Life can change in a single moment. This is not just the stuff seen in movies. Our life can really change in an instant, for better or for worse.
All my bags were packed, ready to return to Los
Angeles mid-January to get ready for my mission journey to Ghana and in an instant
my plans had to change. I will not be
able to leave Manila until February 22.
For someone who thrives in making contingency strategies this was very
difficult. I was helpless to do anything – things were
just not happening the way I had intended them. I finally made it to the
Mission House in February and was scheduled to leave for Ghana on March 15. But
again, this was not to be. All these
changes have been very challenging and has caused anxiety.
However, looking back I can now say that there are no
unforeseen detours. It was, in fact, for the better and not for the worse. I know now that nothing is unplanned for,
nothing left to chance. And there is nothing to fear, nothing to dread. Nothing
to get upset about. I am being taught
the way of trust, surrender and hope.
As I finally leave for Ghana tomorrow (3/22), I bring
with me Thomas Merton’s A Prayer of Unknowing as a reminder that I do
not journey alone – that it is in fact OUR PATH (Christ and mine)
designed specifically for us.
My Lord God, I have no idea
where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain
where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am
following Your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe
that the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope I have that
desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from
that desire. And I know that, if I do this, You will lead me by the right road,
though I may know nothing about it. Therefore, I will trust You always though I
may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for You are
ever with me, and You will never leave me to face my perils alone. Amen.
– Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude, page 79.
