Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Happy Anniversary!

I have spent the past two weeks drafting and discarding blog posts. Any time I try to write something that adequately summarizes the past year's experience or how the transition has been, I devolve into really obnoxious abstractions that don't do justice to either topic. Suffice it to say, I am so glad I took the risk of going. The year was rich and challenging, and the transition out of such an experience, particularly leaving the community behind, has been difficult. But I'm happy to be where I am!

Today is the one year anniversary of arriving in Columbia Heights for the Sojourners internship program! It's fun to think back to that day, with all of our awkwardness and first impressions. Cycle 31 is enjoying that stage right now -- they just arrived yesterday! And the newest class at Columbia has been immersed in the get-to-know-yous these past few days as well during their orientation. It is certainly a season of change!

So, with all of these folks in mind, and knowing that plenty of others are going through periods of change in their own lives, I'll close out today with a prayer for all of us in flux:

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 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 everything I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire, and I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore, I will 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.
Thomas Merton ("Thoughts in Solitude")

Happy anniversary, y'all. And God be with you on the road ahead!

No comments:

Post a Comment