The Winds Would Blow...The Rivers Rise...

Its been hard to put any thoughts into writing the past few months, but in the aftermath of a great and terrible sadness these ramdon thoughts merited reposting.

It has become apparent that the one thing we can expect in life is the unexpected, the unpredictable nature of this journey we have to travel. Yes, we would somehow like for everything to be stable, for our life to follow the patterns that we seem to see in nature, the ever constant cycle of the sun, rotation of the earth, the changing but predictable seasons. We love the predictable, the constant; There is a certain safety in believing things will follow a certain pattern, usually the one where we succeed in life, find the one we love plus or minus kids, a dog and white picket fence, and of course we live happily ever after!

Yes, life is stable in a fluid weird way , kind of like the stability one can have living next to an intermittently active volcano, nice lush greenery, beautiful countryside, perfect but for the occasional eruption that incinerates all you love into oblivion. Or maybe the stability of living in a fault line, all is great, beautiful , firm then a category 5 shaker moves the very ground you are standing on and the walls come tumbling down, or maybe if you are lucky a tsunami will wash ashore and add a bit of water to the mix. Such is life, unnerving, scary but oh so true, no matter what fantasies we may wish to hold!

Even Jesus said that, for those who built their house on a rock, there would be unexpected winds, the rivers would rage, the very foundations of the house would be shaken. Yes the rivers will rage, the winds will howl but if built upon the rock, Scripture tells us the house will not fall! How reassuring and true! But.... hey, what about the roof, the fallen shingles, the damaged windows and the water damage, the ruined gardens, the mold and mildew, the swarm of mosquitoes and the nonfunctional air conditioning. Sometimes it is little comfort that it still stands, with all that was lost in the unexpected storm. So it is with our dreams, illusions, relationships, health, perceptions and even our faith.

So what then..well here it is; hang on for dear life in the middle of crisis, do yell at God, he can handle it, make no sudden decisions, take long walks alone, sip Cabernet, take up the Rosary or contemplative prayer.....less stuff to say! In the aftermath; shun convention, live for the day; its all you have, love yourself be kind to others, honor God even if his rationale escapes you, and dont forget to rebuild simpler...less crap to pick up , less loss to mourn the next time!

Blessings

seraph