I’m sure many of you remember Gilda Radner of Saturday Night Live fame.  She was an incredibly gifted comedian and actress who developed a variety of characters who were sometimes parodies of stereotypes of people in show business like tv journalists or news anchors.  One such character who always made me laugh was Roseanne Roseannadanna who was a consumer affairs reporter on Weekend Update. She would receive a letter from the same person every week, read the letter aloud and start to address the issue.  It was at this point, she would digress into a rant that was completely off topic and when called to task by her co-anchor, she would say “It just goes to show you, it’s always something.  If it’s not one thing it’s another.”

I think we can all relate to this statement at times in our lives and it is usually not as amusing as it was when Gilda’s Roseanne said it every week.  The truth that life can be hard and full of uncertainty is not news, but it is a truth many of us don’t know how to embrace. Ease, material comfort and constant abundance were never our birthright, but modern life in our culture has made it a little easier to pretend that they are, especially for those of us who were raised in relatively simplistic and comfortable environments. 

The ongoing dilemma of our uncertain futures and how we will survive what it brings reminds me of Ma Ingalls’ words in one of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House Books of my youth.  The character of Laura laments that their beautiful field of nearly ripe corn is being decimated by the blackbirds and crows before it can be harvested. The Ingalls family are the first of the homesteading farmers in their area to have such a large, productive planting and therefore it is the most delicious and irresistible field the birds have ever encountered.  When Laura starts to complain, her wise mother says, “This earthly life is a battle.  If it isn’t one thing, it’s another.  It always has been so and it always will be. The sooner you make up your mind to that, the better off you are and the more thankful for your pleasures”.

Whether the words come from Roseanne Roseannadanna in an amusing way or Ma Ingalls in a life lesson to her daughter, they have a truthfulness of which we are all aware.  The only One who knows what is in store for us in the One who loves us unconditionally and provides us with tools to survive those earthly battles we all face from time to time.  Isaiah 49:13 tells us “Shout for joy, you heavens; rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains!  For the Lord comforts His people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.” (NIV)

Without the love that is provided by God’s promise, life could prove to be daunting and at times unbearable.  We would be hard-pressed to carry on successfully and productively in our daily lives.  We all face times when we lose someone or something that is precious to us not because we did something wrong, not because we haven’t worked hard enough but because it has always been that way and it always will be.  Ma Ingalls said it well.  We should be thankful for the many blessings we have been given and share that abundance with others as God shared his love with us.  Thank the Lord for all his love!

Patty