The Time That Is Given Us

“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. 

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide.  All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

If you have spent any time reading history, you know that people living during every period have had to face significant and unprecedented challenges. Right now, we are in the midst of one of the greatest collective challenges most of us have ever experienced. The world itself has seen plenty of pandemics come and go, but we have not. To us, it is novel, and it is difficult. I think most of us wish it need not have happened in our time. We wish we could have gone on living our lives without a thought to face masks, distancing, or the potential long-term effects of this virus on our bodies, our families, our communities, our nation, and our world.

But these times are ours, and we must do what we can to keep moving forward, even if we cannot physically move beyond the walls of our houses or the boundaries of our communities without risk. We are all trying to figure out how to do this, but the key lies in how we choose to spend the 24 hours that are given to each of us in equal measure each day.