“Life’s only constant is change.”
This proverb, attributed to Greek philosopher Heraclitus in the 4th century B.C., feels anything but ancient. It is hard to escape the stress of how quickly new issues sprout and old issues ripen.
Think about your favorite world problem: Gaza and Israel, climate change, declining birth rates, pollution and public health, or perhaps a government shutdown. Sometimes it seems that there are so many characters on the political stage that we hardly get to know any of them before the curtain closes and we move to the next act.
This very issue of the Marriott Student Review tackles a whole host of such problems. We were spoiled for choice, selecting from dozens of pieces about many great and pressing matters in the world of business and beyond. (To our relief, they came with some answers, too.)
Think about your favorite personal problem: burnout at work, another health condition stirring up pain and trouble, conflict with your partner or your parents, or a mountain of laundry. Sometimes these, too, move to the background (certainly they don’t disappear) as bigger issues demand the spotlight.
So how can we cope? What’s a man to do? The gospel of Matthew sheds some light:
“And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but [Jesus] was asleep.
And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?
Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.”
—Matthew 8:24-26, KJV
I have never been on the deck of a ship “covered with the waves”, and it doesn’t seem fun: scared for your life, nauseated, soaking wet, and freezing cold. But the God of Earth and Heaven has a lesson for us. He tells us not to fear the waves, the health problems, the marital conflict, the wars, the natural disasters, or even the laundry. Instead He tells us to have faith—to believe.
Believe what? That even though a sparrow is sold for a farthing, not one of them falls to the ground without our Father in Heaven knowing—that we are worth more than many sparrows, and the very hairs of our head are numbered. “Fear ye not therefore.” —Matthew 10:31
To put it simply: believe that you are in good, omnipotent hands.