Somewhere Only We Know
Fr. David Boettner led our parish pastoral council in a reflection last night that focused on allowing God to lead us to the places He wills for us. Allowing the Lord to be our guide can many times be a frightening experience for those of us who like to be in control. Fr. David reminded us by sharing that in his own life, when he has surrendered his will to God’s will, he has always ended up in a place he never would have imagined and that that the end results were always better than anything he himself would have thought possible.
Ironically it seems that when we allow God to direct our choices, the end result is much more freedom than we would have had otherwise. We gain the freedom to be more truly ourselves, people who are fashioned in the image and likeness of our Creator.
Our reflection last night began with the sharing of some famous words of Thomas Merton, who is one of my personal heroes. He was a trappist monk at Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky. Here are the words we heard proclaimed last night and that continue to speak to my heart.
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 that I have that desire in all
that I am doing.
And I know that if I do this, you
will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I 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.
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