A hand to hold
“And I said to the one who stood at the gate of the year,
‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the Unknown.’
And he replied,
‘Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.’”
–Minnie Haskins, as quoted in Seven Sacred Pauses by Macrina Wiederkehr
Currently, I’m reading Seven Sacred Pauses in the hope of becoming more mindful of God’s presence with me–through ALL the hours of the day. As I make my way through the book, I’m slowly adding new mindfulness practices to my days.
As I ponder the significance of these practices, I find myself longing for even more.
More of God? Yes, or at least an increased awareness of God.
But, more than that.
Perhaps it’s more of an increased awareness of myself.
The self that I hide.
The self that gets swallowed up by life’s busyness, difficulties, and pain.
My truest self,
in relationship to my Creator,
placed within this time and space.
But this time and space is full of unknowns. And I don’t do well with unknowns. Can you relate?
In the past five months, I’ve continued to face one health challenge after another. Each month recalibrating my life to manage what is now part of my path. When faced with the unknown future, I want to know. When the future ahead looks dark, I want anything to either help me forget the dark path before me, or to find a way to replace the darkness with light.
And yet, God invites me into another way.
A way forward into and through the dark.
An invitation to abide as beloved with awareness of the Beloved’s presence.
In those moments of abiding awareness, it becomes a bit easier to see how there could be anything better than the light of the knowing I seek.
No matter how hard I try, some things in life may stay “dark”.
And yet, there is hope in the dark, hope in the unknown:
God gently offers a hand to hold.
–Melissa Logsdon, NCF Associate Pastor