Results May Vary (11/05/2025)

Today is Wednesday. I plan to bake cookies for the faith formation class tonight. Not every cookie will be the same. Not every student will get the same thing from class. I’m the one baking and I’m the one teaching, but I know that the results may vary.

It sounds trite to say, but life is like that. The results often vary. A wad of cookie dough has just a drop of more butter than the previous one and comes out moister than its neighbor on the cookie sheet. A student has just a drop more of motivation than the one next to her and she pays a bit more attention and does her assignments more consistently and at the end of the year appears to have a better grip on her faith. I’ve been tagged to be a part of both, but I know that in the end, I can only control so much. In the end, the results may vary.

I’ve watched life for over seven decades. I’ve seen the results vary all the time. I am not a forensic theologian so I can’t explain the variances. But I am observant. I know they occur. I’m willing to take some responsibility for those processes and moments that I am part of along the way. And I believe that the LORD has a hand in all of life, but I’m not sure how much the LORD tips the scale.  What responsibility does the one at the center of the moment bear?

I remind myself and my students often that we are not done muffins as long as we are this side of the sod. The LORD is working in us, for us, and through us. I pray daily for the graces to recognize the LORD’s presence in my day and to cooperate with Him. And some nights, I contritely confess that I wasn’t as open to His presence nor cooperative with His Spirit as I should have been.

Unlike the cookies on my cookie sheet, we have free will. We don’t control so much in this world; indeed, it is out of our control. However, we do have control over our will. And at the heart of the “results” we most often experience is what we chose, how we acted, what we contributed, and what we withheld.

As we continue our journeys of faith, hope and love, following in the footsteps of our loving Savior, let us keep our gaze upon Him so we can see clearly that He chose love, He acted out of love, He gave all He had for us, and He withheld nothing. And He and His life, death and resurrection changed the trajectory of human history. Let us open our minds, hearts and souls to that love because I believe it change us. The results may vary, but His love for us does not.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.