Sure, planning for our future, setting goals, getting an education, saving money, and looking forward to the future are important aspects of being human and ensuring relative success in living. But believing that our lives will be exactly as we plan can set us up for disappointment and frustration.
We are here on this planet to learn to be better humans. In so doing, our lives will take bends and turns to place us in the very situational classrooms needed, to learn just how to do this. And, we will continue to be placed in situations until we learn the lessons we need to learn.
That being said, our journey these last few months (years??) has not been the one we planned. Retirement, relocation, travel and adventure on the great and beautiful roads of the US has not come to pass as we imagined. Instead, we have been taken on a journey of the heart. We have been asked to travel deep into the canyons of compassion, the byways of understanding, and the towering peaks of grief, forgiveness and love.
There is no road map for this journey. We have been asked to travel this road one mile at a time. We have only been given the Compass of the Holy Spirit to Light the path and show us the way we must go. Some days, the road has been dark with clouds of confusion and fear, and we have lost our way. But always, when we sought the Light, we have been shown the way, once again.
No matter the difficulty of the paths we've been asked to walk, we have been shown astounding beauty to sustain us; we've been taught how to love more deeply; and we have come to better understand the meaning and necessity of persuasion, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, and love unfeigned. We have been given knowledge and insight, as well as, pure and personal spiritual gifts and experiences to lift, encourage, and strengthen us.
We, of course, will continue to plan, because planning is part of the fun. But we have learned to be a little quieter as we plan. We have learned to listen for that still, small Voice who guides us on the best path, this path of being human, and learning to do it a little bit better, each day.
August/September community service via Sister Jose's Women's Center and Arizonan's for Children and JustServe.org
