I was reading a psalm on the way to work. Psalm 30. It’s got some great lines in it, one of my favorite, “weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” I thought about how wonderful that was, that the tough stuff only lasts for a while.
My commute is on the New York subway and this day I actually had a seat on the A train. I could close my eyes and think about all the terrible stuff going on in the world—the devastation in Haiti, people out of work, a friend in the hospital—and remind myself: it doesn’t last forever. Joy comes in the morning.
I started to get into a pretty good mood, hopeful and at peace. I had to get off the train at 59th to change to the D train. I stepped into the car and took a seat, closing my eyes again. All at once I heard a strident voice calling out, “READ THE BIBLE!” “Oh, no,” I thought, “it’s the Bible lady.” She’s always pacing the cars, haranguing the passengers, yelling at everybody to read the Bible. I can’t begin to tell you how loud she is.
“I wish she’d shut up,” one of the passengers muttered.
I echoed the thought. (I know, I know, I had just been reading the Bible myself.) Then she started reading a passage I recognized. I settled down and listened to the words: “…weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning.” All their sweetness came out and she was transformed in my eyes.
“Thanks,” I said when I got off the train. “That’s one of my favorite psalms too.”
Rick Hamlin is the executive editor at GUIDEPOSTS.
