Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. – Isaiah 41:10

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is considered by many to be the greatest American tragedy ever written. Miller explores the highs and the lows of the American Dream and how pursuing it impacts people in different ways. Miller’s tragic protagonist is a traveling salesman named Willy Loman. Over the course of his life, he has carved out for himself a good, but modest existence. He has been a loyal salesman for the Wagner Company for 34 years. To hear him say it, he’s been a valuable employee who achieved great success. He owns a small home in Brooklyn. His wife Linda is kind and devoted. His sons, Biff and Happy, are destined to be great at athletics, at business, and in life.

There’s only one problem: these things aren’t true to the level Willy desires or imagines them to be. Willy’s position as a traveling salesman is being phased out. He was allowed to continue more out of empathy than value until he is finally fired from his job. At home, the serenity of his neighborhood is being choked away by larger buildings and apartments. His wife fights to defend his honor and dignity, not knowing that he had been unfaithful to her while on his business trips. Finally, his sons have traveled different paths. Biff, the eldest and more accomplished of the two, bought into Willy’s boastful dreams for him. Biff was entitled and demanded special treatment. Upon learning the truth about Willy’s alleged greatness, Biff gave up on his own dreams, suffered hard times for many years, and is only now finding his way. Conversely, Happy is young, brash, and full of himself. He talks a big game but has no substance. He is destined to follow his father’s path to glory despite knowing that it doesn’t lead there.

Willy Loman’s American Dream serves to confirm that some dreams are nightmares. Thomas Jefferson wrote of people having the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” with the key word being pursuit. Not a guarantee or assurance or even the likelihood of happiness. Just the pursuit of it. That puts the onus on us and tells us that despite our best efforts, happiness, in whatever form we define it, may never come. For Willy, happiness meant wealth, prestige, and superiority over all others. When his dreams began to crumble, he blamed everyone else for not doing their part. Finally, when he was given the slightest glimmer of better days ahead, his hubris got the better of him, leading him to commit suicide to stake his family with a $20,000 life insurance policy. He simply couldn’t live with the idea that his place in the world was that of the “low man.”

I can relate to Willy Loman for two reasons. First, I was given the opportunity to portray Willy when I was in college, so I had the opportunity to spend some time inside the mind of the character. Secondly, having lived for as long as I have, I have the benefit of seeing how my view of society, of life, and of my place in all of it has changed in the 30 plus years since walking off the stage and into the world. Here are some of the lessons I’ve learned.

I, like Willy Loman, have been both a dreamer and a fool. I have lived with the belief that I would accomplish great things. I have sought personal success and the recognition that comes with it. I have been pompous, arrogant, and self-centered. I am demanding, unbending, and overly critical of myself and others. With age and experience, some changes have occurred. That feeling of invincibility from my youth has been replaced with a mixture of contentment and regret. Conquering the world has long since been replaced with just trying to keep my corner of it clean and peaceful. I know who I am. I know my strengths and my flaws. I better understand how interacting with people works, and I am putting less effort into seeking affirmation by pleasing others. Like Willy, I can’t change the mistakes of the past. Like Willy, I see what the future can hold.

So, what happens now?

In Isaiah 41, God is speaking to the people of Israel during the Babylonian exile. Amidst the fear and uncertainty of what would happen to them, God’s words offered comfort and the reestablishment of five promises He continued to keep with them. Spoiler: He keeps these promises for us even today.

1. I am with you. – We are never alone because God is always present in our lives. Whatever the struggle, whatever the joy, God is with us.
2. I am your God. – An important reminder for two reasons. It establishes who He is in our lives, as well as reminding us of who we are not. I am not in control. He is, and that is for the best.
3. I will strengthen you. – Life in a sin-filled world wears us out. At times, I lack the strength I need to face the day. God empowers us through His word, prayer, forgiveness, the sacraments, and the Holy Spirit.
4. I will help you. – We are not equipped to answer every question or to solve every problem. Our God, the Creator of the universe offers us His help in every situation, big or small. We can rely upon Him, even when we fail to seek Him out.
5. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. – We reassured that God has provided for our earthly and spiritual needs through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

Blessed by a lifetime upon which I can reflect and, God-willing, more time yet to come, I gladly receive these promises from God. They give me comfort knowing that His love for me has never wavered. They offer hope for today and the confidence that comes from being a chosen and redeemed child of God. It is in this state of grace, and by the Spirit working in my life that I will seek to do what He directs for the remaining time He chooses to give me.

May God, through His deep love for His people, fill your heart and mind with these promises, now and always.