By Sr. Doreen, SSJD.
Canadian Church Calendar scripture quote:
“My steps have held fast to your paths; my feet have not slipped.” (Psalm 17:5)
When I began to ponder this calendar quote my first thought of a pathway, and the image that came to me was that pathways are often not straight, and can be cluttered with rocks, potholes, and debris. So what was it that I would need to stay on that path. The picture of the path that I have described seems to me to be similar to the real path of life that I walk. It is never always straight and never always smooth! Indeed, it seems to me that God writes with crooked lines! I am reminded of Proverbs 16:9 “The heart of humankind plans the way, but it is God who establishes our steps” or put another way in a modern translation “We plan, God directs”. Nothing in life is straightforward it seems. So, I asked myself the question: what is the glue, what strong truths, do I need to hold fast and not slip on this crooked path of life?
Joan Chittister in her book ‘Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope’ wrote: “Everywhere I looked, hope existed but only as some kind of green shoot in the midst of struggle … hope I began to realize was not a state of life. It was at best a gift of life”.
It seemed to me that one of the truths that was important to ponder when considering navigating my path through life, how to hold fast while climbing over the inevitable obstacles, pot holes, and debris scattered throughout life’s journey was to look at the struggles of life with the eyes of my heart in order that I might see the way hope grows within me in the midst of the dark places. How important it is to remember to look back over experiences of struggles that we have waded through and see what new life they gave birth to. My own experience was that hope and struggle were both sides of the same coin. Hope is built into struggle.
There is something about a sense of humour that is needed also. How many times have I, have you, stopped on the pathway of life and sighed, even groaned, as we look ahead and see the conditions we need to surmount! A good dose of empathy with ourselves is needed! Compassion, sympathy, and a gentle smile are good friends in the midst of our big sigh and loud groan as we try to follow in Jesus’ footsteps along the path of life. I have and can still experience the inner whispers of my heart “Groan, I will not give up, I will not give up – sigh! I want to hold fast, I don’t want to slip, and if I do, I want to get up again.” And yes there is a gentle smile as I acknowledge that it is inevitable in following Jesus that I will fall down and get up again and again, because I want to be on the path that leads to fullness of life!
In her book Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope Joan talks about some of the things that we struggle with as we follow Jesus and journey through life: change, isolation, darkness, fear, powerlessness, vulnerability, exhaustion, and scarring; things that often seem insurmountable. She goes on to point out that lived wisdom for each of us also has given us gifts: gifts of change, detachment, faith, courage, surrender, limitations, endurance, and new life, and hope. We need to remember where we have been before and know that God was with us in the midst of it all. And we need to know that God now waits for us somewhere else, somewhere that is new while remembering also, that while God waits for us, God never leaves us alone on the way.
So, one important glue stick that I know I need to stay on the path is to take life as it comes, debris, pot holes, and boulders, and as Joan Chittister says, “to know that whatever happens God lives in it, and expects that, whatever its twists and turns, it will ultimately yield its good to those who live it consciously, to those who live it to the hilt.” This is the message also from Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Here I am waiting once again, on my knees, listening and then,
In a moment a voice so clear, speaks in a whisper the words I need to hear:
I know the plans I have for you, You’re always on my mind.
And all the thoughts I think toward you are lovingly designed …
To bring you through and give to you a future and a hope.
They’re for your peace, they’re for your good, the plans I have for you.
I know the plans I have for you, You’re always on my mind.
And all the thoughts I think toward you are lovingly designed …
To bring you through and give to you a future and a hope.
They’re for your peace, they’re for your good, the plans I have for you.
Oh, there is no one like You! still sometimes I need You to remind me.
And every time You do, you say, “Seek Me. You will find Me.”
I know the plans I have for you, You’re always on my mind.
And all the thoughts I think toward you are lovingly designed …
To bring you through and give to you a future and a hope.
They’re for your peace, they’re for your good, the plans I have for you.
To bring you through and give to you a future and a hope.
They’re for your peace, they’re for your good,
The plans I have for you.
Words and Music by Marty Goetz and Misha Goetz Hoyt
