle.
Then, zoom out just a tad, and there's life as a whole. So much has happened in the past year alone. Very many of them wonderful events, some that caused me and those I know to grow, and some disheartening that I never thought would have happened.
That's just in my own life.
It certainly doesn't take much to look at the world and become frustrated.
For example. In media class today, a couple of my friends and I weren't sure what to make of the "future of media." Think about it, we're using and relying on it more and more. It's seeped into our cell phones, our living rooms, our car rides, and who knows where else! But did you know that some people are looking into embedding media into our bodies, so that we can connect with each other automatically without the use of a handheld device or a push of a button? I might be a media major, but I don't exactly want it to take over my life. (My life is crazy as it is. See above.)
Then you have things more crucial like abortion, or same-sex marriage, or euthanasia just to name a couple. There's division between countries. There's division in our country. There's growing division in families, communities, and even within ourselves.
The presidential elections really brought out the worst reminders. If you really wanted to become upset in two minutes, it seemed like all you had to do was sit and watch the debates. It all seems to be hurling at a thousand miles per hour in every which direction without any inclination of stopping.
But rather than letting the wind tear you to shreds, the snow batter your face, and the chill bite your poor nose as you battle it out to get wherever it is you're getting to, have you ever tried to stop for a second?
There's as sort of saying here at school nowadays that a very dear friend of mine often says; something that, what with all that is happening in the world, is fitting. It's come up even more with the Feast of Christ the King and with Ordinary Time drawing to a close and all the readings that remind us of the end:
"Whatever happens, Christ is the King of our hearts."
So as long we allow Him to reign over our hearts, we don't have to be afraid of whatever will happen. As a student with a huge, impending, dark cloud of loan over her head, living in a world that seems to be tearing itself apart, I find this truth to be very comforting and heartening indeed.
It might not bring a warm, fuzzy feeling in my heart at all times; in fact, it's hard to remember what warm and fuzzy is when you're out in 20-below degrees. But it's there. And I know He's there, deep within the quiet retreat of my heart when I stop and seek Him - sometimes a little scrupulously just to make sure He's really there. He is, and will never leave. The snow will melt, and the wind will die, but God reigns forever and is here to stay.
