“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” – A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

While traveling on a Virginia interstate in a rainstorm last week, a wave of anxiety crashed down upon me. My normally upbeat self suddenly felt deflated and depressed. This feeling caught me off guard and, being the overly rational guy that I am, I searched for an explanation.

Maybe it was the gloomy Coronavirus forecast I had just read. Over a million infections. Tens of thousands of deaths. The invisible virus was running roughshod over the world as we know it, with no end in sight. God, please do something.

Closer to home, maybe it was my concern for my eldest son, Jason (a prosthetist/orthotist), and daughter-in-law, Laci (an occupational therapist), who continue to see patients and are unable to “shelter in place.” Like many others, they are risking their own well-being to serve and treat others. God, please protect them.

Perhaps it was my mixed feelings about traveling to North Carolina to help Jason and his wife, Rachel, move into their new home. Helping them seemed like the right call, and we would take precautions, but there were risks. Specifically, we would return home to my elderly in-laws who had pre-existing conditions. Were we recklessly putting their health at risk? God, if this is a mistake, please forgive me and make it okay.

Maybe it was the 40 minutes I had been on hold with a potential mortgage lender, trying to secure financing, and a suitable timeline, for the home we were trying to purchase. If we were unable to close in 30 days, we risked losing the contract. God, I hate to be petty, but please have someone answer the phone and give me a favorable response.

More simply, maybe it was my concern about having Janet, my wife, driving on the interstate in the rain, so that I could make some important phone calls. God, please keep her alert and slow the rain.

All of those concerns joined forces and made a frontal assault on my resolve to “not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6)

I have read and taught classes about that verse countless times. It’s so simple in concept, and so easy to do…in good times. The real test comes when you get that pit in your stomach during tough times. I wanted to believe that verse. I wanted to rise to the occasion. I wanted to practice what I had long preached and be a good example to my family. I wanted Jesus to be proud of me. But the pall of uncertainty and anxiety hung over me. Lord, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)

And then, in this moment of intense anxiety, a song came on the radio. I wish I could say it was Bless the Lord, Oh My Soul or some old-time gospel favorite. It was not. I have no doubt God connects with his people, and they speak to one another with “psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:19a)

But this was not a hymn I sang in worship. Perhaps God was taking me in a different direction. This was a song from the American rock band Styx—easily my favorite musical group during my formative middle-school years of the late 1970s. Unbeknownst to them, I sang lead vocals and backup air guitar, with the help of a basement 8-track tape player in our Dover, Delaware home. 

The song was written by their front man and lead singer, Dennis DeYoung. It appeared on their 1981 Paradise Theater album, which falls roughly between 1977’s The Grand Illusion (my all-time favorite album) and 1983’s Kilroy was Here, which featured the ubiquitous “Mr. Roboto.”

DeYoung wrote the song as a paraphrase of the Charles Dickens’ line, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” In an interview with Songwriter Universe magazine, he said, “For me, the song is simple. It’s when the world goes mad, how do you cope? And in this instance, it’s the love between two people, that they make their own paradise within their companionship, their love for each other, and their own home. And that’s what ‘The Best of Times’ is about…it’s saying that The Best of Times are when I’m alone with you.”

While on a lengthy telephone hold, with the rain pounding on our windshield, and a pit of anxiety swirling in my stomach, I listened to the song. No singing. No air guitar. I just listened…

Tonight’s the night we’ll make history
Honey, you and I
And I’ll take any risk to tie back the hands of time
And stay with you here tonight
I know you feel these are the worst of times
I do believe it’s true
When people lock their doors and hide inside
Rumor has it, it’s the end of paradise
But I know, if the world just passed us by
Baby I know, I wouldn’t have to cry, no no
The best of times are when I’m alone with you
Some rain some shine, we’ll make this a world for two
Our memories of yesterday will last a lifetime
We’ll take the best, forget the rest
And someday we’ll find
These are the best of times
These are the best of times
The headlines read, “These are the worst of times”
I do believe it’s true
I feel so helpless like a boat against the tide
I wish the summer winds could bring back paradise
But I know, if the world turned upside down
Baby, I know you’d always be around, my my
The best of times are when I’m alone with you
Some rain some shine, we’ll make this a world for two
The best of times are when I’m alone with you
Some rain some shine, we’ll make this a world for two

I don’t know that Dennis DeYoung could have foreseen a global pandemic that would wreak havoc on the world nearly 40 years later, killing (as of tonight) over 69,000 people. Still, he was on to something. So, let me repeat his earlier question: When the world goes mad, how do you cope?

For many, the world has gone mad. It’s the worst of times. The headlines confirm that. Our world has been turned upside down. We’re locking our doors and hiding inside. We feel like helpless boats against the tide. Rumor has it, it’s the end of paradise.

Still, we long for a world turned right side up. We pray for calmer waters. We wish for summer winds to bring back paradise, or at least some semblance of normalcy.

Despite all the chaos and uncertainty, DeYoung finds hope in the one he loves. Being alone with her is enough. He looks back on fond memories of yesterday that will last a lifetime. He focuses on the best and tries to forget the rest. He takes the good with the bad, the rain with the shine, and commits to a brighter future.

Although DeYoung’s outlook, at least in this song, doesn’t expressly include God…mine does. God has promised Christians a bright future and a happy ending…the best of times. God also tells us to pray to him, to make our requests known, in every situation.

So, as we drove down the interstate last week, I prayed to God…

God, please do something.
God, please protect them.
God, if this is a mistake, please forgive me and make it okay.
God, I hate to be petty, but please have someone answer the phone and give me a favorable response.
God, please keep her alert and slow the rain.
And, God, one more thing…thank you for giving me a wife and best friend to ride out this storm with.

If you’re struggling with anxiety, or even if you’re not, let me suggest you wake up every morning with a prayer on your lips and a couple of Bible verses memorized and on your heart. I recommend…

            “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” – Philippians 4:6

            “Be still and know that I am God.” – Psalm 46:10a

Finally, if you haven’t done so lately, be sure to tell the ones you love that you love them. Don’t let a day go by without your loved ones hearing those words. 

Let me begin. 

To my children, my daughters-in-law, the rest of my family, and my friends…I love you guys!

Janet…I love you! The best of times are when I’m alone with you.

Don’t ever forget that!