We Do Not Know What Lies Ahead

It was an overcast day. My wife had the car and I had an errand to run. The simplest way would be by bike, but I had no rain gear with me. So I took a chance and sure enough, I ran into a cloudburst 10 minutes before arriving back home. Would I have set out had I known that the storm would catch me mid-journey? Perhaps not, but my sodden clothes eventually dried, and my misadventure still yielded the beginnings of this song and a few lyrics that ran through my head as I cycled. That opportunity might not normally have arisen in my usual schedule. Christ often pointed out that his future and that of his disciples would not always be bright. But knowing the time and date of our troubles does not necessarily prevent them from arriving. Our instinct is to avoid such events, but in doing so, we may miss out on helping in a way that is uniquely ours. We may not know in advance what role we are to play. In fact, how we act - with compassion and generosity - may be more important than what we do. In God's world, success as we know it may not be the object. But God's kingdom is now and there is work to be done, even if we are not the ones to finish it.