Glimpsing God

Friday, May. 13, 2016

I no longer believe in coincidences when it comes to my faith life – I think it’s the way the Holy Spirit speaks to me.

Case in point is last week. During Bible study Wednesday at the Cathedral of the Madeleine, up came John Lennon’s quote: “Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.”

The next day, I read this by Vinita Hampton Wright: “I’ve come to believe that one aspect of maturity is the ability to see life’s interruptions not as interruptions but as necessary events and journeys. Interruptions are life. The unexpected is simply the life you have but don’t yet know about.” (Italics original.)

Both of which guided me on Friday morning, when my schedule called for a photo shoot at St. Ambrose Parish at 8:30 a.m., followed an hour later by an appointment at the office.

At 6:30 a.m., however, a family member asked for a ride to the emergency room. 

Normally I would have acquiesced, but in an exceedingly ungracious manner because it interfered with my plans. Primed by the two quotes, however, I simply left messages for those I was supposed to meet, canceling my plans, got in the car and drove to the emergency room. (No cause for concern; it was a virus that resulted in some nasty symptoms, all treatable.) 

That evening I took a long walk on the Jordan River Parkway, where spring is in full bloom. Red-winged blackbirds sing in the rushes, barn swallows dart about for insects, and mallards shepherd ducklings. Those are birds I often see, but some species I rarely glimpse, and I count it an exceptional day when I see a kingfisher or kestrel, for example. 

While keeping my eye out for rare sightings, I wondered what to write for this column. 

One idea I had was the series of Lenten sermons that St. Thomas Aquinas preached during the last year of his life. 

Now, Aquinas is a Doctor of the Church. He is considered a master theologian and one of the finest scholars the Church has ever produced, so I figured maybe in ten years, with significant study beforehand, I might be able to tackle him, but I am required to read these sermons for a class, and guess what? The first one is a defense of the faith so simple and yet so eloquent that I want to memorize it. It’s easy to understand and compelling at the same time. I learned more from it than from my entire Confirmation catechism. (That may be because I only attended at my mother’s insistence, but you get my point.)

The other column idea I had was an upcoming pilgrimage that will take me through the four Holy Doors in Rome during this Year of Mercy. I don’t know why that devotion appeals to me more than, say, the opportunity to venerate the relics that will be here in Utah next week; it’s a question I considered exploring in writing.

Walking along the parkway, I mulled these three possible topics and thought about how the day had gone. I was quite pleased that I hadn’t let the interruptions upset me. Even better is that, even though I wasn’t there to take it, we have a page one photo to recognize May as the Month of Mary. (THANK YOU, Betsy Hunt, Raquel Austin and J.E. Cosgriff Memorial School!)

Just as I was celebrating that our cover came out as planned despite my interrupted life, a flash of orange in the trees caught my eye. I focused my attention and saw my first Bullock’s oriole of the season – God’s affirmation, I believe, that I had done well that day.