Pastor Cara Scriven, Puyallup UMC
Over the last few weeks I have been listening to a podcast from the Center for Action and Contemplation called Turning to the Mystics. This season the podcast is focused on reading and meditating on the words of Thomas Merton. Merton was a 20th century Trappist monk who lived a solitary life. Over his lifetime, he wrote over 40 books and is well known for speaking and meeting with mystics across many different faith traditions.
I’ve always had a fascination with the life and writings of Merton as I often find him speaking directly to my heart. In one of the episodes I was listening to this week, James Finley read this prayer from Merton’s book, Thoughts in Solitude:
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.”
This prayer has found its way to me several times throughout my life and it has always brought me hope in times of uncertainty.
As I begin to contemplate what it means for our church to reopen, I’ve found myself reading this prayer several times a day as I do not know the best path forward. I cannot see the road clearly before us. And yet, I do know that when we do gather together again things will be vastly different. For example, current recommendations suggest that churches should not sing, take communion, or pass the offertory plate.
I also know that while we cannot see the road ahead, God will continue to lead us. Lead us to make decisions out of love for our most vulnerable members. God will guide us toward wise solutions as to how we continue to care for one another and our community safely. Through God’s gentle prodding, we will find the right road even if we do not know it.
At times when it feels like we are walking in darkness, God is always guiding us. Leading us to the right road. God never leaves us to figure things out on our own as God is always with us. The psalmist reminds us:
I put all my hope in the Lord.
He leaned down to me;
he listened to my cry for help.He lifted me out of the pit of death,
out of the mud and filth,
and set my feet on solid rock.He steadied my legs.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise for our God.
We may feel lost in this moment but God will guide us. God leans down, like a mother to her child, and hears our cries. God will pick us up, steady our feet, and put us on the right road. And for this, we praise God even when the road ahead is unclear.
May God’s song of praise find its way into your heart today and always.