A Prayer by Thomas Merton for Ash Wednesday

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.

Tebow or not Tebow? That is the question.

In his collegiate career at the University of Florida Tim Tebow wore smudge paint under his eyes to help reduce the glare of the sun.  Football players do this all of the time.  It's a normal practice.  What made the smudge paint under Tebow's eyes unique is that he wrote the biblical verse of John 3:16 on the smudge paint.  Now, fast-forward to the present day and Tebow comes to the NFL and plays quarterback for the Denver Broncos and this past Sunday passes for (get this) a season high of 316 yards.  That's not all.  He also, in the same game, set an NFL record with 31.6 yards per completion.  
I find all of this rather intriguing.  Some pundits might say that Tebow has God on his side or that Tebow has some extra special connection to a higher power.  I'm sure some will go to great lengths to purport that God orchestrated the game just so that attention could be paid to John 3.16.  Some will even say that it is simply luck or chance.  What I see in this is (and it's summed up in one word):  connection.  Tebow is connected to God but not unlike anyone else who connects to God.  Yet, there is more to it.  Connecting with God is what it's all about.  It's what life is about.  It's connecting with that which is greater, profound, and mysterious and here's the punch line:  that connection is found personally in God's Son for which John 3.16 so eloquently puts forth.  316 yards passing.  31.6 yards per completion.  Luck?  Chance?  A God thing?  You make the call for yourself but I think I will take a moment and thank God for the holy connections in life:  my wife, my children and family, friends, and my Creator who makes it all possible.   

Hope Will Lead the Way

Author Andrew Lester wrote, "Hope is always moving toward what it can barely see, but yet trusts."  I'll be the first to admit that trusting is not the easiest of endeavors.  For some trust has been broken, reinstated, then broken again.  Brokenness can often lead to mistrust because of spiritual and emotional wounds that are difficult to heal. 

I'm comforted by the understanding that hope moves me forward.  Hope will not allow me to wallow in my grief or tears or struggle.  Hope is like a gentle friend taking my hand and guiding me to take a step even if it is just one step. 

I can't see the days ahead of me nor can I predict what they might bring.  I can do this:  I can hope in the midst of my struggles, doubts, and fears with the assurance that hope give me eyes to see in the darkness.  The light ahead is not an oncoming train but the beginning of a better day. 

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness - on them a light has shined."  These words in the Hebrew Bible are for me words of comfort, assurance, and yes, hope.  Christmas is coming, bringing with it the light of hope into the world.  Let's take a step forward. 

Hope will lead the way. 

It's About Time

As a child I begged (literally begged) my parents to buy me a Mickey Mouse watch. Apparently, I was persuasive because they relented and on my 7th birthday, I received the watch. I believe one of the reasons that my parents had been resistant to the idea of my having a Mickey Mouse watch (the watches were also rather expensive) was out of concern that I was tooyoung and would lose it.

One day, as fate (I don’t believe in fate but this was uncanny) would have it, I was outside with my friends and we all dared one another to jump off the neighbor’s garage roof. Of course, I accepted the dare and before jumping off the roof, I took off my watch and placed it carefully on the ground where I would pick it up after completing my daring feat. I climbed on the roof and jumped landing awkwardly contorted but unhurt. I was proud of myself. Since it was late, I went home. I later realized I had not picked up my Mickey Mouse watch. I went back to the spot where I placed it and it was nowhere to be found. I never found the watch.

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son...” (Galatians 4.4). As a person of faith and belief in Jesus Christ I realize that I may not understand all that life is about but I do affirm in my life that God’s Son has entered into the world, broken through our time to usher in the advent of God’s timing, God’s incarnate presence among us.

The days leading up to Christmas and the days following are an invitation to participate symbolically and spiritually in the timing of God. So, take time. Find time. Spend time. Use time wisely. Invite God to enter into the time of your life. Time can get away from us just like a lost Mickey Mouse watch. Life is all about timing. In Christ, the time is now.

