Headlights.
This week has been hectic. Despite only being a 4-day work week, it's been my busiest work week in several months. I feel as if I've been pulled in many different directions and have sometimes forgotten to remember to take a moment to just breathe. Though I was away from my desk for most of the day today and knew I should be using my lunch hour to catch up on emails, I opted instead to listen to a recent sermon I missed from church that Ed recommended I check out and go for a walk around campus to reflect and take a few moments for me.
The sermon, titled "Enough Light for the Next Step," was given in celebration of King's Day and the wise men's visit after Jesus' birth. I forced myself to sit still and clear my mind and simply listen to the message delivered in church that Sunday. In a nutshell, the sermon encouraged us to not worry about what we can't see, what lies ahead in the future, and focus instead on just taking the next step. The preacher used a metaphor of how at night, we navigate our paths when driving using our headlights. Those headlights only extend so far into the darkness allowing us only so much light yet we end up reaching our destination by just moving forward trusting that light. Step by step. Little by little.
It reminded me of several conversations I've had with a friend and colleague over the last two months of how we both wished we could fast forward or at the least gain a glimpse of our future lives. Are we married? parents? successful? wealthy? But most importantly, happy? If ONLY we could fast forward and take a peak and hopefully see that our hopes for our future were fulfilled, how much more comfortable we would feel with the unknown right now. The sermon nudged me to shush those thoughts and focus instead on the present and on making sure that I have enough to keep on moving forward, to take the next step, and the next one, and the one after that.
During a week when I've not only been slammed with work but have felt the weight of life pressing down on me with a loved one in the hospital, plumbing woes at home, and emotional ups and downs navigating relationships around me, the sermon helped bring me a sense of peace. To trust that I have what I need to get by, that the mystery of life is one worth the suspense, and though I may not know what lies ahead and where my path will lead, I'm willing to trust and hope I'm where I need to be.
If you're interested in checking out the sermon, here ya go!
Cheers.
The sermon, titled "Enough Light for the Next Step," was given in celebration of King's Day and the wise men's visit after Jesus' birth. I forced myself to sit still and clear my mind and simply listen to the message delivered in church that Sunday. In a nutshell, the sermon encouraged us to not worry about what we can't see, what lies ahead in the future, and focus instead on just taking the next step. The preacher used a metaphor of how at night, we navigate our paths when driving using our headlights. Those headlights only extend so far into the darkness allowing us only so much light yet we end up reaching our destination by just moving forward trusting that light. Step by step. Little by little.
It reminded me of several conversations I've had with a friend and colleague over the last two months of how we both wished we could fast forward or at the least gain a glimpse of our future lives. Are we married? parents? successful? wealthy? But most importantly, happy? If ONLY we could fast forward and take a peak and hopefully see that our hopes for our future were fulfilled, how much more comfortable we would feel with the unknown right now. The sermon nudged me to shush those thoughts and focus instead on the present and on making sure that I have enough to keep on moving forward, to take the next step, and the next one, and the one after that.
During a week when I've not only been slammed with work but have felt the weight of life pressing down on me with a loved one in the hospital, plumbing woes at home, and emotional ups and downs navigating relationships around me, the sermon helped bring me a sense of peace. To trust that I have what I need to get by, that the mystery of life is one worth the suspense, and though I may not know what lies ahead and where my path will lead, I'm willing to trust and hope I'm where I need to be.
If you're interested in checking out the sermon, here ya go!
Cheers.
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