Illustration by Amrita Marino

Since 1976, as the year changes, lake Superior State University in Michigan has offered its list of banished words that the would-be arbiters of the English language wish would disappear. The list is usually terms that have made it into pop culture to the point of exhaustion.

During the pandemic, “unprecedented” and “uncertain times” made it, and, as we continue to live in “unprecedented,” “uncertain,” and even “historic” times, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a re-banning of the words.

Several friends and colleagues have complained about living in “historic” times, which continue to weigh heavily on us all. Banning the terms may feel good, but it doesn’t provide escape from the reality that – by nature – humans are always living in and through unprecedented and historic times.

Scripture contains a catalog of unprecedented times, from the creation story through wars and pestilence to tremendous miracles. What’s not necessarily recorded is the waves of social and societal change that swept through the biblical lands over the centuries. Instead, the focus is on the action and character of God on and over the backdrop of human endeavor.

Oddly, the dourness of Ecclesiastes was written in an apparent time of unprecedented prosperity and offers this gem:

What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.

Here the depression of Ecclesiastes may be seen. Unlike most others in the Bible, the writer focuses on the times and their personal response. Only at the end is it broken by an admonition to turn to God, the One who is above and beyond the cycles and situations in life.

That’s a fitting place to start in unprecedented times.