Feast of St. Mark

My thought for the day is from the first reading, the First Letter of Peter: "The god of all grace who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus will himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you after you have suffered a little."
Usually I focus on that not-exactly-encouraging last phrase, which makes it seem as though God is just biding his divine time until we have suffered... But re-reading the letter, it is clear that Peter is writing to people who are immersed in suffering already: it is a major theme of First Peter! So he really is encouraging them that the suffering they are undergoing will last "only a little." This is Peter's version of what Paul also said, "This momentary time of trial is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory... What is seen is transitory; what is unseen is eternal."