It was supposed to be ironic
to say bad things will happen.

You were thinking of things like
an unauthorised charge on the credit card
or a stock broker dating your daughter.

You felt so secure that you could laugh
at the anxiety and insecurity of your peers.
Hey, we all have problems, you’d chuckle,
But it all works out in the end.

You’d accumulated both assets and insurance,
and you planned carefully for an uncertain future.
You had lectured others on the importance of savings,
healthful living, and sound investments.

But the history of the world is nothing
if not a lengthy narrative of people
experiencing the unimaginable
unaided by immaculate preparation or
salvation from a merciful God.

Sinners suddenly remember God
holds them over the pit of Hell as
one might hold a spider over a fire.*

As they emerge from the ashes,
anxiety cripples them until,
slowly, they become steadily
more complacent, even arrogant,
until vengeance meets them again.

*Thanks to Jonathan Edwards.