We All Want to Win at Something

When I began my third year in grade school, I was one of the new kids on the playground at recess time.  Needless to say, the new kids had to go through an approval process.  Did we measure up to the other kids who were more popular or more athletic?  Several days passed in the new school year and I had been chosen last every day during recess to play the daily pick-up game of football.  As it would happen my moment of glory appeared.  I was on the losing side but with the football in hand I dodged and skirted around the really good players on the other team.  Touchdown!  I scored.  I won that day in more ways than just points for my team.  For the first time in a long time I felt as if I had accomplished something.  I felt like I belonged and was no longer an outsider.  From that day forward I was never chosen last again.  We all want to win at something, don’t we? 

The Gate at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens; Birmingham, Alabama

As far as photography goes I am a novice's novice.  I like to think at times that I have a photographer's eye for seeing things uniquely but mostly I humor myself with photos not very well composed.  At the Birmingham Botanical Gardens there is a gate that looks out over a reflecting pool to a large granite orb.  In the winter it is especially stark and the lines of the walkway and the gate draw the eye to the distance.  I like this photo.  It's not a great photo but when I look at it my mind meanders a bit and gives me pause and permission to rest for a brief moment.

Diving Into the Waves

No doubt, there are moments in life that bring us struggle, anxiety, worry, and unease.  Our lives are filled with places to be, people to meet, and bills to pay.  It can sometimes seem like a mad dash to the "finish line" but that line keeps moving.  We never seem to get there.  One of my favorite authors over the years has been Gerald May who died a few years ago.  Once in an email correspondence with him he shared with me a little of his thoughts on peace.  Specifically I had asked him about something he had written that had never left my thoughts.  He wrote: "Peace is not something you can force on anything or anyone... much less upon one's own mind. It is like trying to quiet the ocean by pressing upon the waves. Sanity lies in somehow opening to the chaos, allowing anxiety, moving deeply into the tumult, diving into the waves, where underneath, within, peace simply is."   Maybe it's not for us to escape the chaos or anxieties of living.  Maybe if we can find that peace within ourselves then the waves won't force us to crash into the rocks of pain and struggle.  Can it be that diving into the waves of living is the key to finding peace after all?

Looking for ADVENTure

Advent...think about it. Two words: "ad" and "vent". The days leading up to the coming of Christ at Christmas are inundated with ad after ad after ad telling us which thing to buy, put on lay-away (yes, lay-away has returned), and anticipate. Our days are dictated by Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and now Cyber Week. 

This year the stores opened up on the day of Thanksgiving. People lined up outside hours before the doors opened foregoing time with family and the general spirit of gratefulness. Why? Well, the "ads" were telling us to be there! Don't wait! Hurry! Make haste! Be the first in line. So, Advent has the word "ad" in it...intriguing. Consider the other word, "vent." News story after news story told of people getting angry and "venting" that anger on other shoppers. Arrests were made; people were pepper-sprayed. Why? Because the "ad" told us that we had better be quick about finding the best deal, the lowest price, the perfect gift. 

Stop now. Consider something else. Advent also has the beginning of the word ADVENTure in it. Adventure implies a journey. Adventure implies that something is happening or about to happen. We anticipate adventure. We want adventure. Why, we want to be like Indiana Jones and go on the adventure of our life! I read one definition for the word, "adventure" as a "bold, usually risky undertaking; hazardous action of uncertain outcome." Both the word "advent" and "adventure" are very similar in their etymology. 

Maybe the season of Advent is really about a bold risky undertaking. Maybe it is implicit of a "hazardous action of uncertain outcome." Some definitely experienced a hazardous outcome shopping on Black Friday. What if, however, the bold undertaking is accepting the advent or arrival of Christ the King into our lives.   If the word "advent" means arrival then we might ask ourselves if our hearts are open for the arrival of Christ. It seems that some shoppers took their lives into their own hands as they pushed and shoved with other shoppers to find the next great gift. 

What if this Advent we simply put our lives into the hands of the One who came to bring peace in the midst of chaos, hope in the midst of despair, and life in the midst of death? What an ADVENTure that would be.