This Too Shall Pass

Long ago and Eastern monarch, plagued by many worries, harassed on every side, called his wise men together. He asked them to invent a motto, a few magic words that would help him in time of trial or distress. It must be brief enough to be engraved on a ring, he said, so that he could have it always before his eyes. It must be appropriate to every situation, as useful in prosperity as in adversity. It must be a motto wise and true and endlessly enduring, words by which a man could be guided all his life, in every circumstance, no matter what happened. The wise men thought and though, and finally came to the monarch with their magic words. They were words for every change or chance of fortune, declared the wise men . . . words to ease the heart and mind in every circumstance. And the words they gave the monarch to engrave on his ring were:

This, too, shall pass away.

I came upon this legend in my search for courageous words. This will probably become the blog of wild hope and courage now. But I was drawn to this little story because so many of life's situations need these words. John Burroughs, an American naturalist and essayist, stated eloquently that "We cannot walk through life on mountain peaks." It is good to maintain perspective when things happen. Change is the constant. One of my favorite philosophers of Ancient Rome, Marcus Aurelius commented on this idea also:

"Think often of how swiftly things pass away and are no more--the works of Nature and the works of man. The substance of the Universe, matter, is like unto a river that flows on forever. All things are not only in a constant state of change, but they are the cause of constant and infinite change in other things. Upon a narrow ledge though standest! Behind thee, the bottomless abyss of the Past! In front of thee, the Future that will swallow up all things that are now. Over what things, then, in this present life wilt thou, O foolish man, be disquieted or exalted--making thyself wretched; seeking that they can vex thee only for a time--a brief, brief time!"

George Harrison of The Beatles also wrote a beautiful song that has been in my mind lately. The verse that keeps going around in my head is:

"Now the darkness only stays the night-time

In the morning it will fade away

Daylight is good at arriving at the right time

It's not always going to be this grey

All things must pass

All things must pass away"

Grace Noll Crowell, an Amercan poet, was so struck by the legend of the wealthy monarch that she wrote a poem about the magic of the simple idea that things will pass and we can pick up and move forward.

This, too, will pass. O heart, say it over and over,

Out of your deepest sorrow, out of your deepest grief,

No hurt can last forever--perhaps tomorrow

Will bring relief.

This, too, will pass. It will spend itself--its fury

Will die as the wind dies down with the setting sun;

Assuaged and calm, you will again, forgetting

A thing that is done.

Repeat it again and again, O heart, for your comfort;

This, too, will pass as surely as passed before

The old forgotten pain, and the other sorrows

That once you bore.

As certain as stars at night, or dawn after darkness,

Inherent as the lift of the blowing grass,

Whatever your despair or your frustration--

This, too, will pass.

Let us all remember in our hurt and in our discomfort that This, too, will pass.