Months pass and the world progresses with anger and disdain. Little joy seems to be multiplied and even less sorrow is divided. It is almost as though the world ended long ago.
Being a introverted person I spend a lot of time in my own head, left to focus on my thoughts and feelings. Paradoxically I am also eager to speak with others and have long conversations. The last few months have been tense and it feels like it only has gotten more strained in the last week or so. American politics feels like rot to so many, including myself. It weakens hearts and brings tears to the meek. It's difficult to hear from friends, from people you hold dear, how worried they are. It's difficult to see the news and feel weakened in your power to change things. It is the most difficult when you feel like you can never comfort or be comforted.
However, what keeps me and many others, hopefully you too, is that we are not alone. God loves. Not an abstract concept of God who exists as just energy, nor an impersonal God who does not step foot on Earth, but GOD. The God of Israel, of Mary and Joseph, has set foot on Earth. He has become Flesh, Incarnate as Man.
Jesus Christ is a loving God, the most personable, but we sometimes forget that He lived in a trying time. The Jewish population subjugated under pagan rule, under the threat of being crushed and dismantled by secular powers. Death was very close by. Of course, many saints faced this fate by their Roman overlords. Ss. Peter, Paul, Lawrence, and Clement all died violently. Many likely saw these horrific deaths and thought the faith would die out. An inevitability.
It didn't. The Martyrs were welcomed into Heaven and showered with love and guidance. They joined Christ in the celestial singing and praise. The Church on Earth continued, oppression after oppression, until it now sits as the totality of the world. Forever and ever.
If you believe the world is a place of pain, or if is descending into pain, remember that this is not a game of inevitable failure. Hope is never lost. The world could decline to the lowest point of absolute suffering, but it will inevitably get better. It will rise and things will be okay once again.
God have mercy and gives us strength, let no worry find us unguarded!