The Journey

Life can indeed be interesting at times. The roads which we travel and the experiences we have can be life changing if we let them. They can also paralyze us and keep us from moving forward… if we let them. In May of 1986 I graduated from seminary. The summer of 1986 I went to Langley Air Force Base in Virginia for my second summer tour as a Chaplain Candidate, Second Lieutenant. In September, 1987 I took my first call as a pastor. Thirty-three years later I am still “at it” so to speak.

Warfare (the entire time I was on Active duty this nation was at war), constantly moving (from 1987-2011 the longest I lived in one place was four years… the shortest, a year plus a few four to six month deployments), a Pandemic… yes, a lot has happened.

There has been much to reflect on and to look forward to as life and ministry continue. I didn’t think that hitting sixty would be such an invitation to reflection. A prayer that has come to mean a great deal to me is Thomas Merton’s Prayer which is found in his book Thoughts in Solitude (p. 79).

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 that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope I have that desire in all that 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. Amen.

Yes dear reader, the journey continues for your Padre. Hopefully I am a bit wiser and more seasoned than the young pastor who began ministry in 1987 or the Second Lieutenant who was commissioned in 1985. As this journey continues, there is one thing that I am certain of: in the words of Merton, I will never be left to face my perils alone.