Ask and see: Can a man bear children? Then why do I see every strong man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor, every face turned deathly pale? – Jeremiah 30:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (May 29, 2020): Jeremiah 30

“If you can keep your head when everybody around you is losing theirs, then it is very probable that you don’t understand the situation.” The parody of Rudyard Kipling’s poem “if” seems to have first appeared in the “High School Bulletin” section of a newspaper printed in the state of New York in 1935. The quote is offered anonymously, although it has been used and parodied by several authors since then. Sometimes I wonder if Kipling understood the power that his poem would hold over those who read, and lampoon, the poet’s words. Of course, the poet wanted to promote level headed thinking, even amid stress. And Kipling comes to a very different conclusion then the unknown author did in 1935. According to the poet, if you can keep your head in stressful situations, then;

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And — which is more — you’ll be a Man, my son (Rudyard Kipling, “If”)!

Or, maybe, you just don’t understand the situation. I have to admit I have met a lot of people over the past few weeks who seem to be on the “losing their heads” side of the equation, instead of on the “keeping” side. And they seem to treat with disdain those who seem to be better at keeping their heads, often arguing that these people “simply don’t understand.”

Jeremiah places this poetic image in the mouth of God. “Can a man give birth to children? You say no, and yet I see a lot of men around me who are doubled over in pain as if they are about to give birth.” At least pregnant women have a reason for their pain, but what purpose can a man have. Stand up straight, even in the worst of times, and you will be ready to make a positive difference in the future that approaches us. Greet each morning with courage and set the example for those who gather around you. Jeremiah’s message is not that we should ignore the realities of life; that message doesn’t fit with the rest of his writings. But it is that we be ready to do our best, no matter what our situation might be. And best seldom comes from a position of being paralyzed with fear. A woman in childbirth at least has a baby after the trial has passed. A man has nothing, and worse than that, he has squandered an opportunity to make a difference.

We live in trying times. But we need to make an effort to at least try to greet each morning with courage because I suspect that Kipling is right.

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, . . .

             Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And — which is more — you’ll be a Man, my son (Rudyard Kipling, “If”)!

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 31