A minister who was conducting a prayer meeting in his church asked each member to contribute some helpful Bible passage. As the story goes, many familiar and inspiring verses were presented. Finally a man arose and quoted, "It came to pass." Then he sat down.
Puzzled, the minister asked him to amplify this somewhat ambiguous phrase. The parishioner again stood up and said, "I have had a long and eventful life. There have been many happy experiences. But there have also been times of anguish, and at such times it has comforted me to remember the passages in which these words appeared, 'It came to pass.' Not one of the troubles that beset my path ever came to stay—it only 'came to pass.' "
This unusual interpretation may be open to question, literally speaking. Nevertheless it has thought-provoking overtones. So long as we accept the aggressive suggestion that evil, in whatever form, is real, we are subject to its possible continuance; so long as we fear or resent its pretentious claims, we leave ourselves open to the possibility that it may become a permanent part of our experience. But if we look upon it as transient and impermanent, because unsubstantial, then we will deal with it effectively. It goes without saying, of course, that there must be valid spiritual reasoning underlying this attitude; otherwise it might degenerate into philosophical sophistry with little or no healing value.
