Friday, July 24, 2015

Psalm 23:6

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
   all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
   my whole life long.

Wherever, whatever

This life is a journey of unknowing. We do not know where we will go, who we will meet or what surprises will come. We do not know the dark valleys we will walk or what heights of crazy exhilaration will make us laugh, weep and dance. We cannot see what friends will appear to delight our hearts or what failures will weigh on our souls.

We don’t know.

And the longer we live the more we discover how little we understand the workings of the world and the mysteries of the human heart, especially are own.

Life unfolds as it will. Surprises come turning us in directions we could not have anticipated but which we must live with as much grace and hope as we can.

But the darkness of unknowing is grace, taking from us the illusion of control and any idea that our minds and strength will ever be enough to live the lives we are given.

In this darkness, the heart curls up and closes down in abject fear, or it opens to receive the mystery of what is and what will be without demanding the outcome.

I am not sure why the darkness of unknowing turns some to fear and others to open-hearted reception of life. Perhaps the sheer blessing of life and breath have opened a foundational faith that behind every goodness there is a Goodness, a Heart beyond their own whom they cannot see and cannot ever know.

Perhaps the mercies and graces that have touched their flesh have also reached their heart, suggesting an inner grace at the heart of life, a generosity of love and beauty that is not just there, but which follows and seeks human hearts wherever they go.

I just know there are hearts not cowed by the darkness. They welcome the days of unknowing, which is every day in every life. They dwell in hope, trusting that the darkness hides a Love that pursues and catches us ... and won't let go.

They know wherever they go and whatever happens … they live in the house of Lord, the land of the Beloved, whose mercy and goodness follow us every step of our journey.

If we know this … and I do, we have all we need.

Pr. David L. Miller