Long and Winding Road

Opening Prayer

Here I am Lord,
Listening
Speak to me
within my heart and soul.
I am listening.


Mark 8:12
If I have anything to say about it, you'll not get so much as a hint of a guarantee."

Reflection

I know that sometimes you feel let down -you live with uncertainty,

Life is hard at the best of times, at the worst of times – unbearable. And you want me to take that from you.

People are not kind, they can be downright cruel. And you want me to change them.

The future is bleak, not a place you want to be. And you want me to change that.

And it’s not that I can’t …after all the life I want for you is not like that…

But that is the life that is created by wanting what the world offers…

You seek the rewards for following the rules; the promotions for achieving your targets; the lifestyles for being on top; the image for fitting in…

And when you think you have done all that – the next rule, the next target, the next must have…? When all you have to do is – be mine.

Yet it is no easier to follow me. My life lived from hand to mouth, underdog to outlaw, refugee to sacrifice. A long road…a hard road, without signposts or waymarks; just one guide – Love – and all else uncertainty. And even now, do you believe that this final path is the only way?

I am the Way to eternal life; but there is no plan, no blueprint; no guarantee. I am Faith that leads you on; I am Hope that drives out despair; I am Love that makes it all worthwhile.

I know it won’t be easy, I know you are not sure of the way. But I am with you; arm around your shoulder; carrying you if need be; there when your want me. But don’t ask me for promises; don’t ask me for guarantees. The way to Eternal Life is not so easy.

Contemplation
The long and winding road

It is reassuring to make a journey knowing you are fully prepared; that you have everything you need; that you are confident about. But not every physical journey is like that and very few ‘life’ journeys are.

On these journeys you often get to a point where you stop and wonder, am I going the right way; am I prepared; should I turn back; does this look like a shortcut; was this a good idea?

In life, in faith, these journeys hold no guarantees; so what do you do? It is when you get to this point of uncertainty, of unknowing, that the only thing to do in trust in God, in the Lord, in the Spirit to guide you.

The unknowing may make you unsure of yourself, reminds you that you do not; you cannot know all the answers. And once you realise this, once you let go and let God, can the journey can continue.

We are in the mid-way of Lent, the point of no return. How are you finding it? Are you content to move forward knowing that only God holds the map; knows the answers or are there questions and uncertainties in your heart. Speak to God now telling him how you feel, he doesn’t mind the ‘don’t knows’, the ‘not sures’. They are the stepping stones of faith. Take them to him.



Closing Prayer
May the blessing of the Sacred Three
The Father who gave us the Word
The Son who is the Word
The Spirit who opens the Word within us
Be with us today and evermore.Amen

wordinthehand 2009

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