Finding Strength in Life's Knots

Boy scouts can rattle off the types and manner of tying all sorts of knots. Even though we may not have their knowledge and expertise, we do have experience with knots. Think about the tangles in your hair, about thread knotting just as it is being pulled through a stitch, or the twisted mess resulting from the washing machine weaving clothes together. However, there is an altogether different category of knots in life. Consider one’s losing a position, confronting an angry individual, getting a traffic ticket, running into a brick wall of discrimination, realizing one’s mortality, moving to an undesired location, dealing with unfairness, or becoming aware of a lump in one’s body. Those knots can really tie us up!    

The question “why?” such knots appear in life is often asked. Sister Joan Chittister believes that such a question is foolish, brings no resolution, and that there are more important questions. “The fact is that it is not what happens but what I do about it, and how I deal with it, that counts. The answer to, "Why did God do this to me?" may simply be so that I could become more than I was before it happened.” Sister also said, while quoting the mystic Rumi, that, “Under every agonizing, painful, irritating, worrisome thing… is the blessing that needs to be discovered….”

Sometimes we need the binoculars of time in order to appropriately distance ourselves so that we can discern what has knocked us off our feet. We need a long view in order to see the knots clearly, to appreciate the unknown blessings we have received, and especially to remove the disguises that hid them from view in the first place.

What are some of the disguised undesired blessings that have come your way? How have you grown because of them?

Hidden Graces

Hidden Graces

In front of my home, hidden in a lot filled with trees, is an abandoned and broken-down home. During the summer because of the thick foliage, I couldn’t see it. But now every day I see it and lately it has been a source of my reflections. Knowing the history of this area, I know that at one time it was a simple but adequate home for a family. People from Chicago came out to live here seeking refuge from the agitation and violence of the city and in hopes of more economic stability. They found both here. The Catholic Church here has an 81-year history and when I talk with the older folks who are still living here, they speak with sparkling eyes and nostalgia for the community dinners, the celebrations and fun times they had as a faith community.

For various reasons the source of income for the people changed drastically and the factories moved out looking for ways to make more money with less expenses and so the slow exodus began. Without jobs many people left and currently the area has an aging population. But they continue to be a people of great faith and enthusiasm in living this faith.

But that house. It continues to speak to me of mission. At times we are called to be in places and moments of strong connections and activities that nurture the body and soul. I have lived on mission and been on many mission trips and the relationship with people is one of the greatest joys of my life. In my youth, I would have said, “Now this is really mission!” Doing all those marvelous activities that express a new kin-dom of God. We are all kin!

Now already in my golden years, I can look at the abandoned home and thank God for what it was and what it did for the people who lived there. It tells a story, perhaps a melancholy one, but it is a story with a history. It speaks to me of respecting where I am now and where my people are in this faith community. It speaks of the desire to live the reality in which God has placed me.

As we are ending another extremely difficult year, we can see that the call is to live our mission embracing the reality of whatever we encounter in life. Even in the most abandoned moments of our lives, the mystery of God’s love accompanies us and raises us above the difficulties to look beyond with hope and determination. These thoughts continue to resonate with me; they return to my mind and heart because I am certain that in whatever circumstances we find ourselves, nothing can separate us from the love of God. Scripture tells us this. St. Paul lived this and Jesus is glorified in this promise.

Let us not be afraid of abandoned houses and difficult situations but instead, let us risk going deeper to seek the presence of God in all moments because there will be grace present. However, I do say with joy, Come, Lord Jesus, come Emmanuel, come soon 2022!