Last night’s weather adventures meant that I was awake for 3 – 4 hours listening to the storm coverage along with the shrill early warning system I had purchased prior to tornado season. I woke up a bit later than usual, at 8:40, and realized that, due to my tightly scheduled day, the only opportunity I would have to go to church would be at 9:30. Fifty minutes.
I wasted four more minutes pondering this, to see if I could come up with a “God is everywhere” or “I serve my fellow man every day” loophole somewhere, but no. I either had to make the commitment to be there at 9:30 or forget it. I was meeting a friend for lunch, shopping for food, cleaning, cooking, and having my family over at 6 for a big dinner – pulled pork, corn on the cob, salad, potato salad, baked beans, and root beer floats.
There were no other possibilities. Also entering the decision equation was the fact that I had a half hour to get ready, which meant no coffee. NO COFFEE on Sunday morning!!!
When you’re a grown-up and no one’s watching, it can be very tempting to skip church and just pad around in your pjs on Sunday morning, drinking coffee, reading the paper, scarfing down last night’s leftovers for breakfast…. Lots of people do. I have. But the thing is, even when no one else is watching, I know. What I also know is this: I have been so blessed in my lifetime that I want to know this incredibly generous Creator even better.
At any rate I got myself together and went. The funny thing was this: the thoughts I had about going/not going, being an adult, who’s watching….all of these topics were covered in the homily by the priest. It was as though he took what had been in my head and turned it into a message for everyone.
I suspect that in the divine scheme of things it really was the other way around. The thoughts entered my head because they were already out there, ready for me to hear if I just made the commitment to go. The truth we seek is out there, but we have to take the time to listen.
I wasted four more minutes pondering this, to see if I could come up with a “God is everywhere” or “I serve my fellow man every day” loophole somewhere, but no. I either had to make the commitment to be there at 9:30 or forget it. I was meeting a friend for lunch, shopping for food, cleaning, cooking, and having my family over at 6 for a big dinner – pulled pork, corn on the cob, salad, potato salad, baked beans, and root beer floats.
There were no other possibilities. Also entering the decision equation was the fact that I had a half hour to get ready, which meant no coffee. NO COFFEE on Sunday morning!!!
When you’re a grown-up and no one’s watching, it can be very tempting to skip church and just pad around in your pjs on Sunday morning, drinking coffee, reading the paper, scarfing down last night’s leftovers for breakfast…. Lots of people do. I have. But the thing is, even when no one else is watching, I know. What I also know is this: I have been so blessed in my lifetime that I want to know this incredibly generous Creator even better.
At any rate I got myself together and went. The funny thing was this: the thoughts I had about going/not going, being an adult, who’s watching….all of these topics were covered in the homily by the priest. It was as though he took what had been in my head and turned it into a message for everyone.
I suspect that in the divine scheme of things it really was the other way around. The thoughts entered my head because they were already out there, ready for me to hear if I just made the commitment to go. The truth we seek is out there, but we have to take the time to listen.
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