A Step Back (04/21/2025)

I opened my eyes, looked at the clock and wondered how that happened. I’d slept until nearly 7 instead of my usual 5ish. I took my coffee to the porch and steeled myself against the strong breezes that penetrated my zone as I woke up with the LORD. I turned my day over to Him and then headed to the computer to write my scripture reflection for the day.

When I accessed the internet for the reading of the day, there it was: Pope Francis had passed away. That stopped me in my tracks. I said a prayer for him and for us all. I thought of his first publication as pope – “Joy of the Gospel” – and its impact on me, how it stirred me to want to share Christ with others more fully, more openly, more lovingly, more consistently.

I found the day’s readings, selected the gospel for the day, reflected on it myself, and then wrote the reflection and posted it.

Then my phone rang. It was my daughter. She was checking in. It’s a stressful time for her as the family is immersed in wedding plans for her only daughter, my only granddaughter. A traditional 10-minute check-in turned into a 30-minute call that demanded attentive listening and assuring responses. Love isn’t easy. If it were, they wouldn’t write songs about it.

I looked at my watch, returned to the porch for a “booster” – the kind that can only come from stillness in the LORD: “Be still and know that I AM LORD.” It was time to step back.

And now I’m back with my computer, with my thoughts swirling like leaves in the autumn wind. I tell myself “Sometimes you’ll have that.” And I carry on.

I know that each one of you can empathize. There’s the life we plan and the life we live, and they rarely mirror one another. The unexpected happens.

Life as we are called to live is simple, but we should never confuse that with easy. The LORD didn’t promise easy. Jesus tells us we must be prepared. “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” When we look at the cross, we can see only pain and suffering which is clearly and profoundly there, or we can see the love that necessitated such a selfless sacrifice and that endured. Sometimes we need to step back and take it all in.

Whatever this day brings to us, let us pray to the LORD that we will live in it and through it as He calls us to – with love.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.