Word to the Wise
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - Wednesday in the Seventh Week of Ordinary Time
[James 4:13-17 and Mark 9:38-40]Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we shall go into such and such a town, spend a year there doing business, and make a profit" - you have no idea what your life will be like tomorrow....... Instead you should say, "If the Lord wills it, we shall live to do this or that."
Sigh! I will admit to being a planner. I tend to live more in the future than in the present. I am well aware of the old expression, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him/her your plans!" That's the gist of the words from the Letter of James quoted above! And yet, I don't know how to avoid planning! Parish missions and retreats require a commitment made for a future date! Some things have to be done NOW in order that other things can happen THEN! Certain ministry requires that I "think ahead" in order to avoid last minute glitches! It goes on and on. I find myself occasionally saying to God, "Unless you have other plans, this is what I propose to do...." This seems to work fairly well, but I will admit, too, not being a great one for "surprises" even though I used to tell the novices, "God is a God of surprises." I can't say I find that characteristic of God's to be a consoling one at times. Nevertheless what James offers us is a fairly simple approach that acknowledges that we humans are not ultimately in control. We are contingent all of our lives. The occasional reminder of our contingency serves to keep us humble and in proper perspective. AMEN
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