A year ago yesterday I began my pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago. How time flies...
It may seem strange, but since walking the Camino, not a day has gone by that I didn't think about that amazing experience. For one, I think it quite possibly may be the most significant accomplishment of my life, and so it makes sense that it's still on the forefront of my mind.
But on another level, there are at least two events in my life that occurred as a direct result of the pilgrimage, and because of this connection, I often think back to the long walk that I took to Santiago de Compostela, and how it changed my life. These two events are: vocational and relational changes.
The sobering thing about the changes in working and loving, is that I prayed for direction and discernment on both. I prayed that God would lead me in my search for meaningful work, and I prayed that God would guide me in my search for a life partner. And astonishingly, God answered both, radically. The first prayer item was answered within 4 months of my walk. And the second, well, it was maybe answered a long time ago already, but I only recognized the answer upon my return from Spain.
Vocation. Last year at this time I was working in Spiritual Care, the general area that I've sensed God directing me towards over the past 4 years. But the format was part-time, on-call, and in a secular institution that I felt little connection to.
Today, I am working in Spiritual Care, but in a capacity that enables me to contribute in a significant way not only to the lives of residents, but to the life of the institution itself. It helps too that the facility is faith-based, and highly regarded in the community.
Relationships. In a sense, nothing has changed here: I'm still a bachelor! But on another level, there's been a seismic shift. My best friend of 4 years is virtually absent from my life. Desolation. And other friendships too, are radically altered. I now spend a lot of time alone, much more than I'm comfortable with. And while I have made new friends in my new city, it just doesn't feel quite like home yet. Yet.
Prayer is dangerous. God hears our prayers. Worse yet, He answers them. Be careful what you pray for.
A year ago I'd never have imagined such drastic changes. Leaving the mountains for the prairies. Exchanging dark and wet days for clear and cold days. Good bye city. Hello farmland. Geography. That's all that changed, really. A new postal code. And yet, it wasn't just a move. It was a Call. A call that demanded a response. Obedience.
God's ways are excruciatingly frustrating. But then, perhaps in my more sober or lucid moments, not to mention less narcissistic moments, I'm reminded of God's words to the prophet Isaiah: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9).
The sobering thing about the changes in working and loving, is that I prayed for direction and discernment on both. I prayed that God would lead me in my search for meaningful work, and I prayed that God would guide me in my search for a life partner. And astonishingly, God answered both, radically. The first prayer item was answered within 4 months of my walk. And the second, well, it was maybe answered a long time ago already, but I only recognized the answer upon my return from Spain.
Vocation. Last year at this time I was working in Spiritual Care, the general area that I've sensed God directing me towards over the past 4 years. But the format was part-time, on-call, and in a secular institution that I felt little connection to.
Today, I am working in Spiritual Care, but in a capacity that enables me to contribute in a significant way not only to the lives of residents, but to the life of the institution itself. It helps too that the facility is faith-based, and highly regarded in the community.
Relationships. In a sense, nothing has changed here: I'm still a bachelor! But on another level, there's been a seismic shift. My best friend of 4 years is virtually absent from my life. Desolation. And other friendships too, are radically altered. I now spend a lot of time alone, much more than I'm comfortable with. And while I have made new friends in my new city, it just doesn't feel quite like home yet. Yet.
Prayer is dangerous. God hears our prayers. Worse yet, He answers them. Be careful what you pray for.
A year ago I'd never have imagined such drastic changes. Leaving the mountains for the prairies. Exchanging dark and wet days for clear and cold days. Good bye city. Hello farmland. Geography. That's all that changed, really. A new postal code. And yet, it wasn't just a move. It was a Call. A call that demanded a response. Obedience.
God's ways are excruciatingly frustrating. But then, perhaps in my more sober or lucid moments, not to mention less narcissistic moments, I'm reminded of God's words to the prophet Isaiah: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Indeed.
Rarely are my thoughts lofty enough to leave even the earthly atmosphere, never mind reach the heights of heaven.
I prayed. God answered. But in a way that I neither expected nor hoped for.
Still, I am thankful for His answers, His ways. At least I'm beginning to be. I must be. What else is there?
Change is hard.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have Mercy on me, a Sinner.
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