“Help me to journey beyond the familiar and into the unknown.
Give me the faith to leave old ways and break fresh ground with You.”
St. Brendan
(the wildflowers are now blooming / Julie Cook / 2020)
Oh, how the words of St. Brendan have touched my heart today–
(today, for me, being Monday and yesterday for you).
Walking into the unknown.
Journeying beyond the familiar.
Needing faith, as well as hope, while we leave the old ways, the old life, far behind.
Now left feeling helpless while trying to navigate uncharted waters…
Murky waters leading into something vastly different and to
something surreally new.
This is not to be a temporary change—not a momentary glitch to a set pattern or routine.
Such hiccups in life are not always pleasant but are made manageable in that we know they are
not meant to last…as in, not forever.
But this is not that.
This is not a slight bump or pothole in the road.
I think in all of this that what it boils down to is my simply yearning for what was…
And if the truth is really told, I think it is the feeling of freedom that I long for,
as well as pine over, the most.
To come and go as I once did…without worry or fear.
To hug an old friend who I’ve run into in a store.
To take a spontaneous road trip.
To save for, to plot and then plan a special vacation.
To actually linger in a garden shop…feasting on the colors and breathing in
the heavenly scents of beauty…free of masks or strips of tape that
keep me at a certain distance.
To simply being able to finally go back to the dentist for the new crown for my broken tooth.
Yet all those things are deemed “non-essential”, unnecessary to the basic day to day living.
So instead, I am left to precariously gather weekly supplies while spraying myself
with the sole sacred can of Lysol.
I tend to wee grandchildren as their parents now work and teach from home.
We cook, we eat, we clean, we wash, we huddle together and we wonder what tomorrow
will bring.
And so yes, I pray that God will give me the faith to leave what was known and trusted
behind as we all now embark on a journey into the new…of that which is
untrodden fresh ground.
If I walk hand in hand with my Father…that which is unknown, will be a piece of cake.
You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you,
that you may live, and that it may go well with you,
and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.
Deuteronomy 5:33
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