What a few weeks America has had.

Afghanistan. The Lake Tahoe fire. Hurricane Ida and its aftermath. The Delta variant. Migrants. Continued political division. It feels as if the U.S. is being hit by the plagues of Egypt.

But take pause and try to remember a time when our country, and the world, weren’t dealing with a host of disasters, wars, economic ups and downs and stunning developments. It is as if God is singing, “I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden.”