This Too Shall Pass

I read a book recently titled, The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World. It was a very, very interesting book, in which the author decides to read through the entire Encyclopedia Britannica in an attempt to gain intelligence. The book chronicles his readings of the Encyclopedia while throwing out interesting facts that he learns as well as attempts to affirm his increased knowledge.

At some point in the book, the author, who is a non-practicing Jew, realizes that he has questions about the Jewish history. So, he finds a Rabbi and sits down to talk to him. He has several questions, mainly dealing with all of the bad stuff that happens in the Bible, but ends up getting more confused as to why this stuff happens after talking to the Rabbi. In the end the Rabbi sums up all of the things he has questions about with one phrase..."this too shall pass."

I found this very poignant and also very applicable to my own life. Sometimes I get too worked up about bad (or sometimes even good) things that happen in my life that I can't see the big picture. If you look back at history you will see that disaster is nothing new, it's been happening for centuries now. The things we find important now, may not be important 100 years from now or even 5 years from now. I think it's a way of taking things with a grain of salt.

Find out what's really important in life and invest your time and energy in that. For me it's my relationship with God and my friends and family. Don't get worked up over the small, inconsequential moments in life...this too shall pass.