Tuesday, April 12

Paul Simon wrote a song about this called Hurricane Eye, and the main refrain goes, “Peaceful as a hurricane eye.” The idea of perfect calm hiding within the chaos of every storm is intriguing, and exceptionally relevant when considering our lives as humans. So frequently, we may feel overcome with pressure and stress; managing the mundane tasks of daily life is difficult alone, and extraordinary challenges always seem to attack at once. Like trying to survive a tsunami, life has a tendency to send disaster after disaster crashing down upon us when we least expect or need them – or at least that is certainly how it can feel when you are struggling to keep your head above water as tidal waves of panic, fear, and anger attempt to drag you down.

In challenging times such as these, when it feels as though to bear another burden would be impossible, we have no choice but to jump into the eye of the hurricane to find reprieve. What this means, less metaphorically, is to accept the challenges posed to us by God. There is no point in trying to fight back against fate because we will never be able to change it. What happens to us and our loved ones simply will be what it will be. The only controllable thing is our response to that stimulus, which should be acceptance as opposed to rejection or panic. It is when we are forced to return to our core, our own quiet within a storm, that God will be there to provide, and help us emerge resilient after disaster.