On Coping With Uncertainty

On Coping With Uncertainty

Topic:Personal
Posted on:Oct 06 2015
Captured by:
Method:Dictation
    What Shall It Profit?
    By William Dean Howells
    If I lay waste and wither up with doubt
    The blessed fields of heaven where once my faith
    Possessed itself serenely safe from death;
    If I deny the things past finding out;
    Or if I orphan my own soul of One
    That seemed a Father, and make void the place
    Within me where He dwelt in power and grace,
    What do I gain by that I have undone?

Howells poem reminds me of my own journey…

When I was a child, in a moment of personal crisis, I etched out these words: “Everything is uncertain.” Then I crossed out the word “is.” Then I crossed out the word “everything.” Then I laid down my pen and wept. In time, it occurred to me that the notion of “everything” and of “is” represented some form of being and of doing (subject/predicate). From there, I concluded that I am “being” and that my effort to ascertain is “doing”. Eventually, I restored all three words of my simple sentence, and in a way, I have never moved past them. It is true I have embraced a life of faith, but not from the victory over uncertainty, but rather because of it.

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