Today’s readings remind us that God is God and we are not – God is in control. However much we might want to assert our control on things, that’s really just an illusion. Lots of things may come and go, what is dull becomes bright and bright things fade, but the word of the Lord lasts forever. We might tell Jesus what we would like to have in this life or in the next, but none of that is ours to take. The only thing we can be certain of is that we will drink from the cup that Jesus drank: the cup of suffering, the cup of redemption. It’s not up to us to steer the course of human events. It’s up to us to be faithful.