Sacred Connections: Providence
Many years ago, several of us gathered at times in a circle of women in one of our living rooms. We would meet to share our spiritual journeys, talk about what was calling to us now and the gifts and challenges we were encountering along the way. We were there mostly to listen and bear witness to these unique journeys, to offer words of empathy and encouragement, and to be of support. One of the women once made a comment that has stayed with me over these many years, “We don’t want to get ahead of Providence.” Or in my other words, “God’s timing is God’s timing, we don’t want to try to force it to be other than what it is."
Providence isn’t a word that comes up frequently, but it did for me this week. A friend had told me a couple weeks ago that he had been asked to plan a memorial service for a colleague and I had immediately offered to help with some suggestions of readings. We had spoken of it a couple of times and I knew he would be leaving town soon, yet I had not followed through with providing those suggestions. Is anyone else experiencing a bit of a COVID fog these days? Earlier his week when he began telling me about how the service had gone, I felt so disappointed in myself that I had not followed through and apologized profusely. Once he succeeded in silencing my apologies, I could listen to what he actually had to say.
The service that he described was so very clearly Spirit led, it was as healing as such a service could possibly be. And the subject of my friend’s talk was providence. It was about our life journeys and the unexpected openings that arise and lead us in directions we might never have anticipated. That brief conversation was another gift to me, a reminder that answers come very much in God’s time, not ours, with the humbling reminder to get over myself, not everything I hear about needs to have my touch added. Everything is already in God’s hands.
During these days, sometimes we may feel we have found a comfortable rhythm, only to experience something seemingly of little consequence throw us off our pace. Others of us may still be struggling to find any sense of flow in our lives. I find my internal wellness monitor is totally transparent in my daily walks with my dog SweetP. When I’m feeling in some kind of flow of my life, I can be patient despite all the sniffing she may seek. When there is just too much change, challenge, adaption seemingly needed in my life, all extraneous sniffing is virtually banned. I don’t know what your internal monitors might be, but my guess is you do.
In these challenging times, this idea of God’s providence is especially comforting and reassuring. We may worry about not having all the answers right now, but we can trust that we will see more clearly as time goes on. We may feel overwhelmed and fear that we lack the capacity we need right now, but we can trust that for now, the capacity we have is enough. As we talk and listen to each other’s stories, and seek to ease each other’s burdens, may we trust that God is in our midst and God’s love prevails.
