It’s the End of the World as We Know It, (Breathe Through the Discomfort) and You’ll Feel Fine

As we move toward the end of the Church year, we’re getting a lot of readings at Mass about the end of the world. Many, including the ones this Sunday, predict a variety of tribulations: earthquakes, famines, wars, and plagues. We have plenty of our own tribulations going on in our day, and so it may be tempting to wonder if the end time described in Scripture is upon us now. Who knows? Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t, but the point is that there’s nothing to fear. Ironically, these passages about strife and discord are meant to be comforting. They acknowledge the hard times that are already afoot and assure people – then and now – that even during times of darkness and difficulty, God is with us. We are not alone.

Although it’s hard for me to relate to the end of the world, I do sometimes reflect on the end of seasons of my life. Recently I went to a reunion at the University of Cincinnati Newman Center. I was a student there and then served as a campus minister for twelve years. I loved that ministry so much, and reconnecting with people and reminiscing over old pictures filled me with gratitude. The reunion also brought back a twinge of the heartbreak that came from leaving that ministry, and I recognize that I still feel a little grief from that parting. I love the God Space ministry I’m doing now, but it’s new and still fraught with uncertainty. How easy it is to look back on a past experience and think it was so easy! On the other side of it, I forget that it had its own times of difficulty. Hindsight does indeed offer a rose-tinted perspective.

While all good things come to an end, difficult ones seem to drag on forever, don’t they? When I’m going through a hard time, it feels like it will never end. Everything in me wishes it away but wishing doesn’t make it so. Yoga practitioners say to breathe into discomfort, and meditation invites me to just be present to what is. A guided meditation I listen to says, “It doesn’t matter if you are comfortable or uncomfortable; just focus on your breath.” That advice is helpful, but before I can open myself to it, I need to be reassured that I’m loved and cared for and not alone. People in my life often help to assure me, and God does too. Then I can be with the discomfort and begin to look to God to see what to do with it – either make some life changes to resolve the situation or just keep breathing. This too shall pass.

The reality is that all things end; times of sorrow and times of joy all come to a close as new experiences emerge and shift our lives again. We grow and transform, sometimes all of a sudden but mostly little by little, so subtly that we may not notice until much later. And through all the ebb and flow of endings and beginnings, ups and downs, nostalgia and newness, I want to be able to trust God. Through losses, betrayals, new challenges, and deep, abiding love, God is there. I can’t always tell in the moment, but I do take comfort from Scripture. Also, when I stop to look back and recognize God’s love and presence woven all through past highs and lows, I am able to trust a little more that God is here in present moments of breaking apart.

When it feels like the world that we know is crumbling around us as something new but indistinct is emerging, we can breathe into the discomfort because we know that we are deeply loved.

By Sister Leslie Keener, CDP

Sister Leslie Keener, CDP is the director of God Space, a community-building spirituality ministry in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. She’s a Sister of Divine Providence with a Masters in Ministry and a Certificate in Spiritual Direction and Retreats from Creighton University. She directs retreats, meets with people for spiritual direction, and serves as the vocation director for her community. She also serves on the Coordinating Council of Spiritual Directors International. She enjoys music, meaningful conversations, dancing — and emo music from the 90s, including R.E.M.

In case you need a throwback tune, listen here. :)