Honestly, I had a vague notion that it was a Biblical reference, but this is not so. The Bible does, however, say, “it came to pass” over four hundred and fifty times. Or, so I’m told. The origin of the expression “This too shall pass” has been attributed to many sources, including King Solomon, a Middle Eastern tale of a potentate, and American President Abraham Lincoln. In the King Solomon parable, the powerful and wealthy king chooses to test his most loyal and trusted minister, Benaiah Ben Yehoyada, by asking of him an impossible task. The king asks Benaiah to find for him a ring, knowing full well that the ring does not exist, which has magick powers. “If a happy man looks at it, he becomes sad, and if a sad man looks at it, he becomes happy,” he tells him. He expresses his desire to wear the ring for Sukkot, which is six months away. After months of searching, Benaiah finds himself, the night before Sukkot, walking through the poorest neighborhood of Jerusalem. He happens upon a jeweler, who, when asked if he’s heard of such a ring, produces from his pocket a plain gold ring, to which he adds an engravement. Benaiah returns just in time on the eve of Sukkot to give the king the ring he has requested. When the king looks at the engraving, he reads four words: “gam zeh ya’avor”, which translates to, “This too shall pass” or “This too will pass”. At that moment, Solomon realizes that his wisdom, tremendous wealth, and power are fleeting things, for one day he will be nothing but dust.

In another version of the phrase, a Middle Eastern potentate wishes for his two sons to be the most intelligent people in the world. He calls a meeting of all the wise men in the Kingdom and orders them to gather all of the world’s knowledge together in one place for his sons to read. After one year, the wise men bring to him twenty-five volumes of knowledge, which they are told to condense further. They return in another year with the knowledge condensed to just one volume. This too, they are told, is far too much information for the sons, and they are ordered to par it down again. After yet another year, the wise men return with a piece of paper with a single sentence on it. The sentence read “This too shall pass”.

Abraham Lincoln supposedly used the expression as a mantra to help him through the intense stress of troubled times during his administration. In his address to the Wisconsin State Agriculture Society, on September 30, 1859, he said, “It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words, “And this, too, shall pass away.” How much it expresses! How chastened in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depth of affliction!”

These stories remind us that when you are having a bad day, or going through troubled times, it will pass. By reminding ourselves that everything in the Universe changes, and whatever worries you have today can be replaced with joy and happiness in the near future, we can suffer less in the moment. Circumstances change, and you will not be upset forever. Since this can be easy to forget while caught up in the middle of it, I find it lovely that a four word expression can remind us, reducing our stress. And, when you are having a good day, seize the moment, enjoy and appreciate it, because it too shall not last forever. Many blessings to you all on your path.