Live As Though God Exists

One September morning, a father was driving his teenage son back to college. They arrived at a place where they had to detour from the main highway because of a construction project. The long detour ran along a bumpy, dusty narrow road and, as they proceeded, the father became highly irritated. With each bump, he registered a fresh complaint until, finally, the son turned to him and said gently, “Dad, don’t sweat the small stuff!”

In today’s Gospel Lesson, Jesus reminds His disciples of the difficulties to be encountered along the bumpy road of life. He speaks of “wars and tumults,” of “nation rising against nation,” of “great earthquakes,” of “famines and pestilences,” of “terrors,” of “betrayals and persecutions.”